Protected Buildings Demolished in Western Kazakhstan

Uralsk, a city in the Western Kazakhstan region, continues to lose its historical and cultural heritage. Urban planning policies and passive regulators led to the demolition of a number of particularly significant buildings over the last year.

For every such case, officials remind the public that only 138 city structures are inscribed in the “list of protected buildings.” This takes off responsibility for modifying or tearing down the other structures, not included in the list.

More than 15 years ago, a museum in Uralsk drafted a second list of so-called “newly identified monuments,” comprising 150 additional structures. The list includes some of the most striking and priceless facilities, from an architectural and historic perspective, which have yet to be added to the official “protected” list. The official list, however, was not updated.

A 2019 law made it more complicated to add new buildings, monuments, and structures to the “protected” list. The ones that are left out still need a permission from the local inspectorate to be modified, but officials seem unwilling to fight for their preservation.

Because of potential legal repercussions, the authorities keep quiet about the demolitions, a tactic that shifts responsibility. This way, however, owners of historical buildings are often unaware that their sites are worth protecting.

Certain buildings that, despite their historical significance, are not featured in either the official or the proposed list have become the target for local developers. Once they are labeled as run down, they can easily be demolished to free up space for multi-storey buildings. This dynamic has already led to systemic errors in urban planning.

The local urban plan, adopted in 2014, only takes into account those 138 structures that are officially protected. The remainder of the old town is slated to be demolished, to give room for modern residential development.

The plan quickly revealed itself as unusable. The construction boom meant that historical buildings are now being destroyed, and also that the existing landscape is being irreversibly spoiled.

Uralsk has experienced a period of urban planning chaos in recent years. The construction anarchy took place against the backdrop of power abuse in the local administration’s department for architecture.

Each of the eight different chief architects that worked there between 2020-2024 interpreted the norms of architectural and urban planning legislation differently. This led to inconsistencies, violations, and even instances of corruption.

The last chief architect, Muratbek Tashenbayev, and former chief specialist, Nursultan Gatau, were convicted of accepting bribes in February and received seven years and three-and-a-half years in prison, respectively.

According to Kazakhstan’s legislation, monuments are designed and protected in an old-fashioned way, as separate local structures, without reference to the surrounding architectural environment. This makes it possible to build multi-storey buildings in a foreign style next to protected ones, dramatically altering the proportions and architectural integrity of historical neighborhoods and traditional buildings.

In October 2024, a developer began demolishing a mid-19th century building on Nekrasovskaya Street. The building was one of the oldest in the city. When questioned by the media, the local authorities said that the building was not in their official list, and therefore could be torn down.

Many other structures have already been destroyed or are being destroyed right now. The authorities seem to hold no legal responsibility for these decisions.

Officials, in fact, often rebuke popular protests by simply saying that they do not consider this or that site as a piece of precious historical heritage. Without the necessary specialists or resources, this is just an easy way out of criticism. The list becomes the only guideline.

But the official list is a very diverse, chaotic list. It includes buildings, monuments, and archaeological sites. But next to certain valuable structures, the list also contains several questionable items.

A number of new sculptures and monuments, as well as new buildings, that clearly do not hold any artistic and historical value are featured in the list. Some priceless landmarks, instead, have been de-listed: the gunpowder warehouse complex from the first half of the 19th century, which was removed from the list to make room for the construction of a shopping complex, for example.

A “protected” building in Uralsk is in fact not risk-free. Several of the city’s historical buildings have lost their carved roofing and familiar architectural silhouette. Some of them fell into disrepair and were simply trimmed down. I must say that nobody noticed this.

The facades of other monuments of national significance from the first half of the 19th century, like the Pushkin Museum and the Yesenzhanov Children's Library, are in extremely depressing condition.

The situation is much worse with some of the protected historical buildings along the central Nazarbayev Avenue. Repairs continuously grossly distort their outline: the original stucco is knocked down or crumbling, advertising signs cover the front facades. At the same time, the courtyard facades remain in pristine condition without repairs or alterations. The local administration adopted a “design code” specifically for Nazarbayev Avenue, but because it is not legally binding, it is often disregarded.

These buildings are a real headache for the local authorities. The owners are unwilling to carry out organic and structural repairs, so the city administration comes in with cosmetic repairs. After each such repair, the buildings lose some of their architectural identity.

In more than 30 years since independence, city authorities have not bothered to develop a long-term comprehensive program for the reconstruction and renovation of the most priceless historical architectural section of the central street, leading to a significant degradation of the landscape.

Some of the buildings were crudely rebuilt, while others were simply demolished and replaced by absurd structures that are foreign to the rest of the landscape. Tall buildings aggressively encroach on traditional residential buildings.

Uralsk is rapidly losing its cultural and historical heritage. This is a systemic issue. The safeguards to inspect and protect monuments are flawed because they are left to local cultural departments, which do not have the capacity or, in some cases, the ability to do proper work.

Government agencies should have greater independence, more staff, and enough resources to fulfill their statutory responsibilities.

Instead, Kazakhstan’s authorities introduce ad hoc regulation, essentially admitting that the existing framework is not effective. This is probably the reason for the recent emergence of a special law on the status of Turkistan, an ancient city in the south of the country, which gives local authorities more room for planning.

Authorities in Uralsk could also receive similar powers, if they wanted to.

In Uralsk, the historical center is not so vast to sustain the current intensity of construction. It would not be too difficult to identify the valuable structures of the pre-revolutionary era, adjust the layout of the old city, and prevent indiscriminate demolition. But this requires the political will of the authorities, who still refuse to acknowledge the problem.

Uralsk’s historical center is rapidly defaced and degraded, losing the remnants of its former cultural complexity and uniqueness.

An edited version of this article was translated into English by Albert Otkjaer.