Prince Mohammed approves NEOM Bay masterplan

NEOM Founding Board, chaired by Crown Prince and Vice President of Saudi Cabinet, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, has approved NEOM Bay’s masterplan - the first urban area to be developed in the mega project.

The board called for speeding up completion of the required studies, ahead of launching construction works in Q1 2019, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.

Several key facilities are expected to be finalized by the end of this year, including the conversion of NEOM’s current airport to a commercial one that operates regular flights between Riyadh and NEOM.

The work on the first phase of NEOM Bay will be completed in 2020.

“The year 2019 will be a milestone in NEOM’s journey. We are now preparing for the development of NEOM Bay area, which will provide a new concept of urban living that will enable it to become a platform for attracting the world’s top minds for creating advanced economic sectors”, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, chief executive officer of NEOM said.

NEOM Bay’s development strategy relies on four key pillars: providing an ideal living experience and life quality for households; creating a high-end lifestyle and a luxurious tourist destination; supporting both innovation and the related centers, so as to achieve NEOM’s economic goals.

Innovation centers will support the knowledge-based economy in various sectors, such as media and health and well-being, whereas creative centers will support art in all its forms to create a special identity for NEOM, Al-Nasr added.

NEOM Bay is designed to be an eco-friendly project, where energy will be generated from renewable sources.