In the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia right now, someone is probably thinking, “Maybe a 105-mile-long skyscraper wasn’t the best idea.”

They might be right. Neom, Saudi Arabia’s planned futuristic mega-development, is hitting some bumps on its road to completion. Engineers, architects, and executives face mounting costs and impossible tasks trying to build two skyscrapers, each the length of Delaware and the height of the Empire State Building.

What’s going wrongbesides “The Line” looking like it was designed by a bad guy in The Incredibles ?

Original plans expected 1.5 million residents to move into the first phase of the project by 2030, but according to Neom execs, it’s more likely to be ~200,000.

There are also cost overruns on a planned $38 billion ski resort and construction delays due to a need for more infrastructure for the 100,000 workers on the site.

Saudi Arabia’s economy minister denied reports that the kingdom scaled down its plans.

It’s more than a really long building. Neom symbolizes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bid to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil and boost tourism. But the cost—which employees estimate will be north of $2 trillion when done—may be too much even for one of the world’s largest oil exporters. —CC

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