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Coming from the future, before it was even launched, this is how NEOM came about, and this is how its founder,

His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, envisioned it, as he laid its foundations to be the future, an agent of progress and change. It was therefore expected that "future" be intertwined with NEOM's basic identity, its name, its values and its vision, and this is how NEOM is… from the future and to the future.

The Crown Prince and Chairman of the NEOM Board of Directors, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, discussed and deliberated with members of the project's Founding Board - in addition to experts and specialists in the field - about an appropriate name for such a project with a global outlook. When the Board conducted its first meetings to address related topics, among the agenda items was the search for a name that represents the identity and symbolism of this dream project, as HRH saw that the name expresses the cultural and civilizational dimension of the universality of the project. A series of discussions were circulated about the significance of the name and how it should reflect the project's global identity, human dimension and remarkable ambition.

The actual name designation journey began by defining criteria, qualities and conditions, all of which bear a clear and firm vision for selection; then, sorting and testing the lists of names proposed by the consulting team. The list included 2,000 names, which was further reduced - as per the standards and requirements - to 150 names, and then reduced again to five names. However, none of them was chosen or agreed upon.

During the Founding Board discussions, some members considered giving the project the name of HRH, the President of the Founding Board, either directly or by incorporating his name within the project name. As such, two names were suggested: "NEOVIA MBS" and "NMBS," but the opinions of the members were split. The team that was not in favor clarified that HRH, the Chairman of the Board, leads major national projects, and HRH being Chairman of NEOM Board of Directors is sufficient to deliver a message to the world that reflects the direct connection of HRH to the project. They did, however, support HRH's principal idea that the name should be neither Eastern nor Western, and also not belonging to a specific language or culture, in addition to being neutral and rather open to the entire world.

The Board members then brainstormed for words representing the project sectors and its basic pillars. What followed was choosing the initials of those sectors and merging them to obtain a distinctive name that preserves the identity of the project, and this resulted in the name "NEO MSTACBEL," whose initials MSTACBEL symbolize the main project sectors, such as Media, Sport, Technology and Energy. And then the word was abbreviated and symbolized by the letter M, meaning "Mim" in Arabic as a symbol for two words: It is the first letter of the Arabic word for future (mustaqbal) and also the first letter of the name of HRH Prince "Mohammed" bin Salman. Then the letter "M" was merged with the word "NEO" from the Greek language, which means new, to form the name that constitutes the beacon of change in the world. The name "NEOM" was henceforth formed and agreed upon unanimously by the Board.

Thus, the name NEOM was formed with the approval and endorsement of the Founding Board as the official name of the project; a true reflection of NEOM's vision and the reality that will be achieved - Allah willing - to contribute to building a promising future for future generations. From that moment on, the lights of NEOM have pierced the sky, heralding a luminous dawn, a promising future, and a rich life in a land built by man for the sake of all humanity. (Credit: Neom)

Wikipedia

Neom (styled NEOM; Arabic: ???? Neom, Hejazi pronunciation: [n?'jo??m]) is a city being built in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is planned to incorporate smart city technologies and function as a tourist destination. The site is north of the Red Sea, east of Egypt across the Gulf of Aqaba, and south of Jordan. It is planned to cover a total area of 26,500 km2 (10,200 sq mi), extending 170 kilometres along the coast of the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia aimed to complete major parts of the project by 2020, with an expansion completed in 2025, but it is behind schedule. The project has an estimated cost of $500 billion. On January 29, 2019, Saudi Arabia announced that it had set up a closed joint-stock company named Neom. The aim of this company, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, is to develop the economic zone of Neom. The project is planned to be totally powered by renewable energy sources.

Experts have expressed skepticism about the ambitions of the megaproject.According to a 2022 report in The Economist, only two buildings have been constructed thus far, and most of the project area remains bare desert

Inauguration of the project

The city was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 24, 2017. He said it will operate independently from the “existing governmental framework” with its own tax and labour laws and an "autonomous judicial system."Egypt announced in 2018 that it is contributing some land to the Neom project.

The initiative emerged from Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors. Plans call for robots to perform functions such as security, logistics, home delivery, and caregiving] and for the city to be powered solely with wind and solar power. Because the city will be designed and constructed from scratch, other innovations in infrastructure and mobility have been suggested. Planning and construction will be initiated with $500 billion from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and international investors. The first phase of the project is scheduled for completion by 2025.

