New Kabul City

[randolph85]

New Kabul City Charted in North of Kabul



Thursday, 31 March 2011 19:16 Written by TOLOnews.com


New Kabul City has been mapped in the north of the capital Kabul while city-dwellers are experiencing the worst sanitation problems every day.

A multi-million dollar project, New Kabul City, is about a half an hour drive north of Kabul and it will accommodate about 1.5 million people when it is completed in 2025.

The new Kabul is estimated to be built at a cost of 34 billion dollars that will be provided by donor countries and organisations. It will be 750 square kilometers wide which is clearly bigger than the present Kabul.

In 2006 President Hamid Karzai took the very first steps of New Kabul City after setting up a board of Afghan and foreign experts to develop a new city to provide additional housing for residents of the capital.

More than 4.5 million people are living in the existing Kabul while it was built for 700,000, said Ghulam Sakhi Hassanzada, deputy chairman of the Independent Board of New Kabul City Development.

"The city we have planned to build could compete with capitals in our neighbouring countries," Mr Hassanzada said.

The project is expected to create 500,000 jobs, including 100,000 in agriculture, 100,000 in industry and 300,000 in other sectors.

By the completion of first phase of the project 400,000 people will be provided 80,000 housing units.

"The only thing which can possibly stop this is not a good security situation," Hassanzadah said.

The plan is for international donors and the Afghan government to supply $11 billion over the next 15 to 20 years to help build water and sewer lines, electricity and roads.

[faye]

750 squ kilometres can't be right. it will be very westernised, i'll bet.
that photo is great, what a fantastic view.

[randolph85]

