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HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN OF TASHKENT CITY
Abdisamat Balgayev
Samarkand State Architecture and Construction University,
Professor of the Department of Architecture
E-mail:
abdisamat.balgayev@samdaqu.edu.uz
ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3009-8942
Abstract:
The development of cities in Central Asia and the study of the ways of their
development is one of the factors determining the prospects of urban development in Uzbekistan
at present. It is known that the study of any event or reality necessarily requires analyzing its
evolutionary process. Tashkent, among all historical cities of the world, has always had a special
appeal due to its central position at the crossroads of East and West. Tashkent is a special city
with an interesting history of urban development.
An objective and comprehensive approach to the study of urban planning in Uzbekistan, taking
into account the results of the evolutionary development of urban planning in Tashkent achieved
in recent years are as follows: 1. Tashkent in the XIX century. 2. The layout scheme of the city
of Tashkent in the 30-50s of the XX century. 3. The general plan of the city of Tashkent from
1966 to 1990 years of XX century. 4. Urban planning of Tashkent city in the period of
independence (from 1991 to the present). 5. New Tashkent up to 2045.
The purpose of the article is to examine how the physical structure of the city of Tashkent and its
urban planning has changed since the beginning of the 19th century, and what forces caused
these changes.
Keywords:
Tashkent, urban development, the Old City and the New City, The General Plan,
New Tashkent
The first experience of urban development on the territory of Tashkent was formed 2200 years
ago. Since the first centuries AD, favorable natural and hydrographic conditions of the Tashkent
oasis contributed to the rapid growth of various settlements here, including the city. In the first
centuries AD, the city became the capital and was named Chach (in Chinese Shi, Zheshi).In the
IХ-X centuries it became one of the largest economic centers of the Samanid, and in the XI-XII
centuries. Karakhanid states. The city was still called Shash and Madinatash-Shash. Arabic
written sources of the IX-X centuries mention another name - Binkat. Binkat IХ-X centuries.
quickly followed the path of economic growth and by the XI century reached great prosperity.
The 10th century author Ibn Haukal reported the following information about the capital of
Shash: “Binket is the capital of Shash. It has a shahristan and a citadel, and the latter is outside
the shahristan; nevertheless, the citadel and the shahristan are surrounded by the same wall. Near
the shahristan lies the rabad, around which there is also a wall. There is also another rabad
outside this wall, as well as gardens and dwellings. This rabad is also surrounded by a wall.
There are two gates in the citadel: one of them faces the Rabad and the other faces the Shahristan.
In the shahristan, on the other hand, there are three gates. One of them is called Abbas' gate, the
other is called Kish gate and the third is called Junayd gate. There are 10 gates in the first rabad:
one of them is called Rabat Hamdey Gate, the second is called Iron Inner Gate, the third is Emir
Gate, the fourth is Ferhan Gate, the fifth is Surked Gate, the sixth is Kermanj Gate, the seventh is
Steppe Street Gate, the eighth is Rashdijak Gate, the ninth is Hakan Street Gate and the tenth is
Dihkan Castle Gate. The ruler's palace and prison are in the citadel, and the cathedral mosque is
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near the fortress wall. Some of the bazaars are located in Shahristan, while most of them are
located in Rabad”.
The main trade links from Europe to China were realized through Shash. At the end of the 10th
century, the name of the capital of Shash - “Tashkand” along with the previously known
“Binkat” - was first recorded in the work of Abu Rayhon Beruni. In the second half of the XI
century the name “Tashkand” appears in the great scientist-encyclopedist Mahmud Kashgari.
And the word “Shash” continues to be used along with the name Tashkent until the XVIII
century. Since the middle of the ХIII century. Tashkent, among other Syr Darya cities, which
had suffered the more severe fate of being ravaged by the Mongols, began to revive. Amir Temur,
the founder of the centralized state in Maverannahr, repeatedly stayed in Tashkent during his
northern campaigns. In Amir Temur's state policy, the Syr Darya chain of cities became a
fortified outpost on the border of his empire. Special attention was paid to maintaining
agriculture here, restoring or rebuilding the defensive walls of the cities, including Tashkent, and
building additional fortresses. In the 14th-16th cc. Tashkent consisted of a walled citadel,
shahristan and suburbs. Thus, the era of Amir Temur and the Temurids in the history of Tashkent
was marked by economic and cultural life.
