The project aims to enhance the economy, livability, and inclusiveness of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, through improved sustainable urban mobility and services (output 1) and strengthened institutional capacity for green and inclusive urban mobility (output 2). It aims to support Yerevan in Contact online >>
The project aims to enhance the economy, livability, and inclusiveness of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, through improved sustainable urban mobility and services (output 1) and strengthened institutional capacity for green and inclusive urban mobility (output 2). It aims to support Yerevan in improving the urban environment, enhancing the road network, and promoting climate-resilient infrastructure. The project will benefit up to 1.2 million people.
The report and recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors (RRP) document describes the terms and conditions of a project for consideration and approval by ADB''s Board of Directors.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. It assists its members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.
A glance across Yerevan''s panorama shows a city in the throes of construction, with cranes and dust and noise, and expectation mixed with apprehension. Barely a street in the center of the capital is unmarked by blue tarpaulin stretched over unfinished projects, or great craters chiseled into the ground for still more building work to begin.
Apartment buildings, hotels, offices and retail shops are being constructed, renovated, enlarged or redesigned. The face of the city changes with each multi-storied tower—many rising to replace or obscure the skyline imagined by city architect Alexander Tamanian a century ago.
Critics say the construction rises on the backs of vulnerable residents, powerless to fight authorities who claimed property "for state need" at prices far less than market value. Others, though, concede that if Yerevan is to be a modern city, it cannot avoid gentrification and urbanization.
Where before only streets bore names, now the new luxury buildings also carry titles indicating their origin—"Griar," "Elite Group," "DH Group," "Mika City," "Levon A"—names of the developers or investors who have triggered this new building boom in Armenia.
So-called "elite" design has become a catch-all term for any modern construction that differs from the style of building dominant in Yerevan from Tamanian''s time until independence.
In the new city center, doormen welcome residents who have paid $1,000-2,000 per square meter for the shell of their apartments—interior work comes extra. Modern facilities include air conditioning, independent water, heat and electricity, security, parking, and satellite television, usually for additional fees of from $40 to $200 a month.
Astghik Tovmasian''s family is among locals who can afford "elite" living. The Tovmasians sold their three-bedroom apartment for $95,000 and took a loan for a new apartment in the first alleyway of Arshakunyats Avenue.
The five-story building constructed by the Italian company, Renco, has fully satisfied the needs and expectations of the Tovmasian family (though they have yet to move in). They paid $1,400 per square meter for the new apartment, which included some interior work, such as ceramic tile flooring.
"I think this building is one of the best in the city as it is located in the park," Tovmasian says. "There is a small bar and a store in the fenced yard as well as a children''s playground. I think my family will be very secure in this building."
Tovmasian says that all apartments were bought before the building was completed. Presently, she and her family live at her parents'' home while the new apartment is being finished.
"I don''t know many of my neighbors in the new place but I think we are the only local family there. Two of my neighbors are French Armenian; I also know that some of the neighbors are from the United States."
Real estate agent Vladimir Khachatrian says that families such as the Tovmasians are lucky to have bought apartments already, because the prices for real estate will continue to increase. He says Armenia is simply following an international trend.
While it is expected that even low-income families will benefit from economic growth brought by new construction, ownership of such property remains out of reach for the vast majority of Armenia''s 780,000 households, and is beyond the dream of 100,000 families who, according to official figures, live in temporary or substandard accommodations. The nouveaux riches enjoy their spoils in a society where the average income is $177 per month.
Aharon Adibekian, head of Sociometer, the Armenian Center for Independent Sociology, says his research shows that only 15 percent of the population can afford apartments costing $100,000 or more. High-ranking officials and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and computer programmers account for three percent of the local market, and the remaining 12 percent are businessmen who earn money abroad.
In 2000, only four multi-story buildings were approved for construction in Yerevan. Since then, approvals have been given for 275 such buildings in Yerevan—10 times as many per year as at the beginning of this decade.
Currently, there are some 70 construction projects either nearing completion or recently started in the city, each offering from 50 to 200 apartments. Some observers estimate that as many as 5,000 flats are being built on a single square kilometer of the city center.
Some residential buildings blend harmoniously with their surroundings; others squeeze into existing parks or courtyards like alien invaders. Buildings rise to 16 stories in the yards of four- or five-story buildings, cutting out light and space and often blocking mobile phone signals.
Environmental protection groups estimate that new construction has swallowed up 700 hectares [1 hectare = 2.47 acres] of green space, twice as much as was lost when trees were cut during the energy crisis of the early 1990s.
From ditch diggers to designers, jobs have been created as a result of construction. Construction work is always in flux, making it difficult to record the number of employed. Architects interviewed for this article, however, estimate that each building project requires a minimum of 200 workers, and as many as 550.
If, then, each current project uses the average (375), it would mean that at least 26,250 jobs have been created due to construction. Unskilled laborers who previously were likely to have been jobless account for a great number of the workers. According to information from some of those laborers, they make about $10-12 per day—hard work, but good (if temporary) money in this environment. Masons average about $800-1,000 per month.
The building boom also acts as a stimulus for businesses specializing in home decoration and furnishings. Local production of decorating materials accounts for a percentage of the market and is generally regarded as being of poor quality. As a result, several companies in Armenia now specialize in importing materials from Turkey, Russia, Spain and Italy to meet the demand for high-quality interiors.
The re-building of Yerevan began in 2001, when the first urban project, North Avenue, was approved and started. In autumn of that year, thousands of Diaspora Armenians visited the country to celebrate 1,700 years of the adoption of Christianity as Armenia''s state religion. Links between Armenia and its Diaspora have strengthened over the years through the Diaspora Conferences, the "Baze" All-Armenian youth expositions, the Pan-Armenian Games, and other events.
Initial investments in North Avenue proved to be viable and were followed by new construction throughout the city. At the beginning, growth focused on new hotels and cafes to service the summer tourist trade, but gradually expanded to construction of residential buildings.
Armenians are known throughout history as builders, so the construction boom can be said in some respects to reflect a national tradition. This is apparent even in the language. For example, while people in some other nations express exasperation by saying "what do you mean!?" Armenians say "tunt shinvi," which literally (if oddly) means "let your home be built!"
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