Saudi Arabia

NEOM’s Trojena Project: The Fulfillable Dream

Published

18 hours ago

20th November 2024

Huda

The “Trojena Project” notion was born out of the prospect of creating a snow-covered city that would mimic the chilly cities.

Remarkably, NEOM is experiencing significant changes, such as its varied geography between beaches and mountains, heat and cold.

A Unique Sustainable Winter Destination

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia redefined the idea of mountain winter tourism in 2022 with the “Trojena” project, which aims to establish a sustainable winter ecosystem with a focus on protecting essential natural components.

In addition to offering an immense opportunity for financial investment in NEOM’s environmental variety, the “Trojena” project will help realise the Kingdom’s 2030 objective of improving sustainability and quality of life.

Six creative neighbourhoods feature the Trojena project modernly to mimic the chilly winter neighbourhoods in ice nations. This results in a blend of creativity, realism, and virtual architecture similar to what we see in Disney’s cold city realms.

Intriguingly, another venture that NEOM is working on is the Trojena project, which sits 50 km from the Gulf of Aqaba shoreline in the heart of a natural setting. At an elevation of 1,500 to 2,600 meters above sea level, the Trojena destination covers an area of more than 60 km2.

Trojena enjoys a range of temperatures, from hot to cold. In the winter, the city experiences temperatures below zero degrees Celsius, ten degrees lower than the rest of the region, with mild temperatures.

As a massive tourist project that will create hundreds of thousands of job opportunities, Trojena will be a beautiful spot to visit and live in, especially for people who embrace the long winter.

Diverse Year-Round Events and Activities

Throughout the year, the Trojena Project will provide a variety of events and activities, including skiing and other adventure-oriented pursuits. Upon completion of construction in 2026, it will rank among the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s landmarks and rival the most significant cities in the world.

Additionally, Trojena will have The Vault Village, the entryway to Trojena, and a man-made freshwater lake. This village’s design relies on contemporary vertical construction inside the mountains, and it has the most up-to-date equipment and technology. Trojena’s quality of life and sustainability will be its guiding principles to satisfy the demands of both locals and tourists.

NEOM’s CEO, engineer Nazmi Al-Nasr, stated on the future city’s official website: “NEOM’s ideals and daring goals distinguish it as a place where nature and modern technology come together to harmonise in a one-of-a-kind global experience.”

Given the arid environment of the Arabian Gulf, outdoor skiing is one of the highlights of the Trojena project in the region as a whole and the Gulf nations specifically.

Ski paths vary in characteristics and views, offering unique contrasts like desert dunes, turquoise Red Sea, and stunning NEOM mountains, contrasting with the natural contradiction of the region.

Built pursuant to international standards, the project encompasses sports, art, music, and cultural events, as well as a variety of leisure activities, to enrich the lives of residents and tourists and improve their overall well-being.

With over 10,000 employment openings and a GDP boost of 3 billion riyals by 2030, Trojena is a means of diversifying revenue streams and achieving substantial economic growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Turbulent Path of Trojena

The Trojena project, consisting of Gateway, Discovery, Valley, Research and Relaxation, and Fun communities, has won the bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games by the Olympic Council of Asia, making Saudi Arabia the first West Asian city to host a winter event; previously, only China, Japan, South Korea, and Kazakhstan had the opportunity to do so.

Whether the Trojena project will be completed on schedule or its opening will have to wait, is the topic at hand.

A recent assessment suggests that NEOM, a massive project in northwest Saudi Arabia, may never be completed due to the extreme heat in the region, making it questionable to develop a metropolis there.

Peter Cook, the renowned British architect who is participating with The Line, has called the project’s height “unbelievable.” In a subsequent documentary, Cook, who had previously lauded NEOM, remarks on Trojena as “perplexing even to those involved in its design.”

The construction of a $1.5 billion desalination plant in the Oxagon industrial zone, which could produce up to two million cubic meters of water daily, has halted due to criticism and concerns about the impact on local wildlife.

Greenpeace labels Trojena project “dangerous, wasteful, and unsustainable” due to ecological concerns about migrating birds impacted by The Line’s enormous, woman-like facade.

However, with 20% of the massive project now finished, Steffen Hertog, an associate professor at the London School of Economics, believes that the crown prince’s strong political backing boosts NEOM’s chances of success.

“The likelihood of NEOM finishing up in its entirety at this time seems increasingly unlikely, as foreign investment has been lacking due to concerns about human rights, the environment, privacy, and viability,” he continued.