{{Short description, Urban reconstruction plan in Afghanistan The Kabul - City Of Light Development is an urban reconstruction plan, first proposed by urban planner and architect Hisham N. Ashkouri to revitalize the capital city of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. The plan targets an area just south of the Kabul River for redevelopment. This area, approximately 3.5km long and 1.75 km wide, still hosts residences, commercial and retail activity, despite the fact that it has been largely reduced to rubble after years of occupation and civil war, and many of the collapsed structures have become temporary shelters constructed of whatever is available, without

building codes A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permiss ...

or standards. The plan will revitalize Meywand Avenue, one of the main avenues of commerce in the city and part of the historic

Silk Route The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

, between the Shah Do Shamshera Mosque and the

Id Gah Mosque Eid Gah Mosque or Id Gah Mosque ( prs, مسجد عید‌گاه), is the second largest mosque in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It is considered the cardinal religious mosque in the country, where a million people offer Eid prayers twice a ...

. Retail, business, and residential areas are planned, alongside preserved and restored structures of historic value. Also incorporated into this project is the new

Afghan National Museum The National Museum of Afghanistan (Dari: موزیم ملی افغانستان, ''Mūzīyam-e mellī-ye Afghānestān''; ps, د افغانستان ملی موزیم, ''Də Afghānistān Millī Mūzīyəm''), also known as the Kabul Museum, is a ...

Design

The design of the City Of Light is based on an "Arid Region Design Technique" that has proven itself over the past decades in cities such as

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

, Isfahan, and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

. The project will rely on extensive use of concrete, in high-rise and national structures including all-exterior solar screen work. 10% of the development's profit will be set aside for

seed money Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...

to encourage refurbishment of nearby homes and businesses. The bases of the aesthetic designs to be used are rooted in the rich history of Afghan jewelry and rug designs. The buildings assembled in this project are most adaptable to various design themes, especially with the exterior glass skin being set within an outside screen of colored concrete in the shape of women's jewelry and rug patterns, extrapolated from culturally significant Afghan images. Green space in the plan is also incorporated in the shape of Necklace Park, a greenway running through the development.

Progress

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Afghan Ambassador to the United States

Said Tayeb Jawad Said Tayeb Jawad ( fa, سید طیب جواد, born 1958) is an Afghan politician and diplomat. He served as the last ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Russian Federation, from 2021 to 2022. From 2017 to 2020, Jawad served ...

for greater development of this plan, and it was presented to President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...

in May 2005.

External links

Kabul, City Of Light

ARCADD, Inc.
Kabul Urban design Urban planning Economy of Afghanistan

Design

Progress

See also

External links