BAKU, Azerbaijan,
March 17. The price of city infrastructure and the
administration of speedy megacity progress will probably be among the many key subjects of
the World City Discussion board (WUF13), which will probably be held in Baku on Might
17-22, 2026. In opposition to this backdrop, the New Tashkent venture in
Uzbekistan is seen as one of many largest examples of constructing a brand new
city middle amid accelerating urbanization and growing stress
on present capital infrastructure.
In response to official forecasts, Tashkent’s inhabitants might develop
by about 25% by 2035 and strategy 4 million individuals, which might
safe its standing as the biggest metropolis in Central Asia. The
enlargement of the capital is already accompanied by rising stress
on transport programs, utilities, power provide, and the housing
market, limiting the chances for additional improvement inside
present infrastructure and making the creation of a brand new city
middle extra obligatory.
Knowledge from Uzbekistan’s Nationwide Statistics Committee present that
urbanization within the nation continues to speed up. By mid-2025,
greater than 19.3 million individuals, or about 51% of the inhabitants,
lived in city areas, whereas round 18.6 million lived in rural
areas. Tashkent stays the principle middle of attraction. With an
official inhabitants of about 3.1 million, the precise variety of
individuals within the capital could also be 30–35% larger every day as a consequence of
college students and inside migration, growing stress on roads,
housing, power, and social infrastructure.
In these situations, the authorities are implementing the New
Tashkent venture, which is predicted to type a brand new administrative
and enterprise core of the capital and guarantee a transition to a
polycentric mannequin of city improvement. About 19,700 hectares have
been allotted for the venture, with the primary section protecting
round 6,000 hectares, whereas in the long run the brand new metropolis is
designed for roughly 2 million residents. The size of
development requires the creation of recent transport, utility, and
power infrastructure, making the venture considerably extra
costly than increasing present city areas.
The monetary burden is additional elevated by the truth that the
venture largely depends on funding. The up to date grasp plan of
Tashkent contains dozens of main tasks price greater than $16
billion in whole, whereas agreements price billions of {dollars} have
already been signed for a number of services in New Tashkent.
Authorities count on that the event of recent districts will
enhance the gross regional product of the capital and create
a whole bunch of hundreds of jobs, however such tasks require long-term
financing and a secure influx of capital. The pace of approvals,
entry to land plots, and connection to infrastructure instantly
have an effect on investor curiosity and development timelines. Because the
venture will depend on personal and overseas funding, decreasing
administrative obstacles turns into an element not solely of reform however
additionally of general venture price.
One other threat is rising costs within the development sector. Greater
prices of supplies, power assets, and utilities enhance the
worth of infrastructure tasks, particularly when roads, networks,
energy programs, and housing are constructed concurrently. The longer the
development cycle, the upper the chance of exceeding preliminary
estimates.
In response to UN estimates, about 68% of the world’s inhabitants
will reside in cities by 2050, and lots of international locations are transferring towards
constructing new city facilities as a substitute of increasing overloaded
megacities. Problems with financing urbanization, attracting
funding, and decreasing infrastructure prices will probably be central
themes of WUF13 in Baku, the place large-scale tasks similar to New
Tashkent are seen as a part of the worldwide development towards deliberate
city improvement.
The size of New Tashkent makes it not solely some of the
bold tasks within the area, but in addition a check of the nation’s
capability to handle urbanization, funding, and infrastructure
prices on the similar time. The success of the venture will rely on
whether or not Uzbekistan can include rising bills, preserve investor
curiosity, and guarantee improvement charges that match the capital’s
demographic progress.
