INRTU Submits Application to Develop the Concept of the Master Plan for the City of New Kharkhorum in Mongolia
On April 15, INRTU submitted an application for participation in the international open competition for the development of the concept of Mongolia’s New Kharkhorum city general plan.
It should be noted that in 2022, by the decree of the Mongolian President, a political decision was made to reconstruct the ancient capital of Mongolia and create the city of New Kharkhorum in Orkhon River valley. The Orkhon Valley is an important historical site dating back to the time of the Mongolian Empire. The city of Kharkhorum is considered to be the "cradle" of Mongolian culture and history, encompassing the civilizations and historical heritage of Mongolia. In 1220, Genghis Khan declared the city of Kharkhorum the capital of the Mongol Empire, the sacred heart of the Mongolian people.
According to the concept, the city of New Kharkhorum will be the key to accelerating the development of Mongolia's economy. The entire project is expected to be implemented on the basis of public-private partnership with foreign investment. In accordance with the decisions made, the New Kharkhorum City Construction Administration was formed in 2023 and tasked with the basic work and research necessary for the construction of the new city, feasibility study, and master plan for urban development.
On March 18, 2024, an international open tender for the design of the master plan of New Kharkhorum City was announced. Both Mongolian and foreign organizations can participate in the tender. The participants must include at least nine experts. The terms of the tender provide for a one-month registration period and three months for the development of the concept itself. There will be several stages of the competition, during which the works of the participants will be presented to the public both online and at a specially organized exhibition. The final selection will be made by a joint commission of Mongolian and foreign experts, who will determine the five best teams.
INRTU sent an application to the organizers of the competition, indicating the members of the team that will take on the project. The expert group was headed by Andrei Makarov, a well-known architect from Irkutsk.
"The University team has entrusted me with a challenging task. We all have a big, interesting and complex work to do in a short time. But we have 25 years of international experience of the International Baikal Winter Urban Planning University in solving complex urban planning problems. Therefore, despite the fact that dozens of highly professional teams will take part in the competition, we expect success," said Andrei Makarov.
The team consists of 15 experts from various fields and areas related to urban planning, architecture, civil engineering, engineering infrastructure, urban economy, as well as landscape design. Among them, doctors of science - Boris Pinus, Andrey Bolshakov, Vitaly Peshkov, Viktor Chupin, Artur Kharinsky, Alexander Mikhailov, chief architect of "Giprogor" (Moscow) Alexander Kolesnikov, architect Nikolay Zhukovsky, honored architect of the Russian Federation Vladimir Stegailo, Candidates of technical sciences Alexander Petrov and Alexei Levashev, leading researcher of the SB RAS Institute of Geography Natalia Sysoeva, designer Damdinsuren and scientific director of the International Baikal Winter Urban Planning University Yuri Perelygin.
Commenting on INRTU's involvement in the new major project, Yuri Perelygin said:
"I live and work in the city of St. Petersburg, which was originally conceptualized and established by Peter the Great and is now home to 6 million people. By the way, he also invited an international team to plan and build the new city. Besides, I belong to the Leningrad or Petersburg School of Urban Planning, and my institute - Lengiprogora - has designed more than 30 new cities, including capitals. Therefore, the task of building a new capital of Mongolia is on the one hand new, but on the other hand it is quite clear and has prototypes. The assembled team of professionals has unique experience in different regions and countries. We will start with scenarios of life of citizens in the new capital - otherwise, it will be impossible to proceed to any other stages of work. Having done that, we will try to fit this scenario into the natural landscape and historical context of the territory in the best possible way, and then we will start working with maps, images and objects. Having INRTU and its scientific base behind our team allows our team to feel confident in undertaking such a challenging but interesting work".
According to the technical specification, the project planning should take into account the conditions that "New Kharkhorum" is a "smart city" oriented to the needs of citizens, incorporating the features of Mongolia's national and historical heritage. An area of 183.1 thousand hectares is planned, which is 5 times the area of Ulaanbaatar city. In the first stage, 500 thousand people will live in the new city, and in the future the number of inhabitants will increase.
The results of the competition will be announced on August 2, 2024.
Photo from https://ikon.mn/n/31bz
