麻豆社

Long before the oil price slump, many analysts were arguing that Saudi Arabia's economy was distorted and urgently needed to modernise. The huge King Abdullah Economic City project, still under construction, was designed and intended to take the Kingdom straight into a modern economic setting and infrastructure. While the scale and ambition of the project are hugely impressive, and much has already been built, on a recent visit to the site, Stephen Sackur was driven to ask some awkward questions about how realistic the blueprint for success really is.

Photo: The entrance of King Abdullah Economic City (Omar Salem/AFP/Getty Images)