Modern city being mapped north of war-worn Kabul

Gholam Sachi Hassanzadah, left, deputy chairman of the Independent Board for Kabul New City checks map of a new city with investors at the site north of Kabul, Afghanistan. "New Kabul City", a shiny new, multibillion-dollar project, sounds like a pipe dream to people living practically on top of each other in Afghanistan's war-battered capital, where most streets are unpaved and security forces are on constant watch for suicide bombers. (AP)
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Mar 31, 2011 16:49 Updated: Mar 31, 2011 17:52
KABUL, Afghanistan: “New Kabul City” — a shiny new, multibillion-dollar project — sounds like a pipe dream to people living practically on top of each other in Afghanistan’s war-battered capital, where most streets are unpaved and security forces are on constant watch for suicide bombers.
But urban planners, investors and government officials working to develop the modern urban area about a 30-minute drive north of Kabul say it will be home to an estimated 1.5 million people when it’s completed in 2025.
The $34 billion public-private project — 750 square kilometers (290 square miles) at the foothills of the majestic Safi Mountains — is bigger than the existing Kabul.
Standing on vacant land at the site, Elham Omar Hotaki, who works with the government authority developing the project, pointed to color-coded maps plotting homes and apartments, shops, mosques, a library, a fire station, areas for farming and light industry — even picturesque parks.
“When each mega project starts, everyone thinks it won’t happen,” Hotaki said acknowledging that some people are dubious the development will ever be built.
“After World War II, who could imagine that New York would look like it does — a big city? No one. Everyone thought it was impossible, impossible, impossible,” Hotaki said, his hair blowing in the breeze. “But I think it’s possible.” New Kabul City began in 2006 when President Hamid Karzai set up a board of Afghan and foreign experts to develop a new city to provide additional housing for residents of the capital, which is bursting at its seams.
About 4.5 million people are living in the city, which was built to handle about 700,000, said Gholam Sachi Hassanzadah, deputy chairman of the Independent Board of New Kabul City Development.
“In 15 years, the population will be more than 6.5 million or 7 million. There is no space for that,” he said.
In 2009, the Afghan Cabinet endorsed a master plan to build the new city in three phases spanning 15 years. By 2025, the project is expected to create 500,000 jobs — 100,000 in agriculture, 100,000 in industry and 300,000 in service and other sectors.
The first phase, to be completed in 2015, is to provide 80,000 housing units for 400,000 people. Contracts are to be awarded this year for developing the first 18,400 units, and construction could start as early as January 2013.
“The only thing which can possibly stop this is not a good security situation,” Hassanzadah said. “If we have good security, you will see that development will go very, very fast.” Many challenges remain. Insurgent attacks must be curbed, investors need to sign deals and Afghans have to want to buy and rent the homes and businesses to be built.
Rich and poor are to live in the 250,000 residential units planned in the new city, according to project officials. An estimated 70,000 will be in the mid- to high-priced range; 70,000 will be mid-priced units; 60,000 will be low-priced units; and 50,000 will be rural abodes.
The plan is for international donors and the Afghan government to supply $11 billion over the next 15 to 20 years to build water and sewer lines, electricity and roads. Japan, which is already working on water feasibility studies, and the Asian Development Bank have pledged to help build streets, initial infrastructure and power lines.
Project officials said they could not yet disclose how much Japan and ADB had pledged.
Private investors in Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Azerbaijan also have expressed interest by seeking more information about the development, the officials said.
All told, an estimated $23 billion worth of private sector money for constructing the city after infrastructure is in place is expected to be invested in the project.
The project was unveiled to potential US investors in February, and about 50 representatives of 26 Afghan and international development companies gathered at a Kabul hotel this week to learn more and tour the site.
On the half-hour drive, their convoy passed crowded, dusty neighborhoods and maneuvered through traffic choked with cars, armored military vehicles, buses, men pushing wheelbarrows loaded with potatoes and policemen standing guard with rifles.
As the dozen-vehicle convoy left the city, the traffic eased. The convoy sped by heavy equipment distributors, nomadic Kuchi villagers tending goats and sheep grazing on piles of trash. Still farther from Kabul, the air freshened and the convoy pulled up to the development site office on a main road about halfway between Kabul and Bagram Air Field, a massive US military base.
“Over here is open space, fresh air,” said Ghousuddin Ahmadi, president of Star Construction in Kabul, who went on the tour. “It’s a planned city. They have thought about the sewage system. They have thought about the infrastructure so we feel it’s a pretty complete project that is worth investing in.” An Afghan public development authority is acquiring land at the site that the government doesn’t already own. Teams are working to identify property owners — not an easy task, as land records in Afghanistan are sketchy at best.
Currently, donkeys roam freely around square plots that people have demarcated with knee-high stone and brick walls. Some people who built walls have legal title to the land, but others are simply trying to claim it’s theirs.
Project officials say that without proper paperwork, they will not be compensated.
Mahmoud Saikal, senior adviser to the Independent Board of New Kabul City Development, said the project requires security, legal norms and cooperation from Afghan government ministries.
“In Afghanistan, there is an expression that the road to paradise doesn’t go through a Persian rug,” Saikal said.
“It means the road to getting this project materialized is not an easy one.” Though corruption has become endemic in Afghan society, Hassanzadah said it will not be tolerated as New Kabul rises.
“It is a clean project,” Hassanzadah said. “We are committed to transparency. Corruption is a two-way road. We expect investors and developers to be transparent as well.
... We will not allow for public money to be abused.” Sayed Daud, a businessman who owns about 150 acres at the site, said only recently has he started seeing a flurry of government and business officials at the site, carrying maps and cameras.
“All this activity is giving us hope,” Daud said.

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[graveyardofempires]

750 squ kilometres can't be right. it will be very westernised, i'll bet.
that photo is great, what a fantastic view.

dont bet on it.
750 square KM?hope they give free homes to all the poorest people.

[faye]

that is huuuuuugggggggeeeee. maybe the square bit makes it that way. i am not mathematically minded.

[Shayesta]

New Kabul

[Sher Malang]

dont bet on it.
750 square KM?hope they give free homes to all the poorest people.

This city will not be for poor.

[Aryob]

home - Dehsabz City Development Authority (DCDA)

That area is called deh-sabz. primary inhabitants of deh-sabz district were Pashtuns and i heard they've been kicked out for this project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deh_Sabz_District

[شمله ور خراساني]

For centuries the Kochi tribes dwelled in the northern pastures of Kabul and after the Anglo-Afghan wars, they were forced to settle somewhere. So they settled in areas such as Deh Sabz, where they became farmers. They paid taxes to the Afghan government for the land they owned.

But after the fall of Taliban regime, the Northern Alliance combined with the royal family and the communists organized themselves as maffia and quickly started selling peoples land with false documents. WIthin years, thousands of hectares of land were sold back and forth between different warlords and criminal gangs.

