Kyrgyzstan is the world’s most land-locked country – nowhere else on earth is further from the sea. For years the country has been something of a tourist backwater, with relatively few visitors compared to more established holiday havens.
And yet, despite it’s non-existent coastline, harsh climate, and isolation, Kyrgyzstan is investing big to get it’s tourist trade off the ground.
The Central Asian state, which is 1620 miles away from the Indian Ocean, the closest sea to its border, is building a new city.
The city of Asman is to be built on Lake Issyk Kul, and will cost £15bn.
The plan has been in the works for a while, with the government giving the go-ahead in July 2022.
The intention of the project is said to stimulate the tourist industry, boost the local economy and engender national togetherness.
Kyrgyz authorities appear to have a utopian vision of Asman as “a green and sustainable city,” complete with business centres, banks, sports stadia a bullet-train system, as well as state-of-the-art higher education and medical facilities.
What’s more, Asman – meaning “sky” in Kyrgyz – would be designed in the shape of a komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz instrument.
Ruslan Akmataliev, a Bishkek architect who designed the city, described it last year as “a city of future, where innovative ideas and modern technologies will meet with environmental sustainability and high quality of life.”
He said the city’s infrastructure, which will take around ten years to build, will be “developed with the use of advanced technology to minimize negative environmental impacts.
“From using renewable energy to creating green zones and balanced waste disposal system, Asman seeks to be an example for other cities in terms of environmental responsibility.”
