Saudi Arabia has announced that it has been chosen to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at NEOM, its new $500 billion ‘land of the future’.
Following the successful bid, the event will take place within the TROJENA development, which will feature outdoor skiing facilities alongside a man-made freshwater lake and a nature reserve. It is expected to be completed in 2026.
“With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership & HRH Crown Prince to the sport sector we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG TROJENA2029 as the first country in west Asia,” sports minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal said on Twitter.
TROJENA2029
With the unlimited support by the Saudi leadership & HRH Crown Prince to the sport sector we are proud to announce we have won the bid to host AWG TROJENA2029 as the first country in west Asia, which will continue to place the kingdom as one of the leading countries in sport pic.twitter.com/GtV6OhxRhW
— عبدالعزيز بن تركي الفيصل (@AbdulazizTF) October 4, 2022
Nadhmi al-Nasr, NEOM chief executive, adds: “Trojena will have a suitable infrastructure to create the winter atmosphere in the heart of the desert, to make this Winter Games an unprecedented global event.”
Zero-carbon living at NEOM
NEOM, part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 project, which is steering the kingdom away from its reliance on oil, is a 26,500-square-km (10,230-square-mile) high-tech development on the Red Sea
Earlier this year, NEOM also revealed more details about The Line, a zero-carbon city with “vertically layered” buildings for work, living and leisure.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman first unveiled plans for The Line in January 2021. “At The Line’s launch last year, we committed to a civilizational revolution that puts humans first based on a radical change in urban planning,” the prince said.
The Line will vertically layer homes, workplaces, parks, pedestrian areas and schools within two mirrored facades stretching more than 170 km and rising 500 metres above sea level. It will be just 200 metres wide and will run on 100 percent renewable energy.
Other giga-projects being developed under the Vision 2030 plan include Qiddiya, which aims to become Saudi Arabia’s iconic entertainment destination, and the Red Sea Project, a luxury tourism experience.
Images: Neom
