Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 was announced on 25 April 2016 with a portfolio of transformative projects whose combined investment commitments exceeded half a trillion dollars. By April 2026 — the programme’s tenth anniversary — the portfolio has been subjected to the most dramatic triage in the history of sovereign development: construction suspended, contracts cancelled, timelines doubled, populations targets cut by 97 per cent, and an $8 billion writedown that acknowledged what the construction sites had already demonstrated.
What follows is the comprehensive catalogue. Every major project, cross-referenced against its original announcement, original timeline, original budget, and current status. The categories are precise: Cancelled (project terminated, no path to resumption); Suspended (construction halted, future uncertain); Significantly Delayed (timeline extended by more than 100 per cent); On Track (progressing within reasonable deviation from original targets); and Completed (operational and serving its intended purpose).
The aggregate tells the story that no individual project announcement could: Vision 2030 succeeded where it was pragmatic and failed where it was spectacular. The pattern holds without exception.
Cancelled or Effectively Dead
Trojena Dam and Freshwater Lake. Announced as part of NEOM’s mountain resort. Webuild’s $4.7 billion contract terminated effective 29 March 2026 at 30 per cent completion. Three dams designed to feed a 2.8-kilometre freshwater lake in a desert wadi system — the most environmentally contentious element of NEOM, eliminated by fiscal decision rather than environmental assessment.
Trojena Structural Steel and Ski Village. Eversendai Corporation’s contract terminated 26 March 2026. Awarded March 2024, cancelled barely two years later. Trojena’s overall cost was estimated by MEED at $19 billion.
The Line Tunnel. $1 billion contract held by Hyundai E&C, Samsung C&T, and Archirodon for a 12.5-kilometre tunnel beneath The Line. Contract actually cancelled 29 December 2025; disclosed via Hyundai regulatory filing on 13 March 2026.
2029 Asian Winter Games at Trojena. Awarded by the Olympic Council of Asia in October 2022. Saudi Arabia withdrew on 24 January 2026. Almaty, Kazakhstan named replacement host on 2 February 2026. Saudi statement framed withdrawal as strategic: “to ensure we can deliver the transformational destination that Trojena is designed to be.”
King Abdullah Economic City (original vision). Announced 2005. Original budget: $100 billion. Original target: 2 million residents. Current reality: approximately 10,000 residents. Industrial Valley occupancy at 25 per cent versus 70 per cent in comparable Jeddah zones. Sixty per cent unsold residential inventory. Developer Emaar EC initiated a 8.7 billion riyal ($2.3 billion) turnaround plan after losses increased nearly five-fold. The project that was supposed to demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s capacity for city-building before NEOM demonstrated the opposite.
Suspended or On Hold
The Line (active construction). Announced January 2021. Original budget: $200 billion-plus. Original specification: 170 kilometres, 9 million residents by 2030. PIF suspended all construction on 16 September 2025. Current output: 2.4 kilometres of foundation work. Population target for 2030 revised to fewer than 300,000. Internal audit: $8.8 trillion to complete, projected finish date 2080. Over 50,000 workers were on site at peak. The most expensive construction suspension in history.
The Mukaab / New Murabba. Announced February 2023. Original budget: $50 billion for the full New Murabba district, centred on a 400-metre cube. Construction beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended on 28 January 2026 per Reuters. Contracts awarded: approximately $100 million of the $50 billion plan. Completion pushed from 2030 to 2040.
Red Sea Global Phase 2. Original plan: 81 luxury resorts by 2030 across Red Sea and AMAALA destinations. Sources report: “No more construction is approved. They are holding work on Phase Two and treating Phase One as proof of concept.” Operating costs exceed revenues. Construction to halt at end of 2026. Red Sea Global officially denies downsizing. Phase 1 (eight-plus resorts) remains operational.
Oxagon Floating Industrial City. Announced 2021. The floating platform — designed as the world’s largest floating structure — has been pushed to the early 2030s with no confirmed construction start. No procurement activity recorded through Q1 2026. The onshore port (68 per cent complete), green hydrogen plant (80 per cent complete), and $5 billion DataVolt AI data centre are progressing. The floating concept has been quietly removed from near-term plans.
Significantly Delayed (Timeline Extended 100%+)
Trojena Mountain Resort (overall). Announced 2022. Original completion: 2026 for Asian Winter Games. Multiple major contracts cancelled. Will no longer host the 2029 Games. Future timeline unclear; the resort concept may not survive in its original form.
Sindalah Island. NEOM’s luxury island resort. Original completion: 2023 — positioned as NEOM’s first deliverable. Held a “grand opening” party in October 2024 but still not open to the public as of August 2025. Estimated cost: $4 billion (roughly triple the initial projection). Management transferred to Red Sea Global. Realistic public opening: late 2027 at the earliest.
