Alatau City’s new Central Business District, Kazakhstan

MIC-HUB, in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the masterplan designer for the financial and business centre of Alatau City’s Gate District, has developed the mobility concept for the new Central Business District (CBD).

As a core component of Alatau City, the CBD will play a central role in shaping the city’s future urban and economic development.

Located north of Almaty, Alatau is a new city conceived as an innovative digital city and international business hub. Strategically positioned along transport corridors connecting Western Europe and Western China, the Middle Corridor and the wider Central Asian region, it is located within the broader ‘New Silk Road’ network.

Within this wider vision, the Gate District is planned to be an advanced international business hub hosting the core functions of international trade, finance and innovation, and the headquarters of global companies.

The project is being implemented by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Alatau City Authority, in partnership with leading local and international investors as part of a strategic national initiative to establish a new global centre for business, innovation and sustainable development.

Alatau CBD is strategically located at the intersection of the city’s principal north–south and east–west transport corridors. Spanning approximately 3.5 million square metres, the development will comprise offices, residential properties, hospitality venues, retail outlets and cultural attractions, creating a compact, vibrant and multifunctional urban district.

MIC-HUB’s mobility concept supports this ambition through an integrated, people-centred and multimodal framework. The mobility vision prioritises walkability, density and multimodal transit to create a connected, human-scale urban environment.

Planned express rail and LRT lines, green boulevards, public plazas, and integrated micromobility infrastructure will ensure seamless connection to central Almaty and the wider region. Internal circulation preserves the central heart of the district.

With carefully planned landscape features, pedestrian-friendly streets, and micromobility infrastructure, the Alatau CBD will offer a safe, accessible, and engaging urban environment, where movement is easy, efficient, and enjoyable for all residents and visitors.