A shopping centre underground. Strange idea of the capital's mayor's office or a proven strategy?

The Department of Capital Construction under the Bishkek Mayor's Office announced a tender for the development of a project for the object: ‘Reconstruction of the basement under the Manas monument into retail space’.

This news, because of the wording ‘for retail space’ raised questions among the citizens: what exactly are going to be built under the square, how will it look and how harmoniously will it fit into the general appearance of the capital?

The press service of the mayor's office informed the Akchabar editorial office that the construction of retail space is out of the question at the moment.

‘At the moment, we want to reconstruct these basement premises. They are in a deplorable state, as no work has been done there since 1983. Perhaps if we talk about the future, there may be something there in the future. But the main thing to understand is that no one is going to remove the monument and other historical objects from there,’ said spokeswoman Nazgul Zhamgyrchieva.

And if it's really about building a shopping centre under the square, should we be afraid of it? The practice of placing commercial facilities under city squares is not new. Such solutions have been successfully implemented in other countries, for example in Russia.

One example is the underground shopping centre on Paveletskaya Square in Moscow. In the early 2000s, the area in front of Paveletsky railway station was reconstructed: in order to preserve the space, shopping areas were placed underground and a modern urban space was built above them. This made it possible to relieve the territory from chaotic development, preserve the aesthetics of the square and make it more convenient for citizens.

Besides, the total area of these basement premises under the Manas monument is 1.5 thousand squares, and such a huge shopping centre in the heart of the capital could become an object of attention not only for tourists, but also for popular foreign brands.

Whether the same project will be realised in Bishkek is an open question. For now, we have to wait for the results of the tender and design solutions to be presented by the municipality.