Diriyah Gate. Announced 2017. Original budget: $20-25 billion (now $63 billion total project value). Original completion: 2027, now shifted to 2030. However, the project is actively progressing with over $27 billion in contracts awarded since 2024. Bujairi Terrace opened 2022. Heritage hotels operating. $1.5 billion 20,000-seat arena and $1.4 billion Royal Opera House under construction. The delay is real. The momentum is also real.
Green Riyadh. Announced 2019. Original target: 7.5 million trees across Riyadh by 2026. Timeline extended from 2026 to 2030. Major parks progressing but behind original schedule.
Jeddah Tower. Announced 2011. Original budget: $1.4 billion (now estimated $26 billion). Original completion: 2020. Construction halted 2018-2025 following Prince Alwaleed’s arrest. Now past 95th floor with a 5,200-person workforce, adding a floor every 3-4 days. Revised completion: 2028. Eight years late — but now the fastest-rising supertall on earth.
FIFA 2034 World Cup Stadiums. Confirmed December 2024. 15 stadiums across 5 cities (11 new builds, 4 refurbishments). PIF has already asked architecture firms to revise designs after projected costs were judged too high. The NEOM “Sky Stadium” at 350 metres above ground appears particularly uncertain given The Line’s suspension.
On Track or Progressing
Qiddiya / Six Flags Qiddiya City. Announced 2017. Budget: $8-10 billion. Six Flags Qiddiya City opened 31 December 2025 — the first Six Flags outside North America, featuring 28 rides across six themed worlds including Falcon’s Flight, the world’s longest, tallest, and fastest roller coaster. Aquarabia water park (25 hectares, 22 rides) opening March 2026. Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium breaking ground 2026. Speed Park F1 circuit ($1.9 billion) targeting 2027. Long-term target: 600,000 residents, 48 million annual visitors. The most successful giga-project in the portfolio.
King Salman Park. Announced 2019. Budget: $17-23 billion. 93 per cent of construction packages awarded. Art Park (Phase 1) expected to open late 2026. $3 billion mixed-use district consortium announced at MIPIM 2026. 16.9 square kilometre green district on former Riyadh airbase.
Sports Boulevard. Announced 2019. Budget: $4-6 billion. Phase 1 (40 per cent of project, 83 km) opened to public 27 February 2025. Investment fund doubled to 2 billion riyals. Global Sports Tower (130 metres, 84,000 sqm) design completed; construction planned 2026.
Jeddah Central. Announced December 2021. Budget: $20 billion. Phase 1 (45 per cent of project) on schedule for completion end of 2027. Includes stadium, oceanarium, opera house, marina, parks.
Expo 2030 Riyadh. Awarded November 2023. Top funding priority. 25 per cent of the 6 km2 site levelled. Bechtel appointed as Programme Management Consultant in July 2025. Key building construction starting Q3 2026. Event: 1 October 2030 to 31 March 2031. Protected by a fixed international deadline — the same external accountability that NEOM’s internal ambitions could not generate.
ROSHN Housing. PIF-backed national housing developer. 50,000 homes under construction. SEDRA project (Riyadh) in Phase 5 of 8 phases with 30,000 units planned across 20 million sqm. Al Danah (Dhahran) delivering 2,500-plus units. The most boring project in the portfolio, and one of the most successful.
Red Sea Global Phase 1. Eight-plus resorts now open including St. Regis, Six Senses Southern Dunes (opened November 2023), SLS, and InterContinental. Doubling hotel portfolio to 16 properties in 2026 across Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Rosewood, and Six Senses brands. AMAALA targeting first guests in 2026 with 1,267 rooms across nine resorts. Forbes named a Red Sea hotel “best new opening in the world.”
NEOM Green Hydrogen Plant. Budget: $8.4 billion joint venture. 80 per cent complete. Targeting commissioning Q3 2026. Will produce 600 tonnes of green hydrogen daily, converted to 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia annually. Air Products holds exclusive 30-year off-take agreement. TotalEnergies contracted for 70,000 tonnes annually (2030-2045). Yara International negotiating up to 1.2 million tonnes yearly. The single most commercially credible component of the entire Vision 2030 programme.
HUMAIN (AI). PIF-backed full-stack AI company. Already sold out all data centre capacity. Planning 1.9 GW of capacity by 2030, 6 GW by 2034. Aramco acquiring minority stake. 2026 declared Saudi Arabia’s “Year of AI.”
ALAT (Advanced Manufacturing). Announced February 2024. $100 billion allocated. Partnerships with Lenovo ($2 billion investment), SoftBank (robot manufacturing joint venture). Targeting 39,000 direct jobs and $9.3 billion non-oil GDP contribution by 2030.
Ceer EV Manufacturing. Announced 2022. Full production scheduled Q4 2026 at KAEC. Launching sedan and SUV. Seven models planned through 2029.
Completed and Operational
Riyadh Metro. Announced 2012. Budget: $22.5 billion. Original completion: 2019. Fully operational January 2025 — six years late but now running. All six lines operational across 176 km and 85 stations. Recognised by Guinness as the world’s longest fully automated driverless metro system. 1.9 million passengers in first week.
