city:ulaanbaatar

Socialist Architecture in Mongolia

A post by Lukasz Stanek (ETH, Zürich) on FB, unfortunately... but.

Very much soviet looking like.

In Mongolia for a week : together with Nikolay Erofeev we are looking at architecture which was produced in the networks of socialist internationalism. Mongolia was the biggest recipient countries of technical assistance and other forms of support from Comecon countries, which also included architectural design and planning, construction and construction materials industry, architectural education, norms and standards. Our trip includes Ulaanbaatar, and the industrial towns of Baganur, Darkhan, and Erdenet.

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30581997_1019337611556876_1155316640887730902_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=7f0ca39941f04089d0fcb50071096cb7&oe=5B6409C7 https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30572224_1019337621556875_6228228651835738669_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=e2c3fccd19ac9c6708044364c02082af&oe=5B73447F https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30582064_1019337608223543_4331666235731807105_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=686f869612c9ccd1dddc6de0a8413d22&oe=5B2B533B https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/30572248_363826240788149_8463400620622086144_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=6bfda2b89255a5365dcbb7eebd79ce8c&oe=5B6081E6

#mongolie #soviétisme #architectures #monuments #mosaïques #peinture_murale

Will Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un meet in Ulaanbaatar? | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2018/03/12/will-donald-trump-and-kim-jong-un-meet-in-ulaanbaatar

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/5aa203c52e889.image_.jpg

In the lead up to the historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un set to happen sometime in May of this year, Ulaanbaatar has been vaulted into the conversation to host the much anticipated peace talks.

The meeting will make Trump the first ever US President to meet with a North Korean leader. On Friday, former President Ts.Elbegdorj took to twitter to commemorate a “long [waited] breakthrough”. The fourth president of Mongolia also took the opportunity to make an offer to host the historic talks in Ulaanbaatar.

“Korean Peninsula: A long waited breakthrough! Here is an offer: US President Trump and NK leader Kim meet in UB. Mongolia is the most suitable, neutral territory. We facilitated important meetings, including between Japan and NK. Mongolia’s continuing legacy – UB dialogue on NEA,” Ts.Elbegdorj tweeted on Friday.

During his presidency, Ts.Elbegdorj was at the forefront of trying to champion Mongolia and specifically Ulaanbaatar as a neutral location to hold peace talks with North Korea. In his tweet, Ts.Elbegdorj alludes to the fact that Mongolia has been a mediator between Japan and North Korea for talks regarding abducted Japanese citizens.

Lie-in protest staged while lawmakers celebrated 26th anniversary of the Constitution | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2018/01/16/lie-in-protest-staged-while-lawmakers-celebrated-26th-anniversary-of-the-c

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AAGI8209.jpg

The “Booj Ukhlee” (Chocking to Death) movement against air pollution resumed with a lie-in protest with elderly people and children at Sukhbaatar Square last Saturday.

Mums and Dads Against Smog NGO organized the #lie-in, also known as #dead-in, to implant a stronger image of how the #air_pollution in the city is slowly killing them while causing all kinds of respiratory diseases to all members of the public.

While the young and old laid on freezing cold pavement at -14 degrees Celsius for hours at the southwestern side of Sukhbaatar Square with only a thin mattress to lessen the cold hard surface, members of Parliament, Cabinet and Ulaanbaatar City Council paid respect to Chinggis Khaan’s statue in commemoration of the 26th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. They completely ignored the lie-in as they made their way to General D.Sukhbaatar’s statue at the center of the square to lay wreaths only a few feet away from the protesters.
[…]
However, air quality monitoring stations set up throughout Ulaanbaatar still signal air pollution as “hazardous”. On Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., PM2.5 level was recorded 409 micrograms per cubic meters at Tolgoit area and 371 micrograms per cubic meters at MNB, indicating that air pollution is at hazardous level. Sensors at Nisekh, Bayankhoshuu, and the Western Central Intersection were at “very unhealthy” level, measuring from 222 to 286 micrograms per cubic meters, while the other sensors signaled “unhealthy”, PM 2.5 measuring slightly under 200 micrograms per cubic meters.

