Temperatures in the steppe city of Astana in Kazakhstan reached minus 40 degrees Celsius as Central
Asia experienced its coldest winter in a decade, testing heating systems across the region. The capital is the world’s second-coldest capital city behind Mongolia’s Ulan Bator
Yearning for warmth
Astana, the government’s showpiece project on the Ishim river in northern Kazakhstan, took over as the country’s capital 20 years ago. But many of its residents compare Astana unfavourably with the former capital Almaty, that lies 1,000 km further south and where temperatures are notably warmer
Problem with planned cities
Despite a pantheon of lavish, futuristic architecture, many people who were forced to move to Astana for work or family reasons find the city an uncomfortable fit. Such criticism has been levelled against other planned capitals, notably Brazil’s Brasilia, but Astana’s harsh climate during the winter months presents an additional challenge
Adil Nurmakov, a former resident of Almaty who moved to Astana for his wife’s job last year, told AFP: “The way the city is planned means that citizens principally live in isolation, travelling by car from home to work and back again”
Breaking away from Soviet history
Authorities generally cite Almaty’s location in a seismologically active region as the reason for moving the capital north, as well as the opportunity to break with Soviet history. Many observers however argued the decision was made to strengthen control over a part of the country with strong cultural and political affiliations to Kazakhstan’s former master Russia
Astana Day
Kazakhstan’s government is sensitive to any criticism of the capital and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the switch on July 6—a national holiday called Astana Day. The city became the capital in December 1997 but the holiday was designed to coincide with the long-ruling 77-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s birthday