A Modern City from scratch

[IonWind 3]

Everyone knows Dubai, the city built with the oil money in the middle of the desert (okay, there's shoreline too). But has anyone heard of Kazakhstan's new, only ten years old capital, Astana? The nation of Kazakhstan is known by it's rich natural resources, it has oil, uranium and natural gas. Now when the growing population of earth demands more energy the money has begun to flow to the Kazakhstan too.

And what they've built with that money? This:

That is the Pyramid of Peace. Below is the Baiterek observation tower:

The Ministry of Communications:

And a giant tent.

At least they're trying. I've always been wondering what will happen when these oil nations run out of oil..

What actually caught my attention was a news story at Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. Here's the newspaper's picture gallery of Kazakhstan.

If anyone is interested in using the Google Earth, chek the coordinates 51°07'10" N 71°27'05"  E with about 5 km's altitude, that looks pretty interesting layout there.

Edit: Why in the heck there is no preview-button in ST?

[ExiL3 10]

yes I know, I have seen the city before. Kind of reminds me of Brasilia.

The skyscraper and some other buildings are all located in a circle or so if I am not mistaken?...

[IonWind 3]

Not exactly in a circle but in a somekind of a carefully designed block:

Google maps view

The pyramid, presidential residence, some governmental buildings, observation tower and other significant buildings are in line there.

[ilikehotdogsalot 307]

wow! never even heard of that city! all i know about kazahkstan is what i've seen in borat lol it looks awesome!

[2nerdy4u 1]

The layout looks similar to Washington, DC

I have heard of this city before but haven't seen any of the buildings or development... thx

[flame1396 9]

Modern city form nothing???

D-U-B-A-I

[paperboy15 4]

Never heard of this city either...until now. Thanks for the heads up!

Originally posted by: flame1396 Modern city form nothing???

D-U-B-A-Iquote>

 

Did you even read the first post?

[Cockatoo 2,256]

....Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan greatest country in world....

[kibblewitbit 0]

wow borat says theres only one toilet in the capital city of kazakhstan, i knew that wasnt true but i wasnt expecting a city as modern looking as this

[yamaneko 2]

Checking the wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astana), the city is not exactly built from scratch, as Brasilia was. 100 years ago, it was an active city criss-crossed by rail lines.

I wonder how long those buildings are going to last...you don't build for Dubai in the middle of a Central Asian steppe.