Harnessing Uzbekistan’s Potential of Urbanization

Solid-Waste Management Project. Manila.

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Harnessing Uzbekistan’s Potential of Urbanization
The shrinkage of the Aral Sea has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts, 
which are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification and respiratory 
health problems.
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Dust with high levels of toxicity often travel long distances and accumulate in rural and urban 
settlements. 
Air pollution levels in industrial cities like Almalyk, Andijan, Angren, Bekabad, Bukhara, Chirchik, Fergana, Navoi, 
Nukus, and Tashkent often exceed health standards. In 2019, for example, Tashkent came in with a yearly 
particulate matter (PM) 2.5 average reading of 41.2 μg/m³ (one-millionth of a gram per cubic meter air).
This placed the city into the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” bracket, which requires a PM2.5 reading of 
anywhere between 35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such. Industrial dust affecting urban areas usually 
originate from the activities of SOEs. Higher specific dust emissions are observed in cities where cement industry 
and coal-burning powerplants are mostly located.
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Tashkent scored as the 18th most polluted capital city in the 
world out of 92 capital cities assessed for the year 2020.
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Air pollution is associated with the quality of outdoor 
urban air, but human health may also be affected by indoor air pollution, such as in dwelling and working premises 
(footnote 55). The indoor use of coal-fueled stoves increases exposure to substances with toxic properties. 
Around 12% of households in Uzbekistan use solid fuels (especially wood); in rural areas, 25% of the population 
uses solid fuels, and natural gas is commonly used for cooking. Reportedly, there are 6,200 deaths per year from 
indoor air pollution and 3,800 from outdoor air pollution.
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Natural Hazards and Climate Change Risks
As much as 80.4% of the population in Uzbekistan lives within areas of high or very high seismic hazard. 
Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and the Fergana Valley are subject to earthquakes with an intensity of 7 or higher 
(MSK scale) every 50 years—in the case of Tashkent, 25 years.
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On 26 April 1966, Tashkent was struck by an 
earthquake that killed 10 people, affected 100,000 others, and caused an economic loss of $300 million.
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Tashkent, Samarkand, and the urban centers of the Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya Regions are vulnerable to 
landslides due to geodynamic movements, rising water tables, and increasing torrential rainfall, deforestation, 
and mining activities. In the Fergana Valley, landslides can trigger transboundary hazards like glacial lake outburst 
floods and the release of toxic substances in river basins. The Sarez lake in the Pamir mountains is at risk of 
flooding the downstream valley of the Amu Darya River with its 16 cubic kilometers of water if an earthquake 
ruptures its naturally formed dam (footnote 58).
The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Innovation Lab found that the annual average 
population at risk of earthquakes is about 1 million, and the annual average GDP at risk is $2 billion. The projected 
urbanization rate, aging infrastructure, and demographic growth will accentuate this trend in the absence of 
risk mitigation.
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GFDRR supports Uzbekistan’s priority to reduce seismic risks, particularly for priority buildings 
in Tashkent.
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Central Intelligence Agency. 2020. Central Asia: Uzbekistan. Environment—Current Issues.
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Government of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2018. Protection of the Environment is an Important Factor in Ensuring Public Health.
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IQAir. 2020. World Air Quality Report: Region & City PM2.5 Ranking. Switzerland.
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United Nations Environment Programme. 2015. Air Quality Policies.
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J. F. Linn. 2010. Protection Against Severe Earthquake Risks in Central Asia. Brookings. 23 March.
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M. Thurman. 2011. Natural Disaster Risks in Central Asia: A Synthesis. United Nations Development Programme.
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