In July 2020, the US's Air Products & Chemicals Inc announced that it would build the world's largest green hydrogen plant in Saudi Arabia. Air Products will jointly own the US$5 billion project, Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power and Neom. In May 2022, Indian conglomerate Larsen & Toubro was awarded the contract for construction of a 2,930 MW solar power generation plant, a 1,370 MW wind power farm, a 400 MW battery energy storage system, along with a power transmission network of around 190 km.

Name

The name "Neom" was constructed from two words. The first three letters form the Ancient Greek prefix ??? Neo- meaning “new”. The fourth letter is from the abbreviation of Arabic:, romanized: Mustaqbal, (Hejazi pronunciation: [m?s'tagbal]), the Arabic word for “future.”

Location

The Neom project is located in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, in the northwest of the kingdom, extended along with Aqaba Gulf and 468 km of coastline with beaches and coral reefs, as well as mountains up to 2,500 metres high, with a total area of around 26,500 km2.

Directors

Klaus Kleinfeld was announced as the inaugural director for the Neom project upon its launch by Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman on 24 October 2017.[25] In 2018, Kleinfeld signed Gladstone Place Partners LLC for "Communications Services" for the Neom project, for a fee of $199,500 plus expenses of $45,000.

On 3 July 2018, Kleinfeld was announced as the new advisor to Muhammed bin Salman from 1 August 2018 onwards. Nadhmi Al-Nasr would succeed him as the new Director of Neom from 1 August 2018.

Public relations

According to a US Justice Department filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Saudi mega-city developing firm NEOM Company hired Edelman, an American public relations and marketing consultancy, for assistance with public relations on the “smart-city” project. As per their three-month contract with the Chicago-based Edelman, Neom paid Edelman $75,000 per month for international work done. Under this contract, the PR firm provided communications support in various sectors, including strategic counsel, stakeholder identification and engagement, media relations, and content development. Neom and Edelman refused to comment on the deal. In two years since 2019, Edelman counted as the fourth PR firm hired by Neom, following BCW, Ruder Finn, and Teneo.

Based on reports by human rights organisations, Saudi residents have pushed against the development of Neom, which would require the resettlement of 20,000 residents, including Bedouin tribe members. A tribesman was also allegedly shot dead on refusing to give up his land, raising humanitarian concerns.

In July 2020, a sponsorship with the League of Legends European Championship gathered significant backlash from the professional League of Legends community, including gamers and the league's staff. The backlash was centered around human rights abuses from the Saudi government, particularly its record on LGBT rights. As a result of the backlash, the sponsorship was cancelled within several hours of the announcement.

Some of the illustrations for the Neom project were taken from the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, leaving commentators to note that "using an actual shot of Singapore to depict an upcoming construction project in Saudi Arabia is an odd choice".

In March 2020, Neom signed a partnership deal as a principal partner with Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team.Two years later, Neom became the title sponsor for McLaren Racing's electric motorsport division as NEOM McLaren Electric Racing from the 2022–23 season with McLaren's Formula E and Extreme E divisions renamed as NEOM McLaren Formula E Team and NEOM McLaren Extreme E Team respectively.

In March 2021, Neom signed a four-year global sponsorship agreement with the Asian Football Confederation.

Neom hosted Extreme E's 2022 Desert X-Prix and held the naming rights to the series' Island X-Prix in Sardinia. Before the latter race, the project's energy company Enowa formed a multi-year partnership with Extreme E as its "Official Green Hydrogen Power Partner" and the sponsor of the "Hyperdrive" feature.

The Line
The Line, Saudi Arabia

In January 2021, the project unveiled plans for The Line, a linear city 170 kilometres (110 mi) long and 200 metres (660 ft) wide within the Neom area. It is planned to house 9 million residents without conventional cars, with all basic services within a 5-minute walking distance.

The design for Neom, The Line project, was further modified in July 2022. Instead of constructing a city consisting of multiple buildings on a linear plan, it will be consolidated into one giant structure that is 500 metres (1,600 ft) tall, 200 metres (660 ft) wide and 170 kilometres (110 mi) long..

(Wikipedia)