Will prohibiting left turns on Peace Avenue decrease traffic ? | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2017/08/13/will-prohibiting-left-turns-on-peace-avenue-decrease-traffic

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/baaf29___x974-1068x453.jpg

Starting on August 15, left turns will be prohibited on Peace Avenue from Western Central Intersection to Eastern Central Intersection, reported the Traffic Police Department this week. A significant shake-up in the Ulaanbaatar road network, the move was a surprise to many and it has been a polarizing issue since the announcement. Will prohibiting left turns be able to decrease traffic flow as traffic authorities believe or will it only convolute an already chaotic road system?

“Beginning on August 15, drivers will be prohibited from turning left at all seven intersections on Peace Avenue from Western Central Intersection to Eastern Central Intersection,” Major B.Ochirbat of the Traffic Police Department told media.

To put into perspective, drivers will not be allowed to turn left on Peace Avenue starting from around Gandantegchinlen Monastery (Barrun Durvun Zam) until Kempinski Hotel (Zuun Durvun Zam).

(comme indiqué sur la carte par les ronds rouges, l’immense place centrale est sur la gauche entre le 3ème et 4ème rond à partir de la gauche (ouest))

Quand le nouveau président mongol visite les militaires il ne se déguise ni en Top Gun, ni en sous-marinier, ni en Chinggis Khan…

President visits the Ministry of Defense | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2017/07/31/9174

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Interior-of-honorary-ger-for-Mongolian-khaans-being-presented-to-the-President.jpg

On Friday, President Kh.Battulga toured the Ministry of Defense to oversee its operations.

At the beginning of his tour, President Kh.Battulga, Minister of Defense B.Bat-Erdene and a head of the State Honorary Guards paid tribute to the state’s honorary white banner (peace symbol) and military black banner (wartime symbol), which were used during the Mongol Empire.

Mongolian nomads say goodbye to herding, hello to smog | Public Radio International
▻https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-07-10/mongolian-nomads-say-goodbye-herding-hello-smog

https://cdn1.pri.org/sites/default/files/styles/open_graph/public/story/images/RTX2ZZXU.jpg?itok=kCI-_LVY

But things are changing fast in Mongolia. And recently this nomadic family set down its portable home in a place they never expected to end up — a sprawling patchwork of dirt roads, makeshift fences and hundreds of yurts in the country’s crowded capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

A few years ago the family gave up on herding and moved to the city after losing most of its livestock in a harsh winter, known here as a “dzud.”

And they weren’t alone.

“So many nomadic families lost their herds” during that time, says Jargalsaikhan Erdene-Bayar, the father of the family. “So they started moving here. And it’s still happening.”

#Mongolie #élevage #nomadisme #climat #pollution

Les naufragés de l’ère Khrouchtchev : vivre en attendant la démolition

▻http://fr.rbth.com/longreads/khrouchtchevkas

Comme on en a une à Riga, j’espère que le maire de Riga ne va pas prendre la même décision, c’est un pro-russe... Cela dit, on en est très content. C’est super bien construit, solide et assez bien isolé.

Et pour une fois, RBTH offre un bel article sur une question pas très souvent évoquée. Je recommande.

http://fr.rbth.com/longreads/khrouchtchevkas/images/tild6263-6332-4631-b634-633131636531__b_d81_7047_b.jpg http://fr.rbth.com/longreads/khrouchtchevkas/images/tild3434-6238-4033-b063-653134366231__khr_allhdfr.jpg http://fr.rbth.com/longreads/khrouchtchevkas/images/tild3038-3233-4238-b862-356538663133__b_d81_7029_b.jpg

Le 21 février, Sergueï Sobianine, le maire de Moscou,
a annoncé un programme d’envergure concernant ce que l’on appelle les « khrouchtchevkas », des immeubles de cinq étages construits à l’époque de Nikita Khrouchtchev.
Le 20 avril, la Douma d’État a étudié en première lecture ce projet de loi mais aucun plan précis de relogement des habitants n’a encore été dévoilé. Nous avons discuté avec des personnes dont les immeubles sont susceptibles de subir prochainement l’assaut des pelleteuses.

