The project involves a 25,000 hectare expansion of the existing city of Tashkent eastwards, on a site between the Chirchiq and Karasu Rivers, with the objective of housing an estimated 2.5 million people over the coming decades. District 1 of the ‘New Tashkent’ Masterplan (or ‘Yangi Toshkent’, which is the project’s name in Uzbekistan) has received approval from the government, following an international competition in early 2023.

London based design & technology firm - Cross Works - won the competition last year against prominent international companies, and has been serving as the lead consultant on the mega-project since then. The firm has been spearheading the architectural & masterplanning efforts & the digital twin creation, whilst also overseeing a cross-disciplinary team of sub-consultants including landscape designers, engineers, economists, real estate advisors & many more, who have provided their expertise in the creation of a future-proofed and carefully considered masterplan that will provide the framework for the city’s anticipated growth for future generations.

The masterplan focusses on the creation of neighbourhoods (or ‘mahalla’ in Uzbek) with a mix of uses and residential typologies, in which new and sustainable communities can grow and thrive. It also looks to provide an abundance of open space for its inhabitants & visitors alike, with an extensive and continuous green space strategy making up 20% of the overall land take of the city, and a network of canals fed from the mountains to the north of the capital.

The masterplan is also centred around a healthy provision of community facilities (also known as ‘social infrastructure’) all within 5-10 minute walking distances of people’s homes, as well as supporting commercial and cultural uses, all of which have been meticulously calculated to ensure that the neighbourhoods have the requisite balance of day-to-day goods, services and facilities, which in turn will ensure a lesser reliance on private cars in the future, and a move towards more sustainable modes of transport.