Neom: can Saudi Arabia sell its futuristic city to Western visitors?

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets a delegation from Oman at Neom in 2021

(Image credit: Alamy / Balkis Press)

Saudi Arabia has turned to social media to boost the image of its ambitious desert megacity Neom – but the reception so far suggests the PR blitz is failing to convince.

The kingdom's crown prince has envisioned the $1.5 trillion development on the Red Sea coast as "a showpiece that will transform his country's economy and serve as a testbed for technologies that could revolutionise daily life", said Bloomberg.

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'Glossy' posts hide 'dreary' reality

Influencers have been called upon to help bolster Neom's image, painting a "glossy" picture of life in the desert city, said the Daily Mail.

Platforms like TikTok have been flooded with videos from Western influencers, many of whom are wives of Neom employees, sharing their experiences of life in the still unfinished development.

A typical entry from vlogger Aida McPherson shows her "going to Starbucks in the morning for an iced coffee, before sitting with 'the girls' for a catch up".

Yet many social media users are sceptical of the seemingly utopian lifestyle pushed by influencers, with many noting that Neom's surroundings seem "dreary, despite the vloggers' smile-filled promotions", said Business Insider. On X, users compared Neom's housing to "industrial estates on the surface of the sun" and "low-security prison camps".

There are more serious objections to the PR blitz, too. From the videos, the average TikTok viewer would have "no clue" about the many controversies surrounding the project, said the Daily Mail.

Human rights violations and ballooning costs

Neom's development has been accompanied by reports of significant human rights violations, including the forced eviction of local villagers to clear the land for construction. The BBC said in May that authorities were given permission to kill those who resisted eviction, reportedly resulting in the death of at least one villager.

The project has also been plagued by stories of "the deaths of construction workers, repeated allegations of racism and misogyny, and people in leadership roles who were hired after they had to leave previous jobs due to crimes or misconduct", said Quartz.

And as online criticism of the development grows, Neom faces major financial setbacks, too. One of the most ambitious and heavily publicised parts of the Neom project is "The Line" – a linear, "cognitive city" originally planned to stretch 105 miles along the Red Sea coast.

The government had hoped that by 2030, 1.5 million people would live in The Line. But according to sources speaking to Bloomberg, plans have now been drastically scaled back. Officials expect the city "will house fewer than 300,000 residents by that time" and extend only 1.5 miles, adding to growing concerns about the project's viability and ballooning costs.

Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.