Moscow #soviétisme #krouchtchovka #urss #ex-urss #architecture #habitat

Free nighttime electricity offered to ger district residents | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2016/12/25/free-electricity-at-night-offered-to-ger-district-residents

On Friday, Prime Minister J.Erdenebat held a briefing on air pollution reduction efforts, and said that a number of projects to reduce air pollution have been carried out, but better outcomes have not been seen so far.

He pointed out that developing an electric heating system is of great importance to reducing Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution, and that a decision has been made to provide ger district residents with free electricity at night.

The Prime Minister noted that the Government of Mongolia is working to execute the following actions to reduce Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution:

Promote construction projects to minimize ger district occupancy and spend aid provided by the Chinese government on ger district re-planning and household relocation, as discussed during Premier of the State Council of the People’s Repoublic of China Li Keqiang’s visit to Mongolia in July.
Promote an electric heating system in Mongolia and provide residents with cheap electric heaters produced in Mongolia.
Help support herders who have lost their livestock to dzud conditions and other natural disasters to address rural-to-urban migration resulting in increased air pollution in Ulaanbaatar.
Promote people’s effective initiatives to reduce air pollution
Prime Minister J.Erdenebat said that a budget of four billion MNT has been set for projects and programs to be implemented in 2017 to reduce Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution.

Eighty percent of the budget will be spent on providing free electricity to ger distrcit households at night and addressing electricity deficits.

(c’était annoncé le 25 décembre 2016)

UB Mayor restricts rural to urban migration until 2018 | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2017/01/12/ub-mayor-restricts-rural-to-urban-migration-until-2018

The Restriction Action decree states that rural residents, excluding those who require long-term medical care, those who already own an apartment, and those who have a mortgage loan, will be restricted from taking up residence in Ulaanbaatar.
[…]
The second decree issued by the Mayor’s Office calls for dividing the city into zones. The establishment of any new settlements outside of residential zones will be prohibited, with the area outside of residential zones has being declared “eco areas”.

The final decree outlines the establishment of four different air pollution zones in the city. Zone 1 includes apartments, houses, and residential complexes. The decree states that coal burning will be prohibited in this zone. The Zones 2, 3, and 4 have been identified as areas which will use electrical heating and areas which will use improved fuel.

Putting a magnifying glass on air pollution | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2017/01/12/putting-a-magnifying-glass-on-air-pollution

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It’s 6:50 a.m. in the morning. I wake up next to my beeping alarm clock to see the usual blanket of smoke covering the city in my view through the window. With a cup of coffee in hand and its aroma enveloping the room, I look at the poetically beautiful but realistically lethal sight: smoky Ulaanbaatar. In the sky, a beautiful dark gray to blue gradient spans from the north to the south, and a navy blue streak is followed by a thick swatch of dark gray, and then by a softer gray from the sky to the ground.
[…]
Mongolians usually think Beijing’s air is worse than Ulaanbaatar’s. The graph below is a comparison of air quality in Ulaanbaatar and Beijing. Thanks to statistical modeling by Maelle Salmon, I found that UB’s PM2.5 levels have surpassed those of Beijing almost 50 percent of the time since last September. In Beijing, they call their pollution the “#airpocalypse”. Here, it’s no more than a “smoky” weather forecast on your iPhone.

le graphique n’est pas reproduit sur la page, mais je pense qu’il s’agit de celui-ci

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iMvyGHqIXrRc/v2/-1x-1.png

Mongolia’s Air Pollution Is Five Times Worse Than Beijing’s - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-22/world-s-worst-air-has-mongolians-seeing-red-planning-protest

Maelle Salmon, mentionnée dans l’article est l’auteure de ropenaq, cf. ▻https://seenthis.net/messages/559837

Nomads no more: why Mongolian herders are moving to the city | World news | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/05/mongolian-herders-moving-to-city-climate-change

