Abstract

This paper examines how state-led nation-building policies in independent Kazakhstan have influenced the transformation of the urban environment of Taraz. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan initiated a process of constructing a new national identity and reinterpreting historical and cultural narratives. These political and ideological changes were reflected not only in cultural and political institutions but also in the spatial organization of cities.

Urban development in many non-capital and regional centers, including one of the oldest cities of Kazakhstan — Taraz — is complicated by their provincial status and often exists in a state of a particular “epistemic oblivion.” The central problem of this research concerns the phenomenon of development itself: from Central Asian cities to provincial centers of a postcolonial state. Due to the policies of an ethnonational state, attention to the history, urban planning development, and cultural fabric of the city often remains fragmented, which makes it difficult to understand the broader context and the evolution of the urban environment. As a result, local architecture and the urban framework of the city remain insufficiently visible in both academic and public discourse.

The study focuses on the transformation of Taraz and analyzes how changes in urban planning policies, the construction of new monuments, the redesign of public spaces, and the reinterpretation of historical heritage have shaped the visual and symbolic landscape of the city. The analysis demonstrates that urban space becomes an important medium through which state ideology and national identity are materialized.