The construction industry in Kazakhstan is booming (although its success depends directly on the performance of the oil and gas sector) - and in order to create a buzz on Almaty’s and Astana’s property markets, very creative ideas are needed. So how about a ‘Vienna de luxe’, a multi-million dollar construction project to be realised in Almaty? An Austrian architect and construction office has secured a deal to build a big residential quarter, reports the Austrian state television ORF:

“During the tender of the project we succeeded mostly against Turkish companies due to our specifically Viennese concept. Because the Kazakh liked that very much”, said Manfred Korzil of Global Engineering Oksakowski & Korzil.

What is this Viennese touch in practice? Mind you, but it is an exact copy of the Naschmarkt along the river Danube in the Austrian capital.

“The Kazakhs think the Western culture is hip, for them Mozart is a positive symbol”, Korzil said.

The project comprises 1,000 residential units totalling about 120,000 square meters plus infrastructure. Individual blocks will be named after Austrian composers such as Mozart or Strauss. The central park complex will be named “Papagenopark”.

It will probably look like this: