Tariq Saeedi and Elvira Kadyrova
The Arkadag City of Turkmenistan was formally opened on 29 June 2023. There were several ceremonies throughout the day, led by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, to highlight the futuristic and inclusive nature of the City that is designed to serve as the global prototype for a sustainable city.
[We have reported separately on the events of the day. Ed.]
The official inauguration of the Arkadag City relates to the just-completed first phase of the city – the construction of the second phase was launched a few days ago.
Among the facilities that have already been completed and put into operation are six healthcare establishments. These include the Multidisciplinary Hospital for 350 beds, the Cancer Center for 150 beds, the Center for Maternal and Child Health for 150 beds, the Emergency Center, the Health House and the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service of the city.
There is also the Children’s Health and Rehabilitation Center named after Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov (ArkadagGB), which hosts the head office of the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Charitable Foundation for Assistance to Children in Need of Care
Prioritizing the healthcare in this high-profile city is a declarative statement unto itself. However, keeping in mind the holistic approach of Turkmenistan – everything is connected with everything else – we can appreciate that the protection of the health of the citizens is at the heart of creating a truly sustainable city.
Together with this, we also note that the high power delegations from some fourteen countries, mainly the OTS member states, participated in the ceremonies for the inauguration of the Arkadag City. — This is the part where the Arkadag City asserts its inclusive nature.
In what sense is it inclusive, one may ask. — The pairing question could be: why is it important for a newly emerging city to be inclusive.
To start answering these questions together, we must first note that the wide-ranging healthcare and education sector facilities, the modern traffic management systems, the choice of electric vehicles as the primary means of public transportation, and the overall planning to build the city without bruising the environment or ecology are currently the most noticeable features of the Arkadag City.
We also note that powerful delegations from more than a dozen states and the media teams from a number of countries were at hand to witness what has been done already to make the Arkadag City a global prototype of a sustainable city.
This is also the stage where being inclusive unfolds as a dynamic element.
In an exceptionally large-scale endeavor, such as building a global prototype of a sustainable city right from scratch, the need for being inclusive highlights itself because the technology and knowledge (and also, wisdom) are distributed around the world – no single country or nation has monopoly on it.
In this sense, ‘inclusive’ means the collaboration with the right partners.
As the idea of being inclusive gets moving, it demands that the lessons learned in the development of the Arkadag City should be suitably packaged and repackaged for use in the other cities and towns around the world. This requires a good knowledge of the plans and their implementations in the development of the City. This is what actually happened on the day of the official inauguration of the Arkadag City when the decision makers and media from many countries got acquainted with the goals and the state of their achievements at the City. It was the start of a massive, bilateral and multilateral, dialogue and just the independent brainstorming at so many different levels.
Separate but closely related is the fact that innovation, and the need for innovation, never stand still. There is no point in time when we can say that we have reached the end of innovation, that we have already acquired all the innovation we will ever need. We also recognize that innovation is not just the end product – the process leading to that end product is also innovation.
This whole idea of innovation cannot reach its full potential without being inclusive. The concept of being inclusive in this sense means that we give consideration to all the ideas and suggestions from as many countries, people, and institutions as possible. Even when we end up rejecting some of the ideas, it still serves the purpose of being inclusive.
Innovation as such is simultaneously the journey and the destination.
The second phase of the development of the Arkadag City that was launched a few days ago is the wide swath of opportunities for joining the comprehensive work for creating a sustainable city based on collaboration and innovation.
It is one world and it is our joint responsibility to make it sustainable. /// nCa, 30 June 2023
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