Urban spaces in Bishkek, including pedestrian areas and public transportation, remain uncomfortable for citizens, especially women, leaving them feeling vulnerable and insecure due to a lack of facilities, poor pedestrian infrastructure, and inadequate pathways. Urmat Karybaev, the head of the State Administration for Architecture and Urban Planning of Bishkek, announced the plan to build a cable car in the city. But this measure alone will not solve everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the government’s attempts to bring more buses to the city, public transportation is struggling to handle the demand. City activists in the urban initiative Peshkom<\/a> raise awareness about the pedestrian environment saying that during peak hours, when most people need to commute, the situation becomes even more challenging, with transportation services becoming completely overwhelmed. However, in one of the interviews for the local news outlet KaktusMedia<\/a>, the deputy mayor of Bishkek Jyrgalbek Shamyraliev said that the construction of the subway is a very expensive and complex construction. The municipality has rejected the idea of building the subway in the city. Instead, they are considering transportation that will run on a cable road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the first Eurasian Symposium on Architecture, Urban Planning, and Design, ESAUD-2023 Urmat Karybaev, the head of the State Administration for Architecture and Urban Planning of Bishkek announced that they are planning to build a cable car network. Karybyev noted that the construction of a cable road is several times cheaper than the building of motorways or railways; it occupies a minimum of land areas; it does not require the construction of the associated infrastructure, and, in addition, it is an environmentally friendly and reliable mode of transport. Social media, however, took the words of Karybaev not seriously and reacted with jokes<\/a> and memes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An urban expert in the urban initiative Peshkom,<\/a> Anna Schumbria believes that Bishkek public spaces are primarily designed with the assumption that men will be the primary beneficiaries. This leaves women feeling vulnerable and insecure due to differences in how they perceive and experience urban spaces compared to men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Women in Bishkek face various challenges in public spaces, including poor lighting and a lack of convenient public toilets. These obstacles limit women’s freedom of movement, particularly given the prevalence of dark streets in the city. Public toilets are designed with an equal number of cabins for men and women, despite the fact that women have different needs related to menstruation and pregnancy. This leads to longer queues for women’s toilets, and it is especially difficult for women who are usually responsible for children and have nowhere to leave them while using the facilities. These problems were raised during the \u201cTender City\u201d<\/a> by young activists during the urban conference in Bishkek.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPedestrian areas in Bishkek<\/h2>\n\n\n\n