Thesis title: Strategic Transport Modelling for Mega-Projects: Development of Multimodal Transport Solutions for NEOM City Integrated with Intensive Scenario Management
The rapid urbanization and increased car dependency in megacities has intensified the demand for sustainable transport solutions that balance efficiency, accessibility, and environmental impact. NEOM, a visionary city in Saudi Arabia, represents an unprecedented scale of urban development, with a projected population of more than 8 million and an innovative design cantered around The Line—a linear city concept emphasizing multimodal mobility. While extensive research exists on sustainable and multimodal transport in megacities, no prior study has tackled a project of this magnitude, with such unique spatial configuration, and with negligible car dependency.
This research successfully developed a comprehensive macrosimulation transport model tailored to NEOM’s distinctive linear urban design. The model demonstrated strong adaptability to NEOM’s futuristic transport vision, effectively representing its planned multimodal network while maintaining the flexibility to accommodate evolving supply and demand assumptions. Scenario-based analysis played a crucial role, allowing the model to simulate NEOM’s development stages—from an initial 100,000-resident city to a fully built 8-million-person megacity—as well as contingency scenarios to assess system resilience under unexpected conditions. The analysis also provided valuable insights into user behaviour, revealing how mode choice, trip distribution, and modal share are shaped by NEOM’s linear structure and emphasis on multimodal transport. Additionally, the model served as a robust decision support system (DSS), offering planners critical insights into land use balancing, infrastructure optimization, and efficient mobility strategies. By leveraging key performance indicators (KPIs) at both aggregate and disaggregated levels, the model enabled data-driven planning decisions regarding supply optimization and land use inefficiencies.
Beyond its immediate application within NEOM, this research contributes to the broader field of transport modelling by demonstrating how macrosimulation can be adapted to unprecedented urban forms. It highlights the role of multimodal integration in cities designed with minimal private vehicle dependence and provides a replicable, scenario-based framework for strategic transport planning in large-scale developments. These theoretical and practical contributions provide valuable insights for transport modelling in next-generation urban developments.