Internecine wars, attacks of nomadic tribes, seizures and plundering in the 16th-17th centuries
hampered the economic and cultural development of the city and led to its crisis.
This is what architect V. Nielsen (1988) wrote about the Tashkent fortress wall in his book “At
the Origins of Modern Urban Planning in Uzbekistan”: As numerous pre-revolutionary sources
on the history of the conquest of Central Asia, special essays and books testify, the construction
of a new city in Tashkent began in 1865 with the destruction of defensive and military buildings
on the left bank of the Ankhor. The fortress walls of the old Kokand citadel - Urda, half-
destroyed during the military actions, were demolished, as well as the walls surrounding the
lands adjacent to Urda with buildings of the adherents of the Kokand regime. The walls of the
old city of Tashkent on the eastern and southeastern facades were partially demolished.
New buildings began to be erected in the summer and fall of 1865. The main construction was
the new fortress, which was started immediately. It was located on the hill against the former
Koimas gate (by this time already demolished). By September 1865 the fortress was built; The
first plan of Tashkent in 1866 shows the old fortress of Urda and old buildings where some
military units were located.
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Fig.1. Objects that appeared in Tashkent after 1865
This plan was drawn up by the military topographer Staff Captain Pisarevsky. He also made the
first assumptions about the structure of the new city. The city layout was based on a radial-ring
system with five radii fanning out from the new fortress and three rings of circumferential streets.
The new city was supposed to be located in the southeast of the new fortress, surrounded by
additional walls with corner bastions.
In 1870 military engineer A. V. Makarov developed a plan of this new part of the city, which
determined all further development of Tashkent. A radial-circular system of planning was
adopted here. It started from Moskovsky Avenue, as if finishing the regular layout.
During the period from 1865 to 1917, Tashkent, which became the administrative center of the
Turkestan region, developed intensively. Half a century of the city's development as part of the
Russian Empire led to the formation of its two separate parts: the “old” and the “new”, located in
the southeast. This structure reflected the national policy of tsarist Russia, which regarded
Turkestan as its colony. And if in the “new” city one could see some elements of improvement
and plannedness, the “old” city was still developing chaotically.
In 1939, under the guidance of architects A. Kuznetsov, M. Kleimenov in the “Tashgorproekt”
created a project of the general plan of reconstruction of the city for 20-25 years with an
estimated population of 900 thousand people, on a territory of 13.5 thousand. The structure of
planning of the main street network was envisaged radial-circular with two focal points -
historically established centers of the old and new city, united in a single urban center
.
Fig.2. Planning project (developed under the supervision of A.I. Kuznetsov), 1939
During the Great Patriotic War, due to the evacuation of a large number of enterprises from the
western regions of the country, extensive industrial construction led to significant changes in the
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planned development of the main city-forming factors and complication of the overall planning
situation. In the post-war plan of Tashkent, the already established arrangement of a compact
residential core surrounded by a semi-ring of railroads from the north-east and south, with two
large residential areas and six industrial zones adjoining it from the north and south-east.
In the mid-1950s it became necessary to correct the General Plan for the reconstruction of
Tashkent on a new basis. The first correction was made in 1954 by architects M.S. Bulatov, A.P.
Bushuyev and engineer A.I. Vanke. In 1959 the institute Tashgiprogor developed a project
taking into account the increase of population up to 1.2 million people and expansion of the
territory up to 20 thousand hectares. The city was considered as a whole with the adjacent
suburban area. Selitebnyaya territory received a modern structure consisting of neighborhoods,
residential and planning areas, provided for a complete ban on individual homestead building
and the introduction of residential development of 9-story buildings, the further development of
the radial-circular structure of the street network provided for the inclusion of chord high-speed
roads, and in the future it is planned to build a subway.
The extensive construction that took place after the 1966 earthquake led to a new revision of the
General Plan for the reconstruction of Tashkent, which was carried out in 1970. This plan
envisioned an increase in population to 1.5 million people and expansion of the territory to 25
thousand hectares.
Fig.3. General development plan of Tashkent. 1967
In 1982, the General Development Plan of Tashkent was approved, defining the main directions
of the city's development for 25-30 years. In 1989, a feasibility study of the General Plan of
Tashkent until 2010 was approved, which forecasted a population growth up to 3 million people
and a corresponding significant expansion of the city
.