The central archive of property documents was torched sothat the original documents can never be found. The only documents that can prove who the original owners are only exist with the families of the people in Deh Sabz. There are no government registers of who actually owned the land before it was taken by criminals of Northern Alliance.

This happened to several hundreds of hectares of land my family inherited from my grandfathers. Our land was sold with false documents by the people of Jamyat Islami. Burhanudin Rabbani's relatives produced false documents and sold our land to Hazara's. The Hazara's received money from Iran to start building on our land. Soon, a clash occured between our villagers and the Iranian and Hazara's.

When the Hazara's realized that the land that was sold to them was not the property of Burhanudin Rabbani's people, they invaded their office in Kabul city and molested him. The building project was halted.

BUt soon, the Karzai government announced that they will build a new city in Deh Sabz. So, within days, a much more powerful and merciless figures appeared who are backed by the Americans. They started spreading the message that the local tribes in Deh Sabz should settle for a lousy amount of money in exchange for thousands of hectares. Otherwise they will receive nothing and the land will be confiscated without any regard to its original owners.

For this reason, many young men from the Ahmadzai, Sulaimankhel, Hotak and other tribes in Deh Sabz joined Hizb Islami and Taliban to fight the government.

Today, eastern and northern residential areas where primarily Ghiljay Pashtun tribes reside, almost everybody is somehow linked to the Taliban or Hizb Islami movements.

Sadly, the people who are not from that area and look at all those fancy images and plans, have no association what so ever to the local tribes who faught the Mongols, the Persians, the British and then were forced to settle there because they could no longer live the Kochi lifestyle. And these people who worked the land and made it into a fruit farming land were forced to flee during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

During the Taliban regime, they returned and started rebuilding their old property. But soon the AMericans came and now hundreds of thousands of people have no place to go. They do not own any money to buy land elsewhere. Neither do they have facilities to choose a different lifestyle than that of a farmer.

Desperation and uncertainty is the reason why there is allot of violence, crime, drug abuse and misery.

Yet, the people who claim to represent the Pashtuns and the local population are totally ignoring the problem. All you see is false promises.

Inshaa Allaah, when the AMericans are expelled, the rightly owners of the land will take back what belongs to them. The rich and the wealthy can go elsewhere and build their city.

[graveyardofempires]

For centuries the Kochi tribes dwelled in the northern pastures of Kabul and after the Anglo-Afghan wars, they were forced to settle somewhere. So they settled in areas such as Deh Sabz, where they became farmers. They paid taxes to the Afghan government for the land they owned.

But after the fall of Taliban regime, the Northern Alliance combined with the royal family and the communists organized themselves as maffia and quickly started selling peoples land with false documents. WIthin years, thousands of hectares of land were sold back and forth between different warlords and criminal gangs.

The central archive of property documents was torched sothat the original documents can never be found. The only documents that can prove who the original owners are only exist with the families of the people in Deh Sabz. There are no government registers of who actually owned the land before it was taken by criminals of Northern Alliance.

This happened to several hundreds of hectares of land my family inherited from my grandfathers. Our land was sold with false documents by the people of Jamyat Islami. Burhanudin Rabbani's relatives produced false documents and sold our land to Hazara's. The Hazara's received money from Iran to start building on our land. Soon, a clash occured between our villagers and the Iranian and Hazara's.

When the Hazara's realized that the land that was sold to them was not the property of Burhanudin Rabbani's people, they invaded their office in Kabul city and molested him. The building project was halted.

BUt soon, the Karzai government announced that they will build a new city in Deh Sabz. So, within days, a much more powerful and merciless figures appeared who are backed by the Americans. They started spreading the message that the local tribes in Deh Sabz should settle for a lousy amount of money in exchange for thousands of hectares. Otherwise they will receive nothing and the land will be confiscated without any regard to its original owners.

For this reason, many young men from the Ahmadzai, Sulaimankhel, Hotak and other tribes in Deh Sabz joined Hizb Islami and Taliban to fight the government.

Today, eastern and northern residential areas where primarily Ghiljay Pashtun tribes reside, almost everybody is somehow linked to the Taliban or Hizb Islami movements.

