BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 6. UK's Benoy was
involved in the early stages of the New Tashkent Masterplan and is
currently exploring opportunities related to specific assets across
the region, Tom Cartledge, CEO and owner of Benoy, told Trend, commenting on the
outcomes of a recent meeting with Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister
Bakhtiyor Saidov.


“Our work spans both masterplan-scale development and the
architecture of individual buildings, so we can engage at either
level,” Cartledge said.


According to him, the meeting focused on modern urban
development priorities, including the New Tashkent project,
regional masterplanning, as well as transport and tourism
infrastructure.


“Those strategic priorities align closely with what we have been
working on across Central Asia over the past fifteen years, so this
discussion was a natural continuation of existing conversations
rather than an entirely new direction,” he noted.


Commenting on Benoy’s potential role in the development of New
Tashkent, Cartledge said the company focuses on the spaces where
people actually spend their time and on how a city feels to live in
and move through.


“When you look at the scale of a project like New Tashkent, it
is essential that development delivers on the city’s ambitions
while preserving its cultural identity and ensuring that it remains
connected to its history, rather than becoming simply a collection
of new infrastructure,” he said.


Speaking about the approaches and international best practices
the company could bring to the modernization of transport and
tourism infrastructure, Cartledge noted that Benoy would rely on
its global experience.







“As an international practice, we draw on the depth of
experience gained from projects in more than 40 countries. The most
valuable thing we can offer is not a universal formula, but an
honest understanding of what has and has not worked elsewhere. We
bring those lessons to the specific conditions of Uzbekistan,” he
said.


Cartledge added that the company works across a wide range of
sectors, including transport and transit-oriented development,
mixed-use projects, offices, retail, residential, and leisure
infrastructure.


“The real challenge lies in how these functions connect. People
do not simply visit buildings-they go somewhere for a purpose.
Designing that coherence into a place from the outset is where we
concentrate most of our effort,” he concluded.


Meanwhile, the New Tashkent project is a large-scale urban
development initiative aimed at building a new administrative and
residential district east of the current capital. The city is
planned to cover about 20,000 hectares and accommodate up to 2
million residents in several development phases.


The project envisages the relocation of a number of government
institutions, alongside the construction of business districts,
residential complexes, social infrastructure, parks, and public
spaces. The masterplan also prioritizes modern transport systems,
transit-oriented development, and green urban planning solutions,
with a significant share of the area allocated to green zones and
water infrastructure.