+ BACKGROUND, CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES
Background and Challenges
The old Almaty tram system started operating from 1937. Despite its cultural and historical value, it stopped its service in 2015 as the old system caused several accidents. Given the situation, a new project of the Almaty LRT with its own depot is now under consideration.
With its population of over 1.7 million people, Almaty is the economic hub of Kazakhstan, producing over 20% of national GDP. Although the urban analysis reveals that the city has a sufficient amount of residential, commercial, educational, healthcare facilities, there is still a shortage of public spaces. The centre of the city is overpriced with lack of free public spaces. Almaty’s main challenge is thus to balance the commercial interests of businesses with the need for the city’s sustainable development, where citizens can enjoy more public recreational places.
Objectives
Public spaces like parks and recreation zones are essential elements of many cities that make urban life more balanced and sustainable. Transformation of the former industrial or abandoned city areas provides perfect opportunities for the city administration to create new public spaces at affordable cost. For example, there is no need to construct new buildings from scratch if the existing buildings have been properly used. The land already belongs to the city, and there are utilities and infrastructure that are readily available.
Transformation of former industrial and abandoned cities or parts of the cities, such as the Almaty tram depot, will significantly contribute to the improvement of the city planning and management. It will engage the city residents in decision making processes, fostering coordination and cooperation between the local communities and the local governments. The objectives of the Transforming the Almaty Tram Depot Project are the following:
1. To create a new vibrant public space.
2. To maximise use of the existing building and facilities thus minimising the cost of renovation.
3. To engage professional architects and urbanists into the process of creating the project’s concept and design.
4. To engage the community through public hearing and voting.
5. To make the new public space both comfortable and self-sustainable by inviting private investors.
+ ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION
Actions and Implementation
In order to encourage the local community’s engagement, the Almaty Development Centre proposed an open public contest for ideas, concepts and projects to turn the former tram depot of the city into a people-friendly, vibrant public space. Such contest was the first of its kind in Kazakhstan. Any interested parties, including international companies, architectural bureaus, design studios, public organisations, volunteers and even students could take part by applying through the project’s official website.
Participants were required to fill out an application form with terms of reference and specific requirements indicated. The requirements included conditions such as free access to all visitors and safety of the space, in hope of providing an iconic public space for hosting public events of the city. Private funding for the renovation and further operation of the site are always welcome.
Research and preparation for the contest started in July 2016, followed by the contest opened to the public on 2 August for two months. A commission of experts in the field, including globally acknowledged architects and urbanists were involved to evaluate the application forms. Some of the prestigious names include: Head of Gehl Architects Ricardo Marini, Professor Hugo Delphi from Technical University Primus and Katalin Ortenetkse from Fundacion Metropoli.
In addition to the experts’ evaluation, public votes were taken into consideration when selecting the final winner of the contest. Results were announced on 18 October 2016.
+ OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS
Impacts
At the local level, the area will provide a people-friendly public space for the local community. The greatest impact it expects to have is to empower Almaty citizens to actively engage in shaping the future of their own city.
Risks
The main risks of this project are primarily associated with its non-commercial features. As transforming the area into a public space with free access will limit potential revenues for private developers, this may discourage potential stakeholders from investing in this project.
Important Factors
The most significant factor for the project’s success is the ability of the participants in the contest, which could draw both public interest and private financing. A successful proposal would gain popularity among the local citizens, as well as tourists so that it will also become commercially promising and thus sustainable.
Measuring Success of the Initiative
There will be both direct and indirect benefits from the initiative. Direct benefits are easy to measure – the number of new jobs at the site both during the renovation process and at the operating stage, the income generated from visitors, the taxes paid, etc. Indirect benefits are long-term, which can only be estimated. For instance, it is expected that young people will learn and grow from utilising the healthy environment provided by the public space. This pilot project may also provide an example for the future reference for other city projects.
+ REPLICABILITY AND SCALABILITY
Replicability and Scalability
As briefly mentioned above, this project could provide an exemplary case for other cities for future reference. Through similar initiatives, formerly industrial or now abandoned sites can be revitalised into a public space for the local community, making the cities more vibrant and sustainable. In the process of renovating and re-developing these parts of the city, it is important to invite its citizens to build their own city thus their future.
+ BUDGET SOURCE
Budget and Budget Source
The financing of the initiative will only be defined after the contest is finished with the best proposal selected by the committee members. External financial contributions will be always welcome.