The government of Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted the construction of the 160 km long futuristic city, The Line. This project, with a total value of 2 trillion US dollars, was presented as an environmentally friendly, car-free utopian megapolis with mirrored walls, flying taxis, and designed to house 9 million people.
However, the initial grand plans have been reduced to just a few kilometers. The reasons cited are falling oil prices and surging construction costs.
This situation has forced Saudi Arabia to reconsider its Vision 2030 strategy. This strategy had promised to transform the desert sands into a new technology hub.
Nevertheless, the workers who laid the first foundations for the project have already begun to leave the construction sites. For Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Line was not only an architectural project but also a manifesto for a post-oil era and his own future reign.
The Prince wanted to prove that the kingdom could thrive without oil dependency. But even the dreams of rulers with absolute power have limits—especially when oil revenues decline.