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/51356f82dd74601b69d1682ad310550c697cf2a3/11_1105_7124_4274/master/7124.jpg?w=1200&h=630&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&bm=normal&ba=bottom%2Cleft&blend64=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWRzLmd1aW0uY28udWsvMjAxNi8wNS8yNS9vdmVybGF5LWxvZ28tMTIwMC05MF9vcHQucG5n&s=1fbe2998c20429c8a17df829e2f21ae1

Nomads no more: why Mongolian herders are moving to the city

Climate change and the end of Soviet state support have forced 600,000 to migrate to the capital, leaving it struggling to cope

by Patrick Kingsley in Mongolia, with photographs and videos by David Levene

Thursday 5 January 2017 07.00 GMT

In Altansukh Purev’s yurt, the trappings of a herder’s life lie in plain sight. In the corner are his saddle and bridle. By the door, he has left a milk pail. If you didn’t know better, you might think his horses and cattle were still grazing outside on the remote plains of outer Mongolia.

But they aren’t. Altansukh’s milk pail stands empty. There is no horse for him to saddle. His cattle are dead. And this tent, which once stood in the countryside, is now on the fringes of the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, surrounded by pylons, rubble and the husks of old cars. Altansukh, his wife and their four children may live among rural paraphernalia, but following a disastrously cold winter a few years ago, they were forced to move to the city to survive.

#mongolie #nomadisme

Ulaanbaatar’s silent killer | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2016/12/14/ulaanbaatars-silent-killer-2

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DSC_5391-copy.jpg

At a small medical clinic on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar’s ger district, the waiting room is full of mothers and fathers cradling their sick children.

One baby vomits in the hallway, while another tiny boy struggles to breathe, wheezing and gasping for air.

The three-room Orkhon Tushee Murun medical center in the 17th Khoroo of Bayanzurkh District sees 115 patients a day. Around 30 to 40 patients are children who have symptoms of pneumonia.
[…]
Pneumonia is the second most common cause of infant and under-five mortality in Mongolia, accounting for 15 percent of infant deaths. For adults, air pollution-related diseases – Ischemic heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – were the top three causes of premature death in 2013.

Chinggis Square to become Sukhbaatar Square once more | The UB Post
▻http://theubpost.mn/2016/08/18/chinggis-square-to-become-sukhbaatar-square-once-more

http://theubpost.mn/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Sukhbaatar-Square1.jpg

Ulaanbaatar’s central square, currently known as Chinggis Square, is returning to its original name, Sukhbaatar Square, following the final ruling of the Administrative Cases Court of Mongolia.

The square was originally named in honor of the Mongolian revolutionary hero D.Sukhbaatar shortly after his death in 1923. The Ulaanbaaatar City Council made an abrupt decision on July 15, 2013, to rename the square after Chinggis Khaan, the founder of the Great Mongol Empire. This decision was strongly opposed by the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP), as well as the descendants of D.Sukhbaatar. The issue went to court in 2014, under an alleged violation of Article 8.1 in the Law on Administrative and Territorial Units of Mongolia and Their Control.

The controversy subsided over time, and local residents got used to calling the square by its new name. However, the Administrative Cases Court made a final ruling to overturn the 2013 resolution to rename the square Chinggis Square shortly after the MPP rose to political power.

Yesterday, a descendant of D.Sukhbaatar who appealed to the court on the 2013 resolution wrote on Facebook, “The Administrative Court has put an end to the case on Sukhbaatar Square’s name. The square’s name will remain Sukhbaatar Square. On behalf of our family, I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to all the lawyers who worked on this case. I guess it’s become a tradition to change the names of streets and squares when a new political party rises to power.”

