Algabas – microdistrict in Almaty
Having lived 40 years in one city, knowing every secret corner, it’s hard to imagine any white spots on its map. My home city Almaty, the biggest city in Kazakhstan, was able to surprise me. Despite its size until recently I thought that I know everything about it, at least once I’ve visited each neighborhood in the city.
But the time goes on, the population of the planet is increasing and the population of cities is tremendously growing too. Almaty is not an exception. I quite got used to the fact that the territory of the city gets bigger by adding neighboring villages and satellite towns. Today Almaty is an agglomeration. Not as big as Los-Angeles, London or Paris, but it’s getting there. And it turned out that the city is growing also by building up new neighborhoods on former agricultural areas. And to my surprise I’ve recently visited one of them.
The name of the area is Algabas, it is located on the west. There are several similar areas in the city but the main difference of Algabas is that they’ve installed a real Olympic village there and built up the main ice stadium Almaty Arena to welcome the Winter Universiade in 2017. The Universiade took it’s place (I hardly noticed it), but the constructions are still there and they needed to be used somehow.
A huge ice stadium for 13000 viewers is standing in the middle of steppe and is slowly getting new residential neighbors. The turbines of the Thermal Power Station 2 are rising on the horizon. Inside Almaty Arena there are several different functioning sport clubs and a pool. But the problem is that the stadium is located far from he city center, there is no public transport except one bus 7 which is always overcrowded. In order to bring kids to the training, wait for them and take them back, parents spend a lot of time. That is why there are not so many kids training. The only hope yet is for the neighbors which will get more numerous once the buildings are commissioned.
Though sport is not the only necessity for people. People need other entertainments as well. I walked through the neighborhood and didn’t find any street cafe. The one that is inside the stadium I don’t count. No so many can afford eating there. On the other hand, there is Almaty Art Center where on the first floor you can find some hand craft workshops, a banqueting area on the second and Museum of National Instruments on the third. It was a very strange combination. There is the Central State Archive opposite the Art Center, a theater and a cinema/concert hall.
I would never imagine myself going to any cultural events so far from the city center. But I got the invitation from old friends to visit the opening of the art festival “ARBAT Fest 2017”. Previously every year the festival took place in the center of the city but this year the central part of the city is under global reconstruction, so they had to look for a new place.
I really liked the opening. The major exhibition called “The Act of Creation” by our young artists was really appealing, though I am not very good at modern art. Even though modern art may not last long, people have to live in the area. The flats in the Olympic village are sold at a reasonable price as a mortgage loan for young families. There you can already find some flats to rent. For example, the rent of a two-room flat will be just 150 euro no utility bills included. But there are no schools, hospitals, kinder gardens around, there is only an ice stadium. The people living in the area usually go to the closest neighborhood to get some artesian water because they are sure that this water is much cleaner than the water from their water pipes.
The same day in the morning a thought appeared out of nowhere that living in soviet union time in the neighborhood where I was born and grew up was actually full. Even though it was on the outskirts of the city. There was a supermarket and a department store, two kinder gardens, a school, a city hall, a market, a stadium and even a restaurant. But the main thing was the huge number of working places. No pool, but there was a lake and a river. People drove to the city mainly to go to the zoo or to the circus. So when I was getting to know the new neighborhood of Algabas I was unwittingly projecting the pictures from my childhood on what I saw. We ll…I wish all neighborhoods in my city became self-maintained elements of the city system with all necessary facilities. I should come in a couple of years to check that out.
