An eco-city with smart buildings, electric vehicle charging stations, homes built using modern and sustainable technologies, and a ban on all hydrocarbon-powered vehicles. This is not an ambitious project conceived by a Northern European country, but the futuristic initiative currently being developed in Kyrgyzstan, the small Central Asian country nestled between China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. On 14 October 2024, the president of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Japarov, signed the decree "On the main guidelines relating to the construction of the pilot project of the ecologically clean city of Asman". A city that is set to rise over the next ten years in the north-east of the country, on the shores of the picturesque Lake Issyk-Kul, and to help revive the local economy and attract foreign tourists. But the project, despite its eco-friendly ambitions, is already raising a number of concerns.

The Asman project

Asman: this is the name of the new city, which in the Kyrgyz language means "sky". Designed in the shape of a "komuz", a traditional musical instrument, it is set to cover an area of 4,000 hectares, accommodate half a million people, and become the "city of the future where innovative ideas and modern technologies will meet environmental sustainability and a high quality of life", as Ruslan Akmataliev, the architect from Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, who worked on the project, put it.

The project, announced in 2021, will require an investment of at least twenty billion dollars and, according to Akmataliev, will be built "with cutting-edge technologies to reduce negative impacts on the environment: from the use of renewable energy to the creation of green spaces, through to a balanced system for waste management, Asman aims to set an example for other cities in terms of environmental responsibility". The project, however, is raising concerns — particularly among environmentalists.

The impact on Lake Issyk-Kul

Asman will be built near Lake Issyk-Kul, the second largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca in South America, situated at an altitude of 1,600 metres. A saltwater basin that, like many other lakes, is already suffering from pollution, climate change, uncontrolled construction and falling water levels caused by human activity. And now the construction of a city of half a million people represents a new threat to the lake's equilibrium and its delicate ecosystem.

In 2022, a movement opposing the creation of Asman on the shores of Issyk-Kul also emerged: around forty people approached the country's authorities and the Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan, calling for the project to be abandoned.

"There is no such thing as a completely eco-friendly city anywhere in the world. Ecology and urban development are opposing concepts, like salty sugar or black snow," commented eco-activist Vlad Ushakov, who believes the ecological situation around Issyk-Kul is already fairly compromised. "In Karakol and Cholpon-Ata, two small towns near the lake, the water treatment systems are in a terrible state, and some villages have no sewage systems. Existing problems need to be solved before new projects are launched."

Why Asman fails to convince

At risk are not only the lake's ecosystem and the 335 animal species that inhabit it — 39 of which are listed in the Red Book of endangered species — but also the local communities that depend on farming and livestock rearing. "Some of the land is used for grazing and agriculture. There are also houses there. What will happen to them?" said a trader from the village of Toru-Aygyr, in the Issyk-Kul region, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Furthermore, in a country where a lack of transparency and opaque management of public funds are common, some fear that corruption could taint the construction of Asman.

According to Transparency International, Kyrgyzstan ranks 141st out of 180 in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2023. And according to Transparency International, over the past four years Kyrgyzstan "has transformed from a bastion of democracy with a vibrant civil society into a consolidated authoritarian regime".

Added to the fears of corruption and mismanagement are scandals. In two years, the leadership of the State Agency for the City of Asman is said to have changed three times, and last year the agency's first director, Timur Fayziev, was accused of money laundering.

In March 2023, VOA reports, the presidential administration announced that the State Agency would come under the control of the Office of the President, thus involving Sadyr Zhaparov directly in the management of the project.

Despite the official launch of construction work, very little information can be found on the details of the project. The project's social media channels and website are empty.

The ambiguities in the financing plan have also raised concerns: initially the authorities spoke of the involvement of four French companies; it then emerged that the investors were in fact from India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey; and finally, in 2023, the government announced that South Korean investors were involved — who, however, reportedly failed to show up at the last minute for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Activists' comments

"The idea is good and the project is ambitious, but I have my doubts about its implementation: at the very least it should grow from an already existing urban centre, not appear out of nowhere like this… Who needs a city there? And besides, who will be able to afford to buy a home at those prices? To understand the real impact on the lake, they should bring in a team of ecologists and specialists," Kyrgyz activist Aleksandr Sadykov, head of the Danko public foundation for the support of young people and women, told LifeGate.

Beyond the controversies and the concerns of civil society, after a period of apparent stagnation — last summer some journalists documented a building site that had essentially never got off the ground — work now appears to have resumed: the president's signing of the decree marks a new milestone in the history of this mega-project. A project that, however eco-friendly, raises a number of concerns: environmentalists are indeed convinced that relocating half a million people to the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul will only irreparably damage the area's fragile ecosystem — reigniting the debate over how difficult it is to strike a lasting balance between urban development and environmental protection.