Towering Multiplicity: A closer look At Ulaanbaatar’s counterpoint architecture | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=19513

http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/editorial.jpg

One of Ulaanbaatar’s most recent projects, the United Family Intermed Hospital, opened its doors in September 2014. Sustainability-driven French firm Archetype Group (also responsible for an array of upcoming projects such as UB’s Porsche Center and the Nuudelchin Tower) administrated this glass-like, cubic building in the Khan-Uul District to facilitate “the first hospital built in Mongolia according to European standards.” The 90-bed health center boasted a 100 million MNT investment, with 200 subcontractors managing over 4,000 technicians and engineers. Less than 20 meters away, just over the road, the structure overlooks a collection of dilapidated Soviet buildings. If ever a contrast produced such immense entanglement between the historical revolutions of architecture, and in such close proximity, UB certainly holds standout examples. In similar ways all across the city, the everyday and the utopian oscillate in idiosyncratic arrangement.

Yet, Ulaanbaatar’s Soviet influence not only marked the most consistent period of its structural production, but also the efficacy of Mongolia’s twentieth century successes. Such successes were invariably tied to the ascendancy of the Soviet regime. UB’s Tengis Cinema and the Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs were formerly heralded as the Yalalt Cinema and the Lenin Museum. Constructivism and rationalism swept through the nation, creating new measures of habitation that were strikingly different from traditional Mongolian housing.

Projects like Intermed Hospital are just another example of the blueprints of gentrification that sweep through many architectural trends, and although the fruits are progressive aesthetics, the question of how they relate to the domestic topography of Ulaanbaatar is crucial. With almost 70 percent of UB’s residents occupying the ger district that encircles much of the city, the framework for modal design might only be celebrated when abject poverty is acted upon first. The ger district certainly contributes to the realism of UB’s architecture; despite rural-to-urban migration being one of the most complex domestic challenges facing Mongolian ministers.

http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/editorial-ger.jpg

The World Bank Is Supposed to Help the Poor. So Why Is it Bankrolling Oligarchs? Mother Jones
▻http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/world-bank-ifc-fund-luxury-hotels

http://www.motherjones.com/files/WORLDBANK_A_630.jpg

In recent years, [Malaysian billionaire Robert] Kuok has teamed up with a far more respectable business partner to expand his chain of luxury hotels and resorts throughout Asia: the International Finance Corporation. A branch of the World Bank, the IFC finances the private sector in developing countries, via loans and direct investments, to help meet the bank’s goals of ending extreme poverty and “boosting shared prosperity.” In 2009, the IFC invested $50 million in the construction of a 142-villa Shangri-La resort in the Maldives. In 2012, it sank another $50 million into Kuok’s new five-star hotel in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. And in 2014, the IFC signed off on an $80 million investment in Kuok’s Burma properties that backed the construction of the luxury apartment complex and a makeover at the Rangoon hotel he built with Law. It was the IFC’s largest investment in Burma to date.

[...]

The IFC is a moneymaker for the rest of the World Bank, handing over hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the bank’s International Development Association fund for the “poorest” countries. But in its pursuit of profits, the IFC has at times partnered with controversial oligarchs and made investments that, while contributing to its balance sheet, are of questionable benefit to the people it is supposed to be lifting out of poverty. And, says the former World Bank staffer, “there are examples of IFC making people worse off.”

#Banque_mondiale #socialisme_pour_les_riches

Air Quality in Ulaanbaatar
Monitoring outputs by Air Quality Department, Capital City
▻http://www.air.ub.gov.mn/en

http://www.air.ub.gov.mn/images/stories/nachadisplay/20160104000000-20160111000000-pm25-30min.png

et exploration des différentes stations d’Oulan-Bator
▻http://aqicn.org/city/ulaanbaatar/mnb

https://dl.dropbox.com/s/1vgzb7p4sdqcdxm/20160122_UB_Pollution.jpg

Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution breaks China’s records | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=17307

http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/wow.png

On December 5, the recorded level of particulate matter in Ulaanbaatar’s air was 25 times higher than the suggested guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), breaking Beijing’s record for dangerously high levels of air pollution.
The whole world buzzed about the #airpocalypse in Beijing and New Delhi in November, when the levels of particulate matter in the air reached 21 to 24 times the permissible threshold of the WHO. The hazardous levels were recorded near the Mongolian National Broadcaster (MNB) building on December 5, according to the air quality index (AQI) reported by agaar.mn.

