The Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, has always been a centre of global attention because of its oil reserves. However, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman has taken a number of steps into the future that has brought him in the centre of attention. Not only the hard-line clerics and religious scholars would have their reservations over the Crown Prince’s decisions; the world too has its eyes set on the Kingdom and what transformations it will go through during the next couple of decades. One such decision of the Crown Prince came forth during the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh last October when he unveiled plans of building a US $500 billion Neom, a 25,500 square kilometre transitional city and economic zone to be constructed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia – the region that borders Jordan and Egypt. Recently, the contracts of building five royal palaces have been approved and given to the Saudi Binladen group. For centuries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has maintained its religious sanctity and upheld its moral values. However, now that Neom’s blueprint is being promoted, the Kingdom’s values are expected to see a shift. According to the Saudi Vision 2030, the country plans to reduce its dependency on oil and add diversification in its economy while developing public sector businesses. In this regard, the country has planned to invest heavily in infrastructural development, education, tourism, and recreation. Neom comes into the equation for it will provide considerable revenue to the country if all steps are taken as planned. Saudi Arabia has always remained a country distant from worldly glitter and technological advancements, normally seen in the United Arab Emirates. However, the technologically backed utopia, Neom, will change the game for Saudi Arabia, as it will attract investors from across the world, especially from the Western hemisphere. According to the website of Neom, the city will run on solar energy, will have entirely autonomous transportation and will be backed by artificial intelligence. The city will mark the beginning of a new civilisation for it will not follow Saudi laws or rules, and the city will have its own set of regulations. For centuries, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has maintained its religious sanctity and upheld its moral values. However, the Kingdom’s values are now expected to undergo a shift According to the Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom aims to follow three-rule strategy, which includes a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. Moreover, the Saudi government plans to uplift itself as an investment powerhouse of the region while connecting Asia with Europe and Africa. The plan needs ample time, planning, human and capital resources to be completed. However, once completed, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have a new look which may not compliment the Kingdom’s histogram, cultural and most importantly religious appeal, which it has maintained for centuries. Some projects envisioned to be developed under the Saudi Arabia 2030 Vision include: the New Taif Project (to be completed by 2020 at US $3 billion), the Al-Qidiya Project (to be completed by 2022 at US $2.7 billion), Downtown Jeddah (first phase to be completed by 2022 at the US $4.8 billion) and Neom (first phase to be completed by 2025 at US $500 billion). From a broader perspective, Saudi Arabia, through Neom, may as well be competing against Dubai, which has become a tourist hub and utopia of a sort. However, Dubai has its share of failures where ambitious infrastructural development plans were a mere liability for the government. According to the Saudi Crown Prince, “Neom’s duty is to be a world hub for everyone in the whole world.” However, building such a city to become a global hub would require it to follow Western practices or “dictation” to some extent as a higher chunk of the investment, as many opines, will flow in from the Western countries. With the West backing, such a project would mean it would influence how Neom will operate. Will Saudi Arabia blend in with this kind of an impact or will it define its limits, is a question that must be answered soon. Analysts will be sceptical over Saudi Arabia’s decision to build Neom and how the Kingdom desires to change itself drastically by 2030. However, Saudi Arabia would need a vibrant economy if it aspires to reduce its dependency on oil. With its capital and investment directed at developing infrastructure and other sectors of the economy, the Kingdom could become a hub of development and progress. Time will tell how the Kingdom will retain and preserve its religious and cultural values amidst this change in society and principles that is nothing short of being unprecedented. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s laws have always restrained the masses to experiment, to divert from the norms and to create their own rules. With Neom in the picture and a possible game changer for Saudi Arabia, the Saudi mindset is expected to change. Moreover, Saudi Arabia’s legal approach would also need some restructuring to create space for Neom and similar projects to flourish that are opposite to the moral and legal standings of the Kingdom. The writer is a columnist and an author. He can be reached at omariftikhar82@gmail.com Published in Daily Times, February 12th 2018.