Diriyah Gate Masterplan
Middle East & Africa
View Project
Tashkent New City
- Services
- Masterplanning, Landscape Architecture
- Sector
- Masterplanning
- Location
- Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Creating a twin capital for Uzbekistan
In 2019, Benoy unveiled a concept masterplan setting a high-level vision and framework for a 20,000-hectare expansion of the Uzbek capital, roughly double the area of Paris. Sited between the Chirchiq and Karasu rivers to the northeast, the concept was designed to feel as though it had evolved organically from the existing landscape and natural resources rather than been imposed upon them. The proposal encompassed an airport city, trade district, CBD and administrative district, with the 300-hectare administrative district identified as the first phase of development.
Dates2019
Size
20,000 hectare
A holistic proposal
The concept masterplan was built around a set of parameters spanning social, environmental and economic objectives, which were used to generate six baseline masterplans. The best elements of each informed a balanced proposal, approved by the President of Uzbekistan and the Mayor of Tashkent. Central to the plan was a new island in the Chirchiq River, a public destination combining retail, entertainment, parkland and dining that would physically and symbolically bridge the old city with the new.
A liveable city
Rather than proposing an isolated new district, the concept extended existing train networks and highways into the new city and repurposed an agricultural canal system as the spine of a continuous green space network. Public green space accounted for a quarter of the entire masterplan, 5,000 hectares, ensuring that liveability sat at the centre of the city’s ambition alongside its commercial and civic programme.