Agaar.mn defines an AQI of 50 to be “normal” and an AQI above 500 to be “hazardous to health”. The area around the MNB reached an AQI of 2,685 at around 9:10 p.m. At the same time, PM2.5 levels reached 622 micrograms per cubic meters. PM 2.5 is fine particulate matter in the air measuring up to 2.5 micrometers in size, and is linked to lung cancer and heart disease.

The record breaking pollution data generated comments from environmental advocates on social media, advising people in the area around MNB to “not breathe if possible”.

Mongolia: Clean Air Fund to shut down | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=16979

http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/800-c2e66e93e7591d7ec15e9a41cfe925d30754cfa8.jpg

The Clean Air Fund will be shut down to reduce government spending.
The government has not allocated funds for combating air pollution in the 2016 state budget, according to N.Bataa, the vice director in charge of economic and financial issues at the Ulaanbaatar Mayor’s Office.

The Clean Air Fund was the initiator of the Clean Stove Project. Approximately 87 percent of the air pollution in Ulaanbaatar is caused by coal burning stoves in ger districts.
“The government doesn’t understand the impact of the liquidation of the Clean Air Fund,” said an air quality researchers, against the government’s decision.

According to a 2014 study by the Clean Air Fund, Mongolia loses approximately 38,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually due to air pollution. DALY is used to calculate the capital that a nation loses due to wealth creators becoming incapable of work. By 2024, the nation’s annual lost DALYs will rise to 54,500.
Currently, the Mongolian air quality index is already seven to eight times higher than the World Health Organization standard.

#Mongolie #Pollution

The outdoor toilet and Mongolia’s future | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=16677

One half of the three-million-strong population of Mongolia resides in Ulaanbaatar, whereas five percent live in Darkhan-Uul Province and three percent in Orkhon Province. More than half of those people live in ger districts. One third of the remaining population of 1.2 million resides in other province and soum centers, while approximately 750,000 people live in the countryside herding livestock and changing locations to seek better pastureland.

Depending on their location of residence, 45 percent of our total population uses pit latrines by digging a hole in the ground and building a small shelter, either made of wood or covered by other found materials. Only around 65 percent of the population consumes water and food that has been sanitized.

A United Nations report suggests that the thousands of new apartment blocks built in Mongolia’s urban areas in the first 15 years of this millennia have caused only a three percent drop in the number of people who use pit latrines. I previously mentioned in my article “Potemkin Villages” that Mongolia is behind North Korea on access to improved sanitation facilities (flush toilets).

An Aerial Sensing Map-a-thon in #Mongolia | In Asia
▻http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2015/06/24/an-aerial-sensing-map-a-thon-in-mongolia

Almost 60 percent of the population of the capital city of Mongolia, #Ulaanbaatar, lives in “ger” areas – sprawling and mostly unplanned informal settlements on the periphery of the city – and these areas continue to grow as new migrants settle there. Ger area residents commonly lack basic services such as heat, water, electricity, and solid waste collection. Ger residents are accustomed to walking several kilometers to collect water from water kiosks, heating their homes by burning coal and wood, and building their own outhouses. As a result, ger areas contribute significantly to air and soil pollution in Ulaanbaatar.
[…]
As a complement to the collection and analysis of the UAV imagery, the Foundation and the City Municipality also recruited members of the general public to help build a better map of Ulaanbaatar’s ger areas. Citizens of Ulaanbaatar know their neighborhoods best, and have a better lens on the changing landscape of the city. The Foundation posted the UAV imagery to the open mapping platform #OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free, online map of the world, for the Mongolian community to map. Then, on June 20 and 21, the City Municipality and The Asia Foundation organized an OSM mapping competition, the “Map for UB #Map-a-thon,” focused specifically on the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar.
Seventeen teams of over 50 Mongolian mappers participated in the Map-a-thon, including university students, mapping enthusiasts, and city government staff – experienced and new OSM mappers alike. In a single weekend, an astounding 20,000+ edits were made to OSM with the project’s UAV imagery as a base layer. Mappers recorded a range of ger area features, including homes and other buildings, ger plots (khashaas), construction sites, rivers, green spaces, and gullies. The city’s planning department will be able to reference these public maps to augment their own mapping data sets.

