The desert winds drift over rows of giant foundation piles, each between 2.4 and 3 meters in diameter, half-buried under shifting sand. But these aren't the ruins of an ancient civilization. They are the remnants of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's dream: a futuristic city named NEOM. The project was sold as an initiative to modernize Saudi Arabia - transforming it into a global tourism hub and financial center.

NEOM was going to be a linear metropolis where carbon emissions are eliminated, and urban chaos is engineered out of existence. The proposition was radical: the city would host 9 million residents, without streets, without cars, where everything is five minutes away. Where high-speed trains cross the entire length in 20 minutes, omitting stops, boarding, or luggage.

Logistically, the project was always a nightmare dressed as a dream. The nearest port is 80 kilometers away; to meet the 2030 deadline, a container of materials would have had to arrive every eight seconds. The "green" steel requirement would have consumed 60% of global annual production.

Behind the spectacle lies a harsher story.

Entire communities, including the Huwaitat tribe, were forcibly displaced. At least 150 people arrested; one shot dead; three sentenced to death; 15 to up to 50 years in prison. Salma al-Shehab, a student who criticized the regime online, was slapped with a 34-year sentence (later reduced to four). After Jamal Khashoggi's murder in October 2018, experts from MIT, Google, and Apple fled the advisory board - exactly one year after NEOM was officially announced.

Thousands of foundation piles now sit half-buried in sand. Excavations stretch across empty desert. Infrastructure built for plans that no longer exist remains stranded.

Read the full story at The Journal