Georgia to Build New City on the Black Sea Coast
Georgia’s government is planning to build a large city for the future. Lazika is intended not only to be a city for half a million people on marshy land near the Black Sea coast, but also a trade, industrial and tourist centre. The Black Sea coastal region is constantly losing population and many people are living in poverty . The project is based on the Chinese idea of building so-called instant cities.
Despite discussion about the project going on in public, construction of the first building in Lazika is already underway. It is a public service hall for the new city. In ten years, according to the Georgian President Saakashvili, Lazika will be Georgia’s second largest city, after Tbilisi. Georgian authorities claim that the country wants to implement great ideas quickly. There is no time to hesitate.
In China, many cities like this have been built in the past, mainly to house the influx of the rural population coming to the cities in search of a better life. In addition, such a constructed city could attract foreign investors to Georgia. However, experts are doubtful whether so many people will want to come to the new area, especially because Georgia only has a population of 4.5 million and getting half a million people to move would be a difficult task.
The financing the project remains unclear. The Georgian government only wants to contribute about 300 million dollars out of a total of 600 to 900 million, which the project is likely to cost. Talks with European and Asian investors have already begun. While most Georgians support the project , most of them think that it should be more thoroughly discussed.
There is no schedule on how fast construction of the new city will be and authorities have admitted that there are no concrete plans yet. Controversy has also come up from environmentalists. In earlier times the government has promised to preserve nature and the wetlands that the new city is to be built on.
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Words
- admit = to accept something as true
- attract = here: to pull towards a place; to bring here
- authority = government organization that has the power to make decisions
- Black Sea = large Sea between Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania , Ukraine, Russia and Georgia
- claim = to say that something is true
- concrete = real
- constantly = all the time, always
- construction = the building of
- contribute = give, offer
- controversy = discussion
- despite = even though
- doubtful = not sure
- environmentalist = person who cares a lot about nature and the world around us
- especially = above all
- foreign = from another country
- government = the people who rule a country
- hesitate = to stop before doing something because you are not sure
- house = give a home to…
- however = but
- implement = to make something work
- in addition = also
- influx = when many people come to place from another area
- instant = quick, fast
- intended = supposed, planned to be
- investor = people or companies who want to give money to finance a project and make profits from it
- likely = will probably
- marshy = flat land that is always wet and soft
- population = the people who live in a place
- poverty = to be poor
- preserve = care for, protect
- public = the people in general
- remain = stay; is still
- rural = countryside
- schedule = timetable
- service hall = here: building that offers things that everyone needs
- support = to be for something
- task = job
- thoroughly = carefully; to spend more time on
- trade = the buying and selling of goods between countries
- wetland = area covered with water most of the time