Harnessing Uzbekistan’s Potential of Urbanization

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program. 2018. Uzbekistan: Keeping Urban Dwellers Warm. 12 July.

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44
Harnessing Uzbekistan’s Potential of Urbanization
Pr
oblem T
ree
Reduced 
quality of life 
of urban residents 
especially the poor
Reduced 
ability to attract 
investors and create jobs
Low level of urban 
resilience
Unbalanced 
regional 
development
Cities unable to leverage comparative advantages and realize full potential of urbanization
.
Aging infrastructure and inefficient service delivery
Poorly maintained
infrastructure and public
realm asset
s
Increasing vulnerability to climate and disaster risks 
Shortage of housing units results in housing being 
unaffordable in
urban areas.
Core problem
Causes
Top-down urban planning
system with limited
citizen participation
Lack of national urban 
strategy and weak
institutional coordination
State ownership of land,
weak property
right regulations 
Weak institutional capacity of
hokimiyats
and utility to effectively
plan and/
or deliver service
s
Lack of evidence-based
data for effective 
strategic and land 
use planning
Weak tariffs and cost
recovery system
s
Limited political will to
raise tariffs of
public service
s
Aging, inefficient assets result in high and O&M
and energy cost
s
Lagging
Limited private sector
participation in urban 
services delivery
Interest of private 
sector from low revenue potential due to costly
O&M and low tariffs
Hokimiyats 
heavily 
reliant on central budget transfers
Low levels of local revenue generation
Weak link between
annual budget and development strategy
Decentralization reforms are slow in creating local 
accountability
and ownershi
p
Tashkent plays too much 
of a dominant role 
in urban and
economic development
Large gap between capital and secondary cities hampers counter 
magnet function
Slow progress in
propisk
a
reforms results in low rural-to-urban migratio
n
COVID-19 negative 
impacts on cities
. 
Effect
s
Insufficient provision of urban infrastructure, housing, and services
Weak capacity for strategic, integrated urban development
Inadequate finances for urban development and services delivery
Restrictions disrupt urban 
life, causing physical, social, and economic distress, particularly to
poor and vulnerable 
people in cities
Lower tax revenues 
impacts growth
C
O
VID
-19 = c
or
ona
virus disease, O
&M = oper
ation and main
tenanc
e.
Sour
ce: Asian D
ev
elopmen
t Bank.

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IV. Making Uzbek Cities More Livable
Competitive Cities
Capturing Agglomeration Benefits
The main transport corridors being built under the CAREC program and the Belt and Road Initiative could 
become positive drivers for future urbanization, and help Uzbekistan capture the agglomeration benefits of 
further urbanization, if complementary public policies are put in place to reap the related benefits for the cities 
that are affected (Map 1). Key transport corridors in the country are illustrated in Appendix 2. 
Map 1: Welfare Gains from Transport Investments and Border Cost Reductions
Turkmenistan
Islamic Republic of Iran
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyz Republic
Kazakhstan
4%–6%
8%–9%
10%–11%
12%–13%
14%–16%
7%
Growth of real wage
Source: S. Lall and M. Lebrand. 2019. Who Wins, Who Loses? Understanding the Spatially Differentiated Effects of the Belt and Road