| Title |
Urban Formation and Spatial Structure of City Center of Almaty, Kazakhstan |
| Authors |
투르가노바 자늘슨(Turganova Zhanylsyn) ; 유우상(Yoo, Uoo-Sang) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2023.39.5.125 |
| Keywords |
Almaty; Urban Formation; Urban Spatial Structure; Soviet Socialist Urban Design |
| Abstract |
This study aims to investigate the urban spatial structure of the old city center of Almaty in historical and social contexts, from the Verny
period of imperial Russia, through the Alma-Ata period of the Soviet Union, to present-day Almaty. To accomplish this, the characteristics
of the urban development process and the urban composition of each period were examined, followed by analyses of the changes in the
central axis and public spaces of Almaty's central city area. Almaty developed from a military fortress and settlement to the capital of
Kazakhstan from the Soviet era to the post-independence period. In the process of Almaty's growth, the Imperial Russia in the early stage,
and after the Russian Revolution, the Soviet Union exerted an absolute political and economic influence. For this reason, the spatial structure
of Almaty has a very strong character of egalitarianism and rationalism, which are the characteristics of national socialism and modern urban
design. This means that the grid road system, functional urban zones, and residential areas with similar density have continued until the late
20th century. For these reasons, Almaty has a homogeneous spatial structure based on the grid road system, both regionally and locally.
After independence, efforts were made to establish a new economic system and enhance the identity of the national identity by changing the
urban structure from the socialist system of the Soviet era. To this end, changes were made in the functions and additions of some facilities,
such as renaming of streets and changing of symbolic monuments; the urban spatial structure centered on the central axis remained strong. In
particular, the ensemble of the central axis space of the downtown area built during the Soviet Republic era, which consists of public
buildings and squares, still remains a representative urban landscape of Almaty. |