Kazakhstan capital's next challenge

Astana and Dubai, despite vast differences, have a few things in common as cities. Dubai is not the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana is one of the coldest capitals in the world while Dubai is in one of the hottest regions on the planet. But Astana, like Dubai, has experienced rapid development in recent years, due in large part to the relocation of the capital to the city, and like Dubai, it has had to make sometimes impressive adaptations to architecture and development in order to compensate for the climate.

It is for this reason that Kazakhstan may soon have an indoor city, not just an indoor ski slope like Dubai, but an entire indoor city that will have an all-year round mild and pleasant climate and will be intersected by Venetian-like waterways and filled with modern, chic residential areas and business districts. The entire complex will be around 3 to 4 kilometers squared, making it around the same size as Male, the capital of the Maldives, with, perhaps, a similar climate and atmosphere.

If and when the project is completed, it will be a world first.

Plans for such a structure were first explored by President Nazarbayev back in 2006 when Kazakhstan news media reported that part of the city was going to be covered with a giant transparent tent in order to protect it from the harsh conditions of winter. During the coldest months of the year, the temperature can drop to levels as low as -40’C, which has a severe effect on the city’s local economy as production is decreased, less people eat out or go shopping, which impacts the local GDP and almost no tourists visit the city during this time as it is buffeted by cold winds and snow.

“It's a city, an indoor city. Can you imagine in the winter time, in -30℃ or -40℃, you can have such an atmosphere, such a nice climate,” Aytekin Gultekin, president of Sembol, a national construction firm, told Kazakhstan news outlets when talking about the proposed development and its benefits. The indoor city, which, rather imaginatively, is to be called Indoor City, will also be home to a number of high-end hotels and resorts, making it a premier tourist location for both domestic and international travelers during the winter months.

Dubai has constructed similar modern marvels, such as the Palm Islands and World Islands, though not all these plans have seen fruition. Just before the financial crash in 2008, there were plans by Dubai developers to construct a series of ‘desert cities’, indoor residential areas that would be encased inside a huge glass dome providing protection from the elements all-year-round. These plans were scrapped though, as the real estate market tanked and lost almost 50% of its value in the once fast-growing city.

Dubai continues to look to the horizon, but with more foresight. Many international commentators have ridiculed Kazakhstan’s plans for Astana, calling it impossible, unfeasible and doomed to failure. Kazakhstan is also relatively unknown on the international radar, tourism is a major industry, but the country is not a premier destination for tourism like Dubai. But before the construction of the world’s most luxurious hotel, the world’s tallest building, the world’s biggest man-made islands, Dubai was relatively unknown as well.

The construction of Astana’s giant 50 storey high tent has proven to be feasible. The indoor complex, known as Khan Shatyr, covers a ground area of ten football stadiums and is a smaller version of the mammoth Indoor City project, featuring luxury homes, waterways, pools and parks where residents can enjoy summer weather in a winter city.

Official figures on how much these developments have cost, and how much they’re expected to cost in future, are vague. The government told Kazakhstan news providers in 2006 that $15 billion had so far been spent on redeveloping the entire capital city to correspond with world standards for a capital.

When the government first moved the capital to Astana the city was a shadow of what it is now. The move was a massive risk, but has proven successful and provides Kazakhstan with a capital city that is deep within the country in a safe location.