New cities may appear in Kazakhstan.
To date, the country has 112 villages with populations exceeding 10,000 people,
including 18 villages with over 30,000 residents each. According to the Kazakh government,
these settlements can be granted city status by the decisions of regional
maslikhats, which will contribute to their further development. The country’s
legislation has provided such mechanisms for change since 2021. Nearly 40
percent or over 7.5 million Kazakh citizens now live in more than 6,000
villages, whose support is a matter of national importance. The government
adopted the Concept of Rural Development until 2027, which is currently being
implemented. Last year, over 1 trillion tenge was allocated from the national
and local budgets for enhancing rural infrastructure. To this end, around 900
billion tenge is planned to be earmarked in 2024.