King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). Announced 2006. Budget: $10-15 billion. Original completion: 2014-2016. Now operational — a decade late — with 140-plus office tenants and 75-plus multinational regional headquarters including Aramco, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and PepsiCo. Saudi Central Bank and PIF headquartered there. KAFD metro station (Zaha Hadid design) operational since December 2024.
Bujairi Terrace (Diriyah). Opened 2022. First deliverable of the Diriyah Gate project. Operational dining and retail destination. Established as Riyadh’s most popular gathering place.
NEOM Bay Airport. Operational with limited capacity. Four airlines (Saudia, Flyadeal, flydubai, Qatar Airways), approximately 22 departures per month to five destinations. Full commercial expansion deferred to Sindalah’s eventual opening.
Lucid Motors Assembly (KAEC). Saudi Arabia’s first car manufacturing facility. Opened 27 September 2023. SKD assembly producing approximately 5,000 vehicles per year. Full-scale manufacturing (155,000 vehicles annually) ramping through 2026-2029. Whether the factory reaches capacity depends on global demand for a car that loses $79,500 per vehicle at the gross margin level.
The Systemic Context
PIF’s December 2024 board decision approved a minimum 20 per cent spending reduction across its portfolio of over 100 companies — including more than 50 development entities linked to giga-projects. Some budgets were cut by as much as 60 per cent. Total construction contract awards fell from $71 billion in 2024 to under $30 billion in 2025 — a 60 per cent decline. PIF’s share of national construction awards dropped from 38 per cent to 14 per cent.
The strategic pivot is explicit: investment priorities have shifted decisively toward Expo 2030, FIFA 2034 World Cup infrastructure, AI and data centres (HUMAIN), and advanced manufacturing (ALAT), and away from the futuristic construction spectacles that defined Vision 2030’s first decade. PIF Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan described the transition as moving toward “a more efficient and returns-driven investment vehicle.” Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih confirmed the prioritisation shift at PIF’s Private Sector Forum in February 2026.
Of the Vision 2030 KPIs tracked by independent analysts, approximately 57 per cent are on track, 26 per cent are behind but progressing, and 17 per cent are at risk of missing 2030 targets entirely. Regulatory reform targets have outperformed. Physical infrastructure targets have lagged.
The Pattern
The kill list reveals the same pattern documented throughout this investigative series. The projects that survived share a single characteristic: they generate returns independent of the megacity thesis. The theme park has customers. The housing development has buyers. The hydrogen plant has an off-take agreement. The metro transports commuters. The financial district hosts tenants. Each of these projects serves a population and a market that exists today.
The projects that were cancelled, suspended, or indefinitely delayed share a different characteristic: they required the integrated megacity thesis to function. The ski resort needed a city of 9 million to provide tourists. The floating platform needed an industrial ecosystem that does not yet exist. The 170-kilometre linear city needed a population that no projection, however optimistic, could deliver on the announced timeline. The giant cube needed commercial tenants willing to lease space in a 400-metre cube with no comparable precedent and no established market.
The aggregate tells the story. Total announced investment across the full Vision 2030 portfolio: approximately $1.5 trillion. Total deployed as of April 2026: approximately $300-400 billion (including Aramco dividends redirected through PIF, direct government spending, and private sector investment attracted to the programme). Total written down: $8 billion in disclosed giga-project writedowns plus over $7 billion in unrealised losses on the Lucid Motors position. Total cancelled contract value in Q1 2026 alone: $6.85 billion.
The kill list is not complete. It will grow. The FIFA 2034 stadium programme is already being reassessed for cost. The NEOM Stadium at 350 metres above ground within The Line requires a section of The Line to be built — and The Line is suspended. Sindalah has consumed $4 billion and welcomed zero paying guests. Red Sea Global’s Phase 2 is frozen. Each of these items may migrate from “delayed” to “suspended” to “cancelled” over the coming years, depending on oil prices, fiscal pressure, and the Crown Prince’s willingness to extend the pragmatism that Finance Minister Al-Jadaan has described as having “no ego.”
The ego produced the announcements. The pragmatism is producing the kill list. And the distance between the two — measured in billions of dollars, displaced communities, and cancelled contracts — is the distance between what Vision 2030 promised and what it delivered.
This analysis draws on PIF annual reports and financial disclosures; contractor filings from Webuild, Hyundai E&C, Eversendai, and DSV; the NEOM internal audit as reported by the Wall Street Journal; Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Reuters, and AGBI reporting on project cancellations and suspensions; the Olympic Council of Asia (Asian Winter Games withdrawal); Qiddiya, Red Sea Global, Diriyah Gate, KAFD, ROSHN, and NEOM progress reports; MEED project cost estimates; King Abdullah Economic City financial filings; Middle East Eye, Construction Week Online, the Middle East Insider, Dezeen, ArchDaily, and the Saudi Gazette; and public statements by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim, and PIF Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan. Vision2030.AI is editorially independent and is not affiliated with PIF, NEOM, or any official Vision 2030 entity.