KAZAKHSTAN: Astana Rises Abruptly Out Of Nowhere

Astana rises abruptly seemingly out of nowhere, almost mirage-like. A modern gilt-edged, shiny metropolis, it suddenly appears amid hundreds of square miles of flat, nondescript grassland of the Central Asian steppe. In 1997, Astana was born virtually from nothing, in a harsh landscape where winter temperatures drop to -30C.

From a very unpromising beginning, Astana has grown to almost one million inhabitants. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev moved the capital 18 years ago, forcing all government agencies to relocate from Almaty, 1,000km to the south. Despite having a blank canvas to start with, it is a city of full of contrasts. In fact is some ways it is not a city at all in the conventional sense. There is no defined 'downtown' inner city area nor what I would describe as suburbs.

What you get is the President's vision for a 21st century 'smart' city - wide boulevards, abundant landscaping and urban planning that sometimes defies logic. Taken as a whole, Astana's eclectic architecture has been described as bizarre, ground-breaking, a pretentious vanity project and pretty much everything in between. There has certainly been no expense spared, funded by the country's huge oil and gas revenues.

Take the Khan Shatyr as an example; few shopping centres can boast the likes of Sir Norman Foster as architect, but this is no ordinary mall. This is a huge shopping/entertainment centre built within a transparent canvas soaring 150 metres high. Billed as the world's largest tent, it even features a sub-tropical climate with an indoor beach filled with sand sourced from the Maldives

In a similar vein, Astana's 'Palace of Peace,' is in fact a futuristic glass built pyramid. The Presidential Palace is only slightly more conventional - an Islamic style version of the White House topped with a huge blue dome and golden spire. Even the State Circus is housed in a huge arena that resembles a flying saucer.

At first glance it all looks very disparate but subtle Islamic themes can be seen throughout the city, even in the growing number of city centre apartment blocks. In general there is an East-meets-West fusion in all but the most outlandish designs, but the President went old school with the main city Mosque. This is a monumental nod to conventional Islamic design with four soaring minarets and a huge dome covered with gold.

Although tree-lined cycle paths criss-cross the city, it is not a place where one can idly stroll around looking for something to happen. There is no defined central hub of activity, nor much of a developed community atmosphere yet, although that is gradually improving as each year goes by, according to some of the locals I spoke to. Astana is still to come of age, and still finding its feet as a global city, but on an aesthetic level it is right up there with the likes of Singapore, Dubai or Tokyo.