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teSTYUXB3Wg

#Asia_Foundation

(merci @stephane ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/401768 )

How Mongolia’s rollercoaster economy could be about to take off
▻http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-mongolias-rollercoaster-economy-could-be-about-take-off-1510147

“There’s a feeling of Mongolia being open for business again,” says Peter Morley of specialist emerging-markets communications consultancy EM.

“The key word here is ’again’. Mongolia was one of those hot markets that everyone wanted a piece of, but people ended up disappointed.”

Richard Adley, co-CEO of investment bank First Frontier, cautions that portfolio investment will lag with no arrangements yet for prospective investors to set themselves up with a global custodian.

Adley’s company considers Mongolia a “pre-frontier” market, one step behind Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Corruption is an unquantifiable problem. Gordon Turley of Mott MacDonald says it is “much better than it was” and that “we haven’t encountered it”.

Bataa Tserenbat of the Mongolian Association in London believes it is growing. He said: “I can’t blame people who take money out – the system will have to change”.

There are stories of parochial misdeeds such as the building in Ulaanbaatar seized because the developer committed a planning infringement and bought at auction by an official with planning responsibilities; of huge alleged scandals such as the belief Mongolia sells its coal to the Chinese at an uncommercial rate.

Then there are anomalies such as the duplication resulting in 54 power stations for three million people.

Programme du Naadam à UB : fête nationale mongole 10-11-12 juillet

Il est encore temps de vous y rendre et de vous placer sous le vent pour respirer la poussière de la course des chevaux de 5 ans. Et vous garantir ainsi une année faste…

Official program of National Naadam Festival | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=15237

The National Naadam Festival kicks off on Friday. The organizing committee of Naadam has released the full program of the national celebration on the 2,224th anniversary of the Establishment of the Mongolian State and the 809th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire. Events of the National Naadam Festival are to take place at the horse racing field of Khui Doloon Khudag, Central Stadium, and Chinggis Square in Ulaanbaatar.

HOW TO APPRECIATE MONGOLIAN HORSE RACING : Mongolia - Nomadic by Nature
▻http://www.mongolia.travel/resources/how-to-appreciate-mongolian-horse-racing

http://www.mongolia.travel/fileadmin/Ressource/mongolian-horse-racing/10.jpg

Young men love to get dusted from a Soyolon as the 5-year old horse is the fastest. When Soyolon races, kilometers-long line of viewers hunt for places where the wind will blow Soyolon dust on them. Having such dust means the spirit of the strongest horses are connected to them via the race dust.

Sinking in sewage, but talking about ASEM [Asia-Europe Meeting 2016] | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=14863

S.Unen, the director of the Water Supply and Sewage Authority, reported last week (on May 27) that the central treatment facility has to be shut down for three days because it needs immediate maintenance. The patience of Ulaanbaatar residents reached its limit when he said that there was no choice but to discharge raw sewage directly into the Tuul River for three days. Ulaanbaatar is about to become the world’s biggest open toilet.

The central sewage treatment facility was first built in 1964 with a capacity of treating 45,000 cubic meters of sewage per day. Its capacity was enhanced in 1979, and again in 1985, to be brought to 65,000 cubic meters. However, approximately 175,000 cubic meters of wastewater currently comes to the facility every day. This facility receives wastewater from the residents of Ulaanbaatar, treats it, and pumps the treated water back into the Tuul River. Despite being fully aware of the ongoing expansion of the city, the mayors have done nothing more than just talk about improving the central treatment facility and building a new one.
Waste from tanneries and water with chemical contamination are supposed to be treated at the Khargia pre-treatment facility before being sent on to the central treatment facility. However, this facility does not work now because they installed the wrong technology, despite investing billions.

