Details about the ambitious plans for Alatau city were presented to a joint session of Kazakhstan’s parliament on March 20. Authorities are moving ahead full-speed on the project to build the new city that one day could be home to some two million people.
According to the plans, Alatau will be a unique city, not only in Kazakhstan, but in the world.
Image: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
From Village to Metropolis
Alatau city is being built on the site of what was the village of Zhetygen, some 50 kilometers north of Almaty. It will occupy an area of some 88,000 hectares, “larger than both Singapore and Seoul.”
Relieving the congestion of Kazakhstan’s commercial capital was one of the major concerns when selecting a site for the new city. Another consideration was Alatau’s location along the Middle Corridor, the developing East-West trade route linking Europe and China. Alatau city will have an airport and railway junctions.
Alatau city will have four districts – Green, Growing, Golden, and Gate.
Image: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
The Gate district will be the business and financial area and is where the airport and railways will be located. It will also be the southern-most area of the city and therefore closest to Almaty.
The Golden district will be the “hub of knowledge, healthcare, and innovation,” the location of hospitals and other medical facilities, tech centers, and educational institutions able to take 40,000 students are planned for the district.
The Growing district will be the industrial and logistics center for export-oriented trade. It will include clusters for food, chemicals, building materials, and light industry.
The Green district, on the shore of Kapchagay Lake and with the Kaskelen River running through it, will be the recreational and tourist area of the city.
Image: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Alatau city lies along the main road between the cities of Almaty and Konayev (the “gambling capital of Kazakhstan“).
Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Boumbayev told parliament on March 20 that testing of air taxis to ferry people between Almaty and Alatau would start this year, and within two to three years, operations would open to the public. Bozumbayev said the flight time would be 10-15 minutes.
Additionally, expansion of the Almaty metro system is progressing with plans for the Green Line to eventually reach Alatau.
Alatau will be a smart city and will be developed under the principle “digital by default,” meaning people will be encouraged to go online as much as possible for goods and services, but will still offer support for those who prefer to use traditional means.
Financing
The Kazakh authorities are expecting construction of Alatau city to require some 10 trillion tenge (about $20.836 billion) of investment by 2050. Kazakhstan is seeking foreign investment and offering advantageous conditions to foreign companies.
Deputy Prime Minister Bozumbayev said, “The tax model is described separately: incentives are proposed to be granted only to new projects in priority sectors—those with requirements for efficiency, environmental friendliness, and innovation.”
He added that only companies operating directly within the city will receive these preferential incentives.
Bozumbayev denied that Alatau will be treated as an offshore zone. He said there will be “preferences” but also “obligations for investors,” such as creating an agreed number of jobs, paying taxes, and meeting construction deadlines.
The Kazakh authorities say up to a million jobs will be created, and they expect the new city to attract four million tourists annually, more than half of them foreigners.
A City of the Future
The “Iconic Towers” with one tower rising to 272 meters (56 floors) will be the centerpiece of Alatau city, but by no means the only intriguing building.
Image: alatau.city
Artists’ renditions of the business area look like something from a science fiction movie, while the tourist area and marina in the Green district recall parts of Dubai or Tampa Bay.
Other shining steel and glass buildings will be spread across Alatau city.
Snezhanna Imasheva, a deputy in the Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament, said Alatau city will be like Dubai or Shenzhen in China.
Image: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Kazakhstan already has experience with turning a small town into a large city. Thirty years ago, then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev decided to move the capital from Almaty to a town in the north that was called Tselinograd in Soviet times, and renamed Akmola shortly after 1991 independence. It took several years before Astana began to take shape, but it is now a modern city in the once largely empty steppe.
Construction of Alatau city is expected to continue until 2050. Companies from Asia and Europe are involved in architectural and infrastructure projects.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed an order giving special status to Alatau city in September 2025, saying at the time, “Alatau is destined to become our new center of business activity and innovation.”
