Greater Samarkand to become 1 million resident city

The Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction of Uzbekistan has announced a plan to expand the city of Samarkand by annexing some territories of neighbouring districts. Thus, the historical town will become a city with a million population.

The ministry has stressed a wide potential in the formation and development of "million-plus cities" with an emphasis on obtaining positive socio-economic results.

For example, the city of Samarkand is located at the "crossroads" of several major roads and railways. Which makes its geographical position very convenient to perform administrative, historical and cultural, tourist, social and economic duties.

“Currently, the population of the city exceeds 559 thousand people” the ministry notes.

The area of Samarkand is 123.8 km2 and is surrounded by the territory of the Samarkand region. The city also includes 3 urban-type settlements located on the territories of the Pastdargom and Samarkand regions, a cluster of over 1 million residents.

It is envisioned to reallocate the public offices and administrative services outside of the historical sites and build 2 tunnels and 2 bridges.

By turning the region into a tourist hub of the country, it is planned to increase the volume of tourist services by 10 times in the next five years.

“It is expected to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting the region to 5 million a year. After joining part of the territories of the districts adjacent to the city of Samarkand, the territory of the city will be 28.08 thousand hectares, and the population, according to estimates, will exceed 1.018 million people,” the ministry says.

According to preliminary estimates, as part of the transformation of Samarkand into a million-plus city, it is planned to expand the territory of the city and divide it into five inner regions.