What happens when one of the most ambitious projects of the century quietly hits the brakes? And what does that tell us about power, storytelling, and global ambition in the Middle East today? In this discussion, we’ll unpack Saudi Arabia’s decision to cancel the NEOM Line and look beyond the headlines to understand what really went on. We’ll explore how the project functioned not just as an urban vision, but as a political, economic, and narrative tool — and why understanding its rise and fall matters if you want to have informed conversations about sustainability, geopolitics, and mega-project culture.

 

We’ll dive into how Mohammed bin Salman reshaped Saudi Arabia’s economy and society through NEOM and other large-scale initiatives, the role of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in both building and constraining the project, and how the Line’s failure may have been strategically reframed rather than simply abandoned. Was NEOM a genuine attempt at reimagining the future — or a useful distraction during a period of rapid internal change? Expect a smart, grounded conversation that connects architecture, politics, finance, and power, and leaves you better equipped to understand the region, the rhetoric around “the future,” and how big ideas are used on the world stage today.

 

当一个被称作“本世纪最野心勃勃”的项目，突然悄悄踩下刹车，会发生什么？更重要的是，这件事到底在告诉我们什么——关于权力、叙事，以及当下中东的全球野心？在这场讨论里，我们会拆解沙特决定取消 NEOM Line 的原因，不止看新闻标题那一层，而是去理解背后真正发生了什么。我们会聊 NEOM 不只是一个城市构想，它同时也是一种政治工具、经济策略和叙事工程；而它的兴起与失速，为什么对理解可持续发展、地缘政治、以及“超级项目”文化特别关键——如果你想和别人聊这些话题聊得更靠谱，这部分真的绕不开。

 

我们还会深入聊 Mohammed bin Salman 是怎么通过 NEOM 以及其他大规模计划去重塑沙特的经济和社会，公共投资基金（PIF）在推进项目的同时又怎么反过来限制它，以及 Line 的失败可能是被“战略性包装”成另一种说法，而不只是简单地放弃。NEOM 到底是一次真心想重新想象未来的尝试，还是在国内快速变革期间，一个很好用的注意力转移工具？整场会是那种又聪明又落地的对话，把建筑、政治、金融和权力串起来，让你更能看懂这个地区、那些关于“未来”的话术，以及大想法在今天的世界舞台上到底是怎么被使用的。