Today, the Almaty City Development Centre, together with the British Council, the mayor of Almaty and the Kazakhstan-British Technical University (KBTU), launched a three-year project called WeAlmaty. The project is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union.
The main goal of the project is to involve citizens in the development of Almaty as a «smart» city. In addition, the program aims to increase the activity and quality of life of citizens in urban processes, as well as to develop projects in the sphere of culture, business, innovation and urbanism.
«The main vector of the city's development is set by the Almaty 2020 program. One of the priorities of the program sounds like «the city of active citizens.» In this regard, «WeAlmaty» is an important project aimed at involving citizens in solving urban issues,» said Zhanna Tulegenova, Chair of the Board of the Center.
The WeAlmaty project aims to create new forms of cooperation between public organizations, governments, the private sector and civic activists through four main components:
• Create a dialogue platform by organizing forums for local government, community and private sector representatives.
• Competence development programme through seminars and international study trips for representatives of public organizations, local authorities, social entrepreneurship and the creative sector
• The dissemination of skills and knowledge acquired during the project to public figures from other regions of Kazakhstan.
According to the program's plans, an official website will be launched in May 2017, and applications for the competency development program as coaches will begin between May 1 and May 31. In October, it is planned to launch a competition of grant support for projects totaling 50,000 euros, which will give young people an opportunity to reach their potential and prove themselves in solving the issues of citizens.
In her speech, Zhanna Tulegenova expressed hope that the proposed projects will help solve the current problems for the city:
1. Support for the authors of sketch projects to carry out author's supervision of the construction of park areas.
2. Conducting city workshops to design public spaces in the city.
3. Participation of experts and the public in the revision of SNIPs and standards for the design and improvement of public spaces, buildings and streets.
4. Monitoring of compensatory green spaces.
5. Develop a cycle path scheme.
6. Develop the scheme and design of urban navigation.
7. Formation of a single urban database (GIS system).
«We are also interested in technical solutions. For example, projects to establish a working group to remove barriers and gaps in legislation and introduce digital data are interesting. In other words, in addition to dialogue with the public, we expect ready-made projects to introduce new tools,» she said.
«The most promising and meaningful projects we are ready to pilot together with the ADC on the city scale,» added Maksat Kikimov, head of the department of economics and budget planning.
The quality of life of citizens is one of the main criteria for the socio-economic development of the city. The sustainability of change also remains important. No reform is possible without the support of the city's residents. Only the interest and active participation of citizens can ensure success in the implementation of any smart technologies and reforms.