Sadly, the people who are not from that area and look at all those fancy images and plans, have no association what so ever to the local tribes who faught the Mongols, the Persians, the British and then were forced to settle there because they could no longer live the Kochi lifestyle. And these people who worked the land and made it into a fruit farming land were forced to flee during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

During the Taliban regime, they returned and started rebuilding their old property. But soon the AMericans came and now hundreds of thousands of people have no place to go. They do not own any money to buy land elsewhere. Neither do they have facilities to choose a different lifestyle than that of a farmer.

Desperation and uncertainty is the reason why there is allot of violence, crime, drug abuse and misery.

Yet, the people who claim to represent the Pashtuns and the local population are totally ignoring the problem. All you see is false promises.

Inshaa Allaah, when the AMericans are expelled, the rightly owners of the land will take back what belongs to them. The rich and the wealthy can go elsewhere and build their city.

That was a good insight wrora
manena

[ComradePashtun]

That is mega BS by Sangar da darwaghoo gooday!

Land mafia exist every where. But is to note is that this city is being built in the Deh Sabz desert and most villages will be un-affected.

[ghundal]

For centuries the Kochi tribes dwelled in the northern pastures of Kabul and after the Anglo-Afghan wars, they were forced to settle somewhere. So they settled in areas such as Deh Sabz, where they became farmers. They paid taxes to the Afghan government for the land they owned.

But after the fall of Taliban regime, the Northern Alliance combined with the royal family and the communists organized themselves as maffia and quickly started selling peoples land with false documents. WIthin years, thousands of hectares of land were sold back and forth between different warlords and criminal gangs.

The central archive of property documents was torched sothat the original documents can never be found. The only documents that can prove who the original owners are only exist with the families of the people in Deh Sabz. There are no government registers of who actually owned the land before it was taken by criminals of Northern Alliance.

This happened to several hundreds of hectares of land my family inherited from my grandfathers. Our land was sold with false documents by the people of Jamyat Islami. Burhanudin Rabbani's relatives produced false documents and sold our land to Hazara's. The Hazara's received money from Iran to start building on our land. Soon, a clash occured between our villagers and the Iranian and Hazara's.

When the Hazara's realized that the land that was sold to them was not the property of Burhanudin Rabbani's people, they invaded their office in Kabul city and molested him. The building project was halted.

BUt soon, the Karzai government announced that they will build a new city in Deh Sabz. So, within days, a much more powerful and merciless figures appeared who are backed by the Americans. They started spreading the message that the local tribes in Deh Sabz should settle for a lousy amount of money in exchange for thousands of hectares. Otherwise they will receive nothing and the land will be confiscated without any regard to its original owners.

For this reason, many young men from the Ahmadzai, Sulaimankhel, Hotak and other tribes in Deh Sabz joined Hizb Islami and Taliban to fight the government.

Today, eastern and northern residential areas where primarily Ghiljay Pashtun tribes reside, almost everybody is somehow linked to the Taliban or Hizb Islami movements.

Sadly, the people who are not from that area and look at all those fancy images and plans, have no association what so ever to the local tribes who faught the Mongols, the Persians, the British and then were forced to settle there because they could no longer live the Kochi lifestyle. And these people who worked the land and made it into a fruit farming land were forced to flee during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.

During the Taliban regime, they returned and started rebuilding their old property. But soon the AMericans came and now hundreds of thousands of people have no place to go. They do not own any money to buy land elsewhere. Neither do they have facilities to choose a different lifestyle than that of a farmer.

Desperation and uncertainty is the reason why there is allot of violence, crime, drug abuse and misery.

Yet, the people who claim to represent the Pashtuns and the local population are totally ignoring the problem. All you see is false promises.

Inshaa Allaah, when the AMericans are expelled, the rightly owners of the land will take back what belongs to them. The rich and the wealthy can go elsewhere and build their city.

So they force people to become IDPs? and then they want to build a city there.

Keep that city stink back in the city.

[randolph85]

ironically, there are probably more deaths caused by the polluted air in kabul every year than this entire war. the expansion of the city is a priority.

[Midnight_Sun]

Deh sabz is also inhabited by the wealthy Babakarkhel tribe.

[Zemaryalai]

another plan to drive pashtuns out of kabul. most of the people who will buy land will be tajeeks.