On June 30, Almaty will hold public hearings on the environmental aspects of the new General Plan for city development. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
For the first time, the main urban planning document of the metropolis has undergone a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), which will determine the possible impact of planned decisions on the environment and the health of citizens.
The Almaty Department of Architecture and Urban Planning emphasized that the hearings will be held exclusively on environmental issues.
Strategic environmental assessment is one of the key tools for considering environmental factors in territorial planning and management decision-making.
According to city authorities, the main task of the SEA is to identify potential environmental consequences of implementing the General Plan at the planning stage and to develop measures in advance to prevent or reduce negative environmental impacts.
During the preparation of the assessment, specialists took into account key environmental problems of Almaty. These include air pollution, frequent periods of calm, waste processing issues, water pollution, urban noise, as well as the need to preserve natural areas and restore the city's ecological framework.
The results of the strategic environmental assessment show that further development of Almaty is possible without harming the environment, provided that environmental protection measures are consistently implemented.
One of the main decisions of the new General Plan is an environmentally oriented development scenario. It involves creating a polycentric city where workplaces, social infrastructure, public spaces, and transport are located closer to where citizens live.
Key environmental goals include improving air quality. By 2030, it is planned to reduce the average annual concentration of fine particulate matter PM2.5 to 25 micrograms per cubic meter, and by 2040 to 15 micrograms.
The formation of a unified green framework for Almaty is also envisaged. Parks, squares, rivers, aryks (irrigation canals), and foothill areas should become part of a single ecological system of the city.
Special attention in the new General Plan is paid to preserving natural areas. In particular, a complete ban on new capital construction in the foothills south of Al-Farabi Avenue is introduced.
In addition, the borders of the Ile-Alatau National Park remain under full protection. Any capital residential or commercial construction on the territory of the national park is prohibited. The development of tourist infrastructure is expected only within the framework of a comprehensive plan for the development of the mountain cluster and in compliance with environmental requirements.
The new General Plan also provides for a transition to a polycentric model of city development. Instead of the overloaded historical center, it is planned to form five activity centers. Almaty's development will occur mainly through renovation and redevelopment of existing territories without further expansion of urban development.
Another important direction will be strengthening environmental monitoring. The city plans to increase the number of stationary air quality monitoring stations to more than 50 facilities. At the same time, the creation of a digital platform is being considered, where residents can receive real-time information about air, water, and noise levels.
As the document developers note, openness of environmental data and constant monitoring should become an important part of Almaty's new environmental policy and increase the transparency of decisions made in the field of urban development.