Despite a shift towards mid-rise construction, Almaty does not plan to completely abandon high-rise buildings. Skyscrapers may appear in a new business center near Lake Sairan. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to Ashat Saduov, head of the Almatygenplan Research Institute, the future development of Almaty will be based on mid-rise neighborhoods. Experts believe that this format creates a comfortable urban environment.
"London, Paris — their centers are six stories, Barcelona — eight. This is precisely the human scale that creates a quality urban environment," he noted.
The institute head emphasized that Almaty must also consider seismicity and soil characteristics. However, he noted that it would be wrong to say the era of high-rise construction is over.
"There is the concept of a downtown, where a skyline of skyscrapers emerges. And these skyscrapers are one of the places where business life can be concentrated. We would like to have something similar near Lake Sairan, where we currently have Tastak. Preserving the street grid, we want to build an improved version of downtown there, so that all high-rises are in one place," he said.
He added that modern earthquake protection technologies will be used in construction.
"All technologies are available from the Japanese and Americans. They freely build in a nine-point seismic zone. So it's a matter of technology, not just the number of stories," Saduov noted.
According to the master plan, other new areas will mainly be built with 5-7 story buildings. Exceptions are possible only in certain places with favorable soils, where individual nine-story buildings may appear.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that the Almatygenplan Research Institute explained what materials will be used to renovate building facades under the "From Facade to Facade" program. According to institute head Ashat Saduov, materials are selected individually after inspecting each house.