Mukaab in Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s giant cube project stalls

The gigantic cube planned in central Riyadh was meant to become Saudi Arabia’s new landmark – but that ambition has now stalled.

The futuristic Mukaab, an enormous cube of concrete, glass and advanced technology, was intended to be the most striking symbol of Saudi Arabia’s transformation. Insiders are now reporting a major setback: construction on the record-breaking structure has been paused, pushing the vision far into the future.

What lies behind the Mukaab megaproject

Mukaab is not a conventional skyscraper but, rather, a vertical city. The plans envisage a cube-shaped building with sides measuring approximately 400 metres in the heart of Riyadh. Its interior is intended to accommodate an entire urban district, including homes, hotels, shopping areas, entertainment venues, offices and green spaces.

The cube is the centrepiece of “New Murabba”, a newly planned futuristic city-centre district. Valued at around $50 billion, the new area is designed to give Riyadh a second, ultra-modern heart, complete with a stadium, museum, university, cinemas and vast retail areas.

Mukaab is planned on such a scale that, in theory, around twenty Empire State Building towers could fit within its volume.

Under the current plans, the cube could eventually house up to 400,000 people. It would set a record in global architectural history, as no building with such an immense cubic volume has previously been completed.

Sudden pause: why Saudi Arabia is applying the brakes

Sources familiar with the project say the Saudi leadership has temporarily halted active construction. Officially, the move is described as a “suspension”, rather than a final cancellation. Preparatory work in Riyadh has already begun, and the vast foundation excavation has been dug.

According to consistent reports, the principal reason is financial. Saudi Arabia has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to spectacular visions in recent years, ranging from new tourism regions to entirely planned desert cities. It is now becoming clear that not every scheme can progress at the pace originally envisaged.

• Projects expected to generate faster returns are currently being prioritised.
• Key elements for the 2030 World Expo are receiving attention.
• Developments linked to the 2034 FIFA World Cup are also a priority.
• Major leisure and tourism destinations, such as the complex near Qiddiya, are likewise being advanced.

For Mukaab, this means the 2030 completion date is no longer considered viable. The cited information now points instead to an opening around 2040 – a substantial setback for a project originally intended as a showcase for “Vision 2030”.

Vision 2030: a kingdom seeking a future beyond oil

The cube forms part of a far broader programme. Through the “Vision 2030” strategy, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is driving a fundamental transformation of the country. The aim is to make the economy considerably less dependent on oil, create more jobs and shape Saudi Arabia into a global hub for tourism, finance, sport and entertainment.

A large share of Saudi economic output still comes from the oil industry, with approximately 40 per cent of gross domestic product attributed to “black gold”. Falling or volatile oil prices restrict the government’s financial room for manoeuvre. That makes it necessary to set priorities and reassess projects with particularly high prestige but uncertain direct economic returns.

Mukaab was intended as an extreme symbol: a high-tech cube representing renewal, progress and modernisation in tangible form. That very symbolic status makes its suspension all the more notable.

Not only Mukaab: other mega-ideas are being scaled back

The cube is not the only project reaching its limits. “The Line” – a settlement conceived as a perfectly straight urban strip stretching hundreds of kilometres through the desert – is also reportedly being substantially reduced in size and pursued more slowly.

The proposal was for a habitable high-rise strip in the desert, extending more than 170 kilometres, densely populated and heavily digitised. To many observers, the images resembled a bleak cyberpunk scenario more than conventional urban planning. Current indications suggest that only a short section may initially be built, if any of it is built at all.

Debate over the shape: resemblance to a sacred symbol

Mukaab has prompted discussion not only because of its scale, but also because of its visual appearance. Criticism emerged early within the country because the monumental cube recalls the Kaaba, Islam’s central holy site at the Great Mosque in Mecca.

Critics see the gigantic cube form as having a problematic proximity to one of Islam’s holiest places.

Although the planners stress that Mukaab is an independent concept with a modern design approach, some believers find the idea of a leisure- and consumption-focused mega-cube troubling when the association with the Kaaba is considered. In a country where religion and politics are closely intertwined, this symbolic dimension carries considerable weight.

Risks and opportunities in such radical urban transformation

From an urban-planning perspective, Saudi Arabia’s projects are operating at the limits of what is achievable. Such vast, top-down planned structures involve risks:

• strong dependence on stable long-term revenues;
• significant vulnerability to political changes of direction;
• uncertainty over whether residents and tourists can be attracted on a lasting basis;
• potential misallocation of resources if projects do not perform as expected.

Conversely, the radical approach also offers opportunities. Saudi Arabia can test new urban and leisure concepts relatively quickly without having to account for existing building stock. If it succeeds in creating functioning showcase developments that gain worldwide attention, the country could establish itself as a hotspot for architecture, events, sport and entertainment – much as Dubai has done, but pushed even further into the extreme.

What the Mukaab pause could mean for the future

The current construction pause appears to be a reality check for the kingdom’s ambitions. The visions remain, but the finances must add up: every billion spent on a symbolic building is unavailable elsewhere. Saudi leaders face the question of how much spectacular architecture is needed to achieve their objective of a diverse, modern economy.

It will be particularly interesting to see how far Mukaab moves away from its original concept. Possible options include smaller dimensions, modular construction over several decades, or a stronger focus on uses with clearly calculable returns, such as hotels, conference centres and office space. Stricter environmental requirements could also play a part, as mega-buildings in the desert consume enormous amounts of energy for cooling and technical systems.

For international observers, the pause sends an important signal: even an exceptionally wealthy state encounters limits when pursuing gigantic prestige projects. For now, Mukaab remains a symbol – not of a completed future, but of the difficult route towards it. What the cube will ultimately look like will be decided less by the renderings than by the coming budget rounds in Riyadh.