Everglades Jetport: The 'world's greatest airport' that never was
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/everglades-jetport-florida-cmd/index.html
When it comes to building a huge facility in an area whose population is extremely low, there seems to be few problems about land acquisition. But, in some cases, there can be many plants and animals which are difficult to be removed. On the other hand, if the area is desert, we don't have to think about the ecosystems.
So, construction of NEOM on Arabian desert wouldn't encounter such an issue.
