Saudi Arabia has been forced to scale back its $1.5trillion plans for a 106-mile linear desert megacity, according to reports, in a humiliating climb down for the kingdom.

The Line - part of the country's audacious and futuristic NEOM project - was meant to be home to around 1.5 million residents by the end of the decade, with plans to ultimately increase its full capacity to nine million people.

Now, according to people familiar with the project, the development will only stretch 1.5 miles and house fewer than 300,000 residents by 2030, according to a new report from Bloomberg citing sources close to the project and documents.