LDA Design has won an international competition to reimagine the Western Gate area of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. SHARE Architects ran the competition for the Municipality of Almaty.
The competition area is along the busy urban thoroughfare of Momyshuly Street in the west of the city. Key neighbourhood landmarks include a sports arena and mosque. The site itself is open and flat with a stunning mountain backdrop. It was previously used for agriculture. New public transport is planned to provide vital connectivity.
The challenge was to develop a masterplan that integrated social and commercial activity with new homes, shaping a human-centred, sustainable, and liveable neighbourhood that can support the daily needs of its community.
The brief included creating well-thought-out street and road networks that are pedestrian and cyclist-friendly, as well as public and recreational spaces, including parks, squares, and boulevards. Designs need to be human scale, climate resilient and to make the most of landscape.
Commenting on the competition success, Benjamin Walker, LDA Design director and project lead, said: “This win for a new city district is important. It develops the polycentric model of the city and ensures people-led design is at the forefront of Almaty 2.0.”
In awarding the win, the judges stated that LDA Design’s proposals deliver, “a compelling and highly legible metropolitan masterplan for the Western Gate, structured around a strong diagonal landscape axis that connects key civic anchors and organises a compact, high-intensity urban district.
“The proposal balances density, open space, and connectivity through a central park, waterfront, and mixed-use clusters, creating a vibrant civic destination with a clear identity. The framework is flexible and future-ready, successfully integrating landscape, public life, and development intensity to deliver much-needed urban activation in Almaty.”
→ Continue reading at World Landscape Architecture
