Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed projects to build the new city of Yangi Karshi and develop a tourism complex along the Karshi Main Canal.
The city is planned on 5,200 hectares between the A-378 Samarkand–Guzar highway and the 4Р-79 road to Shahrisabz. The site consists of unused desert and low-grade pastureland. The preliminary master plan is designed for 500,000 residents.
Mirziyoyev said the city should be planned as a major centre that could eventually accommodate one million people and serve as a modern extension of Karshi. The regional hokimiyat and other government institutions are expected to move there.
Plans include a congress hall, concert halls and hotels. Public electric transport, and an above-ground metro if needed, should connect the new city with the airport and railway station.
A 235-hectare site has been allocated for a three-kilometre tourism zone along the canal. The project will be implemented in four stages. The first envisages a 30-hectare area with an artisans’ town and a tourism zone.
The complex is expected to include hotels, restaurants, shops, a museum, a water park and children’s play areas. Plans also call for an artificial lake where visitors can go boating.
The president instructed officials to refine the city’s master plan and the tourism complex plan with leading foreign design and architecture firms. The projects should be based on safety, comfort, accessibility and smart-city principles.