New center to offer latest stove technology to combat air pollution | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=14778

The Ulaanbaatar Clean Air Project opened the Stove Development Project (SDP) center on Monday to ensure regular upgrade of stove technology.
Smoke produced by stoves in ger area households is known to be the main source of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar.
The project is aimed at reducing air pollution by producing an efficient stove with the best possible technology with the least emission. The SDP will experiment on innovative technologies to upgrade stoves.
Deputy Governor of Ulaanbaatar in charge of ecology and green development T.Bat-Erdene attended the SDP’s opening and expressed his hope that the center will contribute to efforts for reducing air pollution in the city.
Stove producers will be able to experiment their stoves and learn from their trials at the SDP center.

Les modèles ultra-courants sont des variations sur un modèle de base

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/DFBKW4/traditional-nomad-tends-to-the-wood-stove-inside-her-ger-in-the-gobi-DFBKW4.jpg

un modèle plus touristique (dans la yourte restaurant d’un camp probablement)

https://photos.travelblog.org/Photos/64285/277189/f/2325970-Stove-in-our-eating-ger-0.jpg

On peut remarquer qu’à Oulan-Bator, les résidents des quartiers de yourtes n’ont absolument pas les moyens de s’acheter du charbon de bonne qualité (de toutes façons, l’anthracite est réservé à l’exportation).

http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/files/2010/03/Nomad-green-smog-ulaanbaater-640x480.jpg

L’UBPost pond de temps en temps un article sur la pollution, ici en octobre 2012

http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/utaa1.jpg

The air quality in Ulaanbaatar is getting worse and worse. This is related to many factors such as car exhaust, smoke, dust, industrialization, urbanization, and the means of transportation. Though the Mongolian government is taking many measures to reduce the air pollution, the measures seem do not seem to yield results yet.

(parmi les solutions proposées ne figurait pas encore l’amélioration des poêles domestiques)

Enfin, une photo sélectionnée pour le Prix de la Photo de Presse 2010

http://gstat.mn/news/2011/1/22/agaariin-bohirdolt11.jpg

Pour voir les autres photos sélectionnées, c’est là
▻http://news.gogo.mn/r/82374

Russia- Mongolia-China highway construction to begin soon | The UB Post
▻http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=14353

The construction of a highway passing through Ulaanbaatar from Altanbulag to Zamiin Uud will soon commence. The project was awaiting approval on the placement of the highway, but on April 2, the plan was partially approved in accordance with an order from the Minister of Roads and Transportation.
The highway will pass through 24 soums of six provinces, and two districts of Ulaanbaatar. On April 24, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Roads and Transportation J.Bat-Erdene delivered official letters to governors of the six provinces.
When approving the plan for the 1,000 km highway on April 2, the Cabinet left 97 km unapproved, but an official source reports that the remaining part of the highway will soon be resolved.
On March 9, 2014, Chinggis Land Development and the Ministry of Economic Development established a concession agreement on building the highway with build-operate-transfer conditions.
The company worked on a feasibility study for the highway and conducted research on geology, geodesy, and hydrogeology. The highway will be a two-way six-lane road. Preliminary estimates suggest that 10 to 12 billion USD will be required for its construction.
Chinggis Land says its investment will be coming from long-standing cooperation with international investment foundations, banks, and financial organizations. The first round of investment is expected to be deposited in May.

#BOT Contrat-Exploitation-Transfert

Y a du boulot : état 2013 du réseau « routier »…

http://mad-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Untitled-12.jpg

L’avancement du projet sur le site du consortium détenteur de la concession (Chinggis International Group, of course !)
▻http://chinggis-group.com/eng/?page_id=12141

(note : le même groupe, Chinggis Energy Group, développe un autre projet Eternal Energy Empire avec des Industrial smart cities à l’horizon 2025-2030)

Le futur (vu les panneaux, on est à la frontière chinoise, vers le Nord)

http://www.infomongolia.com/images/stories/news/news/2013/12_december/09/road04.jpg

Les passages pour troupeaux

http://www.infomongolia.com/images/stories/news/news/2013/12_december/09/road05.jpg

▻http://www.infomongolia.com/ct/ci/7125