(For more on my trip to Astana, check out the second part of this post here)
On July 6th, Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana celebrated her 10th Anniversary. (The President got Astana a new flag. I got her a Bill Cosby sweater. Hope it fits.) So this is a good time to talk about my recent (mid June) trip to the northern city. After 10 months living in Kazakhstan, and travelling exclusively around the south, it was nice to see what all the fuss about Astana was about. I also looked forward to spotting the marked differences between the heavily Russian-influenced North, and the more traditional South of the country.
Approaching Astana
Astana, previously named Akmola and Tselinograd, became capital in the mid-1990’s. Akmola was a medium sized city that grew mostly during the era of the virgin lands campaign. Since becoming the capital, the population has grown to about 600,000 people, still only about 40% of Almaty. Most of the immigrants are from the surrounding northern oblasts, or government workers forced to move from Almaty.
For an Almaty guy, the change was enormous. The so-called ’southern capital’ is nestled in the foothills of the mountains. Astana, conversely, rises out of the unending Kazakh steppe like a glistening Las Vegas. Well maybe more like White Plains, but the contrast is impressive and the city’s still quite pretty from a distance. Almaty itself doesn’t have much of a skyline, or concentrated mass of big buildings. Those that exist they are rather distributed in and around the large, uniform center.
So Astana did make a good first impression in that respect, but would it hold up to closer scrutiny? Rome wasn’t built in a day, but ‘new’ Astana has been built up in 10 years, with the pace quickening over the past several. The obvious downside to this is often poor construction quality, also seen in Almaty. Things that appear to be brand new (well they can’t be more than 10 years old, can they?) are already cracking and
fading.
Crack in the sidewalk.
The most common criticism of the city is that it is ‘fake’. I was never quite sure what this meant, aren’t all cities man-made, therefore fake? Most cities also have some degree of central-planning, such as Washington. Washington was also strategically place in the center of a young country with large regional divides.
The parallels are obvious. Nazarbaev’s Presidential Palace looks like a 30th Century White House, the glimmering Baiterek monument is the Washington Monument. In fact the promotional materials I’ve seen around Almaty, trying to entice newcomers, show the layout of the ‘new city’ or left bank (just like DC/Northern Virgina, Astana is too divided by a river) and remind one exactly of the rectangular National Mall.
Gardener working in front of Baiterek.
That’s where I got my expectations wrong. Likening the area to the mall, I expected just a slew of ministries and governmental office buildings on this area around Baiterek. It’s not, it’s an entire NEW CITY, with mostly new apartments and even shopping/entertainment centers. It creates the impression of a moon colony, self-contaiined, tho minus the protective dome (but with Astana’s infamous winters, maybe they should consider it). So here it is, a new city, however missing one important thing…the people!!
Seeing ghosts!
My walk around was on a Sunday morning, granted anywhere that’s usually the quietest time of the week, but still we walked through a park, and the gates of the Kazmunaigaz building without seeing a single soul.After descending down to a fountain,finally someone was spotted! But like the famous twilight zone episode, it turned out to be a statue!
That’s where people getting off calling the new city ‘fake’. It’s not artificial, it’s closer to the comparison of a movie set. Everything is there, murderer’s row with pretty, modern facades, like a mini-Dubai (the influence is clear). As we continued walking east I saw just how incomplete some of the construction was, no doubt not finished, as wished, for the celebrations on July 6th.
There were some odd sights in this respect too. For example some workers tearing up a seemingly normal
Out with the old
sidewalk and laying down pavement. Also visible are the posters plastered all over any construction barriers, proclaiming slogans for the 10th Birthday. Annoyingly these same posters were also on display in Almaty.
Architectural Astana is not without some gems. My personal favorite is the building nicknamed ‘The Lighter’ (see above). It was also very cool to see the still under-construction ‘Yurt’ shaped building, designed by Foster. Lowlights include the gaudy Presidential Mansion, and these giant gold (GOLD!) power generator shaped buildings standing in front of it. Generally I’d say the newer buildings are more sensible than the initial wave.Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the ‘Pyramid of Religious Harmony’, but I think it’s always nice to leave something for a return trip.
Foster + Partners' Giant Yurt-like Object
After finishing the walk around we hopped in a cab to the Right Bank, and the real city! With real people! (some of them even spoke Kazakh!)
Nice entry. I think you have a key point. The only people around the Left Bank are people who work there. Whereas the bazaar area, though a source of shame to many progressive Kazakhs, is always flooded with people. The city leaders have no interest in creating spaces that are pleasant or interesting for people.
Good luck with the blog. I added you to my blogroll and made a post promoting this blog.
[...] like it will be a good place to get foreign reactions to life in Kazakhstan. Check out the post on Astana where the author makes a key point that the Left Bank, while lovely, is devoid of people, making it [...]
One of the things to remember about the cracking etc. of some concrete/cement is the extreme weather conditions you find here in Astana. Going from an extreme of -40 to +40 (celsius) means some degradation of paving slabs etc. is inevitable. And yes, the rest probably can be explained by shoddy/rushed workmanship.
One final note… “but ‘new’ Astana has been built up in 10 years, with the pace quickening over the past several”. Mostly true, except I believe the last 6-9 months have actually seen a huge freeze on new and existing construction projects, apart from the high-prestige and visible ones. But that is starting to enter into the murky world of politics here, so I’ll shut up for now
Good point on the weather factor. In Almaty I’ve been happily in ignorance of the real Kazakh winter (i.e. the wind!) that covers most of the country. Even 5 minutes standing on the tarmac in Atyrau this past December was enough for me!
[...] article covers some of the same issues I wrote about with all the new buildings in Astana, where new architecture is used to bolster the image of the new state. The presence of an [...]
Have you ever been to Canberra (the capitol of Australia)? It has much in common with Astana, being only 100 years old this year and inhabited only about 80, built way out in the bush as a political compromise, far away from the appealing places settled already. Canberra does lack a ‘cult figure architect’, though. The city was a ghost town after working hours, and even the suburbs seemed empty on weekends — everybody went back to Melbourne or Sydney as often as possible.
The maturation of Astana will happen (or not) as Kazakhstan matures (or doesn’t). I am looking forward to what happens on the 25th birthday.
I’m looking forward to reading more from your blog!
Molapse, now I REALLY want to go to Astana this fall when we return to Kazakhstan after reading your account of what it looks like. I’m confused though by your reference of giving a sweater to Astana for its 10th birthday. Is that a metaphor for what my husband would normally do, forgetting hats, coats, wallets, cameras, cell phones wherever we stop to visit? I think you must have forgotten your sweater in Astana but why would you need it in the middle of summer? That is my ONE burning question!
[...] Oct, 2008 by molapse (This is a continuation of my previous post on my trip to Astana, capital city of [...]
[...] is a continuation of my previous post on my trip to Astana, capital city of [...]