NEOM Chief Urban Development Officer: The Line to Represent an Int’l Standard for World Cities

The Line will change the way of life and behavior of the population. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Line will change the way of life and behavior of the population. Asharq Al-Awsat
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NEOM Chief Urban Development Officer: The Line to Represent an Int’l Standard for World Cities

The Line will change the way of life and behavior of the population. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Line will change the way of life and behavior of the population. Asharq Al-Awsat

Antoni Vives, Chief Urban Development Officer at NEOM, said that ongoing works in the city of The Line are accelerated to complete several stages and start welcoming residents and visitors by 2025.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Vives noted that the city, which is scheduled to be fully completed by 2030, would be the home to the biggest developers of the knowledge economy environment worldwide, as the project aims to be a benchmark for the perceptual city in the world.

The plans are proceeding in an integrated manner that is consistent with the nature of the modern city, in accordance with the requirements of NEOM, with the goal to transform the vision of the Saudi Crown Prince into reality, he emphasized.

Vives also revealed that the city’s airport – one of the largest in the world – would be ready before 2030.

The project aims to transform all challenges into amazing solutions and opportunities to build a different human future by exploiting the latest types of modern technology, through a cognitive city that uses artificial intelligence, away from congestion and noise, and protected from carbon and industrial pollutants, he underlined.

According to Vives, great work has been achieved in the initial stage of the project over the past three years.

He revealed that The Line would change the way of life and behavior of the population, in a manner that preserves a safe and pure environment, while providing an amazing lifestyle in terms of food, sports, transportation, tourism and other features.

It will be an astounding city; yet, it is racing against time to exploit the latest technologies. It is a city with amazing modern technological development and constant renewal, he said.

Vives stressed that attracting global residents and investors to NEOM was a continuous strategy that would be always maintained, as it seeks to create a new and attractive world that gives human life a wide range of luxury and happiness with its large areas of fun and gardens of beauty.

This part of the world is not just a piece of land, but an integrated life structure, in which the means of transport run in an unprecedented modern way, where senior researchers, scientists and innovators work to make everything within reach in a different, unconventional way, far from anything familiar, the NEOM Chief Urban Development Officer told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Line aims to be the international standard for world cities, he said, adding that all business, machinery, and services will be managed with renewable energy, which enhances the added value of energy in the city, away from pollution.



White House Escalates Pressure Campaign on Federal Reserve by Targeting Its Headquarters Renovation

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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White House Escalates Pressure Campaign on Federal Reserve by Targeting Its Headquarters Renovation

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The White House is trying to turn the Federal Reserve into a poster child for wasteful spending, criticizing an expensive renovation at the central bank’s headquarters as President Donald Trump pursues an extraordinary pressure campaign to lower interest rates.

The latest step came Thursday when Russ Vought, Trump’s top budget adviser, sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell saying the president is “extremely troubled” that plans may have violated government building rules with an “ostentatious overhaul."

Trump also named two close aides — James Blair, a deputy chief of staff, and Will Scharf, the staff secretary who furnishes the president with executive orders for his signature — to the National Capital Planning Commission, an obscure panel that could provide another avenue to increase scrutiny.

Blair said he would be “requesting a review of all previous and current building plans” and suggested that Powell wasn’t honest while testifying to Congress about the renovations last month.

If Powell isn’t truthful, Blair wrote on social media, “how else is the American Public to maintain confidence that its monetary policy manager is acting in their interests?”

Taken together, the latest steps amount to an escalating effort to dislodge Powell from his position as chairman before his term ends next May. It’s an unprecedented attempt to reshape the Federal Reserve’s traditional role as an autonomous arbiter of US monetary policy.

If successful, Trump will have expanded his influence to yet another corner of American government that was once seen as beyond the reach of political pressure, but he will have also jeopardized the independence that has made the central bank a foundational player in the US economy.

On Wednesday, Trump said Powell “should resign immediately” so “we should get somebody in there that’s going to lower interest rates.” He suggested that he’d rather have Scott Bessent, his Treasury secretary, as a replacement.

Powell has resisted Trump’s pressure, largely out of concern that Trump’s tariff plans could increase costs for American consumers. If rates are lowered too aggressively, it could lead to a resurgence of inflation.

But Trump insists that inflation is no longer a problem, and a rate cut would help make mortgages, auto loans and other forms of consumer debt cheaper. Trump has also said it would allow the US government to finance its debt more cheaply, a pressing concern as legislation signed by the president is poised to increase the federal deficit by extending tax cuts.

“LOWER THE RATE!!!” Trump wrote on social media on Thursday as he continued a near-daily drumbeat of criticism.

However, there’s no guarantee that financial markets will reduce rates on government debt even if the Fed bows to Trump’s wishes. Such a situation could lead to higher interest costs for consumers — a reminder of how monetary missteps may backfire.

Powell was nominated to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors by President Barack Obama, then made chairman by Trump during his first term. But in his second term, Trump turned Powell — who has sought to avoid politics and refrains from responding directly to the president— into one of his primary antagonists.

Trump has said that he wouldn’t directly oust Powell — “I don’t know why it would be so bad, but I’m not going to fire him,” he said last month. The Supreme Court said in May that it could block such a step.

However, Trump's allies have found other ways to make Powell uncomfortable.

Bill Pulte, the Trump-appointed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, also accused Powell of lying to Congress about the renovations.

“I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause,’” he said last week. Pulte said the situation “stinks to high heaven.”

Vought, in his own letter, said the called the initial renovation plans featuring rooftop terrace gardens, VIP dining rooms and premium marble an “ostentatious overhaul.” Vought also suggested that Powell misled Congress by saying the headquarters had never had a serious renovation, saying that an update to its roof and building systems that was completed in 2003 counts as a “comprehensive” renovation.

Fed officials did not respond to an email seeking a response to the letter. Powell said in Senate testimony last month that some of the elements in the 2021 plan such as the dining rooms and rooftop terraces are no longer part of the project for the 90-year-old Marriner S. Eccles Building.

The debate over the renovation could set up a legal battle between the White House and the Fed, which under the law is allowed to use its own judgment to establish “suitable” and “adequate” quarters for its operations.

Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola-Marymount University, said “it’s good that the central bank budget is coming under review and scrutiny.”

However, he warned against using such issues to challenge the Fed’s independence. If that’s compromised, he said, it’s “bad for the economy, that’s bad for inflation expectations and therefore long term inflation.”