Neom is set to host hyper-futuristic cityscapes and structures — but financial pressures on the kingdom are changing.

Neom CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr has exited the company amid allegations that workers have died and gone missing while working on the Saudi Vision 2030 project.

Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it was replacing the chief executive of its futuristic mega-city NEOM as scepticism mounts over the Gulf kingdom's most ambitious development projects.

Pitched as a mix of ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Jurassic Park,’ Neom is the world’s biggest construction project. Twenty-one thousand people have died so far to make it happen.

DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) -Nadhmi al-Nasr, the long-time chief executive of the $500 billion NEOM mega-project at the heart of Saudi Arabia's drive to diversify away from oil, has departed, NEOM said on Tuesday without giving a reason.

Following the departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr who had served as the project’s chief executive since 2018, Aiman al-Mudaifer has been appointed as interim CEO, says NEOM in a statement.

Saudi Arabia's Neom construction would require 20 percent of the world’s steel supply, an unprecedented amount of steel for one construction.

Neom, Saudi Arabia's ambitious megacity project, is a key part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 scheme. Its CEO stepped down after six years in the role.

The departure of the longtime CEO marks a major shakeup at Neom, which is a showpiece of Riyadh’s economic ambitions.