Round table «Will Almaty be a city without suburbs and what should be done for this?»
On September 16, 2020, an online round table was held on the topic «Will Almaty be a city without suburbs and what should be done for this?», organized by the Kazakh-German University (DKU) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Speakers of the round table were:
Elena Yerzakovich, international expert in the field of transport support; Adil Nurmakov, co-founder of the Urban Forum Kazakhstan Foundation; Sergey Vasiliev, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, head of PF Ecological Fund of Almaty, initiator of the revival of the lake Karasu; Maulsharif Mira, candidate of social sciences of KazNU, as well as initiative residents of the outskirts of Almaty.
What will help Almaty become a city without social and mental barriers that divide them into a prosperous «top», industrial «bottom» and undeveloped «outskirts»? What hinders the successful development of the urban environment? How to bridge the gap in living standards between the central part of the city and its suburbs?
These and other important issues of Almaty development were discussed at the event by experts and residents of the city. The joint discussion helped not only to identify and discuss problem areas, but also to develop ways to overcome them.
The participants came to the conclusion that work on such aspects as: creating public spaces, greening areas, taking measures for the safety of areas with compacted development, ensuring the availability of public transport for residents of «non-central areas"will significantly improve the situation.
In addition, the main goals and objectives of the development strategy «Almaty-2050» and the directions «City without suburbs» and «City of equal opportunities» developed by the mayor's office of Almaty were announced at the event. These directions, in turn, allow us to pay special attention to the still existing gap between the so-called «new districts» and the center and take measures to overcome it.
The main goal of the round table was to hear the opinion of residents of suburban areas, learn about the problems they face every day, discuss and determine possible steps to solve them, and it was successfully achieved thanks to the active work of residents and experts themselves.