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Fig.4. Change in the territory of Tashkent, 1990-2010
Later, an amended General Plan of Tashkent and its suburbs until 2015 was adopted, which was
finalized in 1997. In 2011, the research and design institute of the General Plan of the State
Unitary Enterprise “ToshkentboshplanLITI” completed a feasibility study of the General Plan of
Tashkent and its suburbs, which, in accordance with the above planning procedure, proposed
three options for the development of the city. The main feature of the plan was the use of internal
territorial resources, which differed markedly from the expansion of the city's boundaries in
favor of internal restructuring and regeneration. It envisioned more orderly growth with planned
parameters for long-term development, the creation of reserve land for flexible planning and
sustainable development of the city. Industrial development management for economic
restructuring, as well as modernization, redevelopment and the creation of integrated scientific
and industrial zones were to allow for the reduction of non-residential areas and residential
neighborhoods.
The project paid special attention to the functional and spatial development of the city center.
The 2012 Tashkent General Plan enshrines this as a policy, and some positive trends can be
noted: For example, buildings are being built higher, i.e. building density (m2/hectare) has
increased by 32%. However, in Tashkent the picture is mixed: while the area of high-rise
buildings (4/16-storey buildings) has increased by 45 %, the area of low-rise buildings (1/2-
storey houses, mostly individual houses) has almost doubled - by 84 %.
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Fig.5. Master Plan of Tashkent through 2030
Tashkent's General Plan 2045 defines the capital's development strategy and establishes zones
for construction, reconstruction, renovation or conservation. ToshkentboshplanLITI will soon
work out the rules for the development of these areas, taking into account the requirements for
storey height, population density, landscaping, etc. The plan is to create two major centers: the
existing one and the “New Tashkent” oriental center.
It is planned to create two major centers: the existing one and “New Tashkent” to the east of the
capital. It is also proposed to develop five territories with four sub-centers and a green belt along
the Tashkent Ring Road.
To improve air, the public transportation network is planned to be expanded, providing access to
95% of the population to stops within 15 minutes. Existing lines mainly cover the city center.
According to ToshkentboshplanLITI, 37% of the population live within a 15-minute walk of the
metro, and 78% live within 15 minutes by bicycle or electric scooter.
The main strategy is reconstruction. The areas are divided into 4 categories:
1.
Areas with good infrastructure where construction is prohibited.
2. areas with low population density that need to build kindergartens, schools and green areas.
3.
Areas where a partial increase in population density is required.
4. Areas in need of redevelopment, such as old mahallas and neighborhoods in disrepair. Here a
new approach to development will be applied.
In addition to the core strategy, there are:
Renovation - areas that will be transformed in the future will fall under renovation. These are
mainly new territories that have recently been included in the territory of Tashkent, as well as
6,000 hectares of land used by industrial enterprises.
Conservation - all green areas and embankments. They are planned only to be landscaped, but
not to be built up.
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Fig.6. Strategic plan of the city of Tashkent, 2022
Fig.7. View of New Tashkent, 2023
Conclusions.
Scientific and accurate chronology of urban development in Uzbekistan is very important for
modern urban planning practice. After all, along with the development of urban planning
principles of the republic, it helps to identify the unique features of urban development in each
region and district.
The huge historical and cultural significance of Tashkent city in the world culture is the main
factor of its development. When developing the new general plan, the tasks of preserving the
natural conditions, landmarks, infrastructure of the city and living conditions of Samarkand
residents were set.
For many centuries, Tashkent has formed its image of a historical city, which is quite vivid and
memorable. Nevertheless, the city has great potential for further development, not only as a
historical center of our country, but also as a scientific, cultural, transport and gastronomic center.
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List of references:
1.
Lavrov V.A. Urban culture of Central Asia (from ancient times to the second half of
the XIX century). Moscow: State Publishing House of Architecture and Urban Planning, 1950.
178 с.
2.
Nielsen V.A. At the origins of modern urban development in Uzbekistan (XIX
beginning of XX century). T.: Izd. of Literature and Art named after Gafur Gulyam, 1988. 207 с.
3.
Balgaev A.B. Regularities of urban evolution of Uzbekistan // New ideas of the new
century: materials of the international scientific conference FAD TOGU. - 2009.№1.- С.21-22.
О
4.
Balgaev, A. B., Balgaeva, S. A., & Toshkulov, S. B. (2024). EVOLUTION OF
SAMARKAND CITY GENERAL PLANS. Innovative: International Multidisciplinary Journal
of Applied Technology (2995-486X), 5-12.
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