A major new project deemed the “City of the Future” will be bigger than Singapore and Seoul and aims to be powered by AI.
The city of Alatau is being built on the former village of Zhetygen in Kazakhstan, and will occupy an area of 88,000 hectares, with plans to make it as attractive as possible to investors, students, tourists and residents. It is expected that around 2 million people may one day call it home.
Construction of the massively modern city is expected to require an estimated $20.8 billion of investment by 2050, and in March, a constitutional law around the “Special Status of Alatau City” was adopted by the country’s parliament, granting it a status of “territory of accelerated development.”
It will be established as a “Smart City,” where AI technologies will be integrated as broadly as possible, including in urban management systems and interaction with businesses and residents. Alatau will also have special tax regulations and operate under a consolidated budget model, with tax incentives given to new investment projects.
Alatau is a project of the country of Kazakhstan which hopes to become a major Central Asian international hub connecting Western Europe with Western China, according to the Alatau City website.
It will have four districts: Green, for nature, tourism and leisure with scenic landscapes, family-friendly recreation and plenty of well-developed hospitality and leisure infrastructure bordered by Lake Kapchagay and the Kaskelen River.
The Gate District will be the home of businesses and international companies with direct access to key transportation arteries, and the Golden District will focus on education, science and medicine, with the aim of attracting students, educators and researchers to a hub of knowledge, healthcare and innovation.
In a central location along major transport routes is the Growing District, for job creation and business, and environmentally conscious and modern manufacturing, described on the city’s website as an “industrial and logistics cluster” for sustainable development and production.
According to the Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan officials are testing air taxis to bring people from the major city of Almaty to Alatau, and believe it will be open to the public within two to three years, with flight times estimated to be up to just 15 minutes.
Authorities say up to a million jobs will be created in the new city, and expect to attract 4 million tourists each year, with more than half of them coming from outside Kazakhstan.
The skyline will be home to “Iconic Towers,” with the primary tower reaching up to 56 floors or 272 meters high, just one part of steel and glass buildings to spread across the city in a futuristic style. One 80-meter tower will be dedicated entirely to a five-star international hotel.
A report from Alatau City states that these towers will be huilt around the concept of a “vertical city” to support the lives of thousands of employees and residents, while the other xones will be separated to ensure privacy and operational efficiency.
Excavation is due to begin in May 2026, while the construction of Alatau as a whole is expected to continue until 2050.
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