On June 14, in Nur-Sultan, at the site of the Kazakhstan Housing Company (a Subsidiary of the Baiterek NMH JSC), together with the Association of Urbanists of Kazakhstan Q88, a discussion of the standard for the integrated development of territories was held with the local professional community in order to announce the release of the standard, which will take place in autumn of 2022.

Today, developers in Kazakhstan use outdated urban planning approaches and a system of legal regulation that does not meet the modern needs of citizens and does not take into account changes in the social, political, economic, cultural and information fields.

In this regard, in our country, the introduction of uniform standards for the integrated development of territories is of particular relevance, which will be an important step towards improving the quality of the environment and the transition of Kazakh cities to modern development models.

Kazakhstan has already been working in this direction.

The Kazakhstan Housing Company, as the Unified Housing Construction Operator, together with the Association of Urbanists of Kazakhstan Q88, is adapting the standards of integrated development.

According to Yerlan Aukenov, the Chairman of the Association of Urbanists of Kazakhstan Q88, the Kazakhstan Housing Company, together with the Association of Urbanists of Kazakhstan Q88, has a lot of work to do to improve the Kazakh legislation on urban planning, urban development and the creation of an inclusive urban environment, modernization of SNiPs.

This standard consists of 6 books and 4 catalogs and covers a wide range of issues regarding the urban environment and housing from the parameters of street blocks to the layouts of individual apartments.

The principle of walking distance is at the center of this model. High quality standards, thoughtful architectural and design solutions will ultimately create a comfortable living environment for citizens.

The catalogs consider more specific solutions aimed at landscaping, the design of multi-apartment residential buildings, residential development and some planning solutions for blocks.

Each book addresses a specific aspect of designing a comfortable urban environment. There are also books on master planning, reclaimed territory, development of empty areas, development of requirements for the street front, and so on.

Since the formats of previously designed housing proved to be ineffective, the issue of designing according to new standards is now being more actively discussed.

The purpose of the document is to develop and implement new approaches to creating an urban environment that meets modern social and economic conditions, the interests of residents, businesses and city authorities.

The standard is based on the UN Habitat principles and approaches to comfortable housing and urban development, which are considered by the organization for economic cooperation and development of the OECD. These are the two international pillars that shape the global urban development agenda.

Their principles are comparable – this is the multifunctionality of the building, compactness, its proportionality to a person, efficient, and dense road network and environmental efficiency, the active use of the street front, including SMEs. All these principles formed the basis of the standard for the integrated development of territories.

“We are convinced that this project will help urban planners to improve the quality and efficiency of the processes of improvement, restoration and development of territories and will form the basis for improving the legal framework in the field of urban regulation and architectural design,” said Rustam Isaev, Deputy Chairman of Kazakhstan Housing Company JSC.