Redesign of a Historic Street in Central Almaty: Addressing Transportation and Environmental Challenges
Date
Location
Working project
Location
Working project
June-August 2024
Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan
Moscow, Russian Federation
Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan
Moscow, Russian Federation
Gogol Street is a beloved and nostalgic part of Almaty, cherished by locals as a place that feels like home. For many, it holds personal stories-memories of family, past generations, favorite establishments, old trees, and familiar intersections. As one of the city’s oldest streets, it carries echoes of the past while looking confidently toward the future. Today, Gogol Street draws a new generation to its sidewalks, prompting the urban environment to adapt to evolving needs and expectations.
Both older and younger generations see the street through different lenses, yet they share a uniquely warm attachment to it.
By focusing on ecology and enhancing public spaces along this pedestrian corridor, we can make one of Almaty’s most cherished streets even more inviting for people of all ages.
By focusing on ecology and enhancing public spaces along this pedestrian corridor, we can make one of Almaty’s most cherished streets even more inviting for people of all ages.
The Street as an Extension of Home
• Ensure pedestrian safety by creating spaces that encourage “eyes on the street,” fostering natural surveillance and a sense of community.
• Develop local meeting spots near residential buildings, offering places where people can gather, grab a bite, or work outside the home.
• Shield pedestrians from the negative effects of traffic through comprehensive landscaping and greenery.
• Design areas intended for prolonged use and comfort.
• Prohibit parking along building facades to prioritize pedestrian activity and visual openness.
• Ensure pedestrian safety by creating spaces that encourage “eyes on the street,” fostering natural surveillance and a sense of community.
• Develop local meeting spots near residential buildings, offering places where people can gather, grab a bite, or work outside the home.
• Shield pedestrians from the negative effects of traffic through comprehensive landscaping and greenery.
• Design areas intended for prolonged use and comfort.
• Prohibit parking along building facades to prioritize pedestrian activity and visual openness.
Strengthening the Connection Between Commerce and the Street
• Designate frontage and curbside zones for commercial ground floors, making businesses more accessible and visible.
• Allocate dedicated spaces for street retail in areas where such activity is already concentrated.
• Create additional seating and rest areas near commercial zones to encourage lingering and social interaction
• Designate frontage and curbside zones for commercial ground floors, making businesses more accessible and visible.
• Allocate dedicated spaces for street retail in areas where such activity is already concentrated.
• Create additional seating and rest areas near commercial zones to encourage lingering and social interaction
A Street for All Generations
• Provide frequent resting spots along pedestrian routes, ensuring shade and benches with backrests for comfort.
• Install urban furniture that accommodates group gatherings and social activities.
• Introduce playful elements to the street environment to engage residents of all ages.
• Ensure a barrier-free environment, enabling access for people with disabilities, seniors, and families with children.
• Preserve 99% of existing trees to maintain residents’ connection to the street’s history and collective memory.
• Highlight intersections as important landmarks for orientation.
• Celebrate and enhance the city’s signature features, such as the traditional aryk (irrigation channels), as distinctive elements of the local environment.
• Provide frequent resting spots along pedestrian routes, ensuring shade and benches with backrests for comfort.
• Install urban furniture that accommodates group gatherings and social activities.
• Introduce playful elements to the street environment to engage residents of all ages.
• Ensure a barrier-free environment, enabling access for people with disabilities, seniors, and families with children.
• Preserve 99% of existing trees to maintain residents’ connection to the street’s history and collective memory.
• Highlight intersections as important landmarks for orientation.
• Celebrate and enhance the city’s signature features, such as the traditional aryk (irrigation channels), as distinctive elements of the local environment.
Almaty is home to a unique engineering feature rarely preserved elsewhere: its extensive network of aryks, or irrigation ditches, designed to meet residents’ water needs and humidify the urban air. Today, the city has two main types of aryks: “living” aryks, which are fed by natural sources such as mountain streams, and dry aryks, constructed during the Soviet era as open stormwater drains. Both systems, however, are currently underperforming due to damage and insufficient capacity, leading to flooding and challenges for urban mobility.
Additionally, stormwater flowing through the aryks carries harmful substances-such as oils, de-icing agents, and soot particles-which pollute groundwater, rivers, and soil, and negatively affect the health of street trees.
Additionally, stormwater flowing through the aryks carries harmful substances-such as oils, de-icing agents, and soot particles-which pollute groundwater, rivers, and soil, and negatively affect the health of street trees.
To reduce the burden on wastewater treatment facilities and improve the city’s ecological health, solutions such as infiltration trenches and rain gardens have been proposed to slow and clean surface runoff. In the context of climate change and projected increases in precipitation, these measures are especially timely and relevant.
Implementation of SuDS
