AN OVERVIEW OF TRANSPORT LOGISTICS IN KAZAKHSTAN: FOCUS ON THE CASE OF ASTANA

Аннотация

Kazakhstan’s strategic location as a landlocked nation between Europe and Asia makes it a key node in regional transport corridors. Astana, the capital city, exemplifies both the challenges and opportunities of urban logistics transformation in the face of rapid urbanization. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of transport logistics in Astana, applying spatial modeling, graph theory, and logistics metrics to assess infrastructure accessibility and flow efficiency. The study provides insight into infrastructure planning, policy reform, and technological integration necessary to transform Astana into a modern logistics hub. Charts and figures support the analysis, emphasizing performance indicators, traffic bottlenecks, and optimization strategies. Keywords: Kazakhstan, transport logistics, Astana, urban infrastructure, logistics polarity, graph theory, freight flow, route optimization,smart transport systems, urban planning 1.Introduction Kazakhstan serves as a key logistics corridor inEurasia, acting as a land bridge for China-Europe trade. Astana, as the political and administrative center, is at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to modernize its transport logistics systems. However, the city faces significant infrastructure challenges. Rapid population growth, unbalanced urban expansion, and outdated logistics hubs have strained the existing systems. To address these issues, this paper investigates the structure of Astana’s logistics networks using spatial analysis, infrastructure indicators, and computational modeling. 2.Urbanization andLogistics Challenges Astana has grown rapidly from a modest administrative center to a city with over 1.5 million residents. This growth has introduced challenges in freight movement, passenger mobility, and logistics coordination. Infrastructure congestion is especially evident in core urban areas where logistic demand and residential density intersect. Peripheral districts remain underserved, highlighting theneed forrebalancing resources and introducing smart mobility systems. https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi volume 4,issue4,2025 1129 Figure 1.Freight andpassenger traffic distribution across Astana’s main districts. 3.Methodology The study adopts a multi-dimensional methodology combining spatial modeling, statistical data from 2021–2023, and graph-theoretic analysis. The city is divided into meso-districts and modeled as a network of nodes and edges. Each node represents a logistics hub or facility, and edges represent connectivity routes. Logistic polarity scores were used to assess access inequality, and Dijkstra’s algorithm was applied for route optimization. The results inform the strategicredistribution oflogistics capacity and roadinfrastructure planning. Figure 2.Correlation between logistics polarity and road network capacity. 4.Results Graph theory analysis revealed central meso-districts suffer from congestion while peripheral areas lack access to key logistics facilities. Polarity scores showed strong correlation with infrastructure concentration and route density. Optimization algorithms suggested that reorganizing freight terminals to outer districts could reduce travel times by18–22%. Visual data confirmed that a balanced approach to logistics planning can significantly improve performance and reduce congestion hotspots.Astana, formerly known as Nur-Sultan, is undergoing a strategic transformation driven by government-backed infrastructure programs. The city has a projected https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi volume 4,issue4,2025 1130 population increase to 2.5 million by 2035, accompanied by a 67% rise in motorization levels.The current urban layout is monocentric, but the 2035 general plan emphasizes transitioning to a polycentric model to distribute congestion and enhance access. The roadmap includes expanding the street network density from 4.4 km/km² to 5.2 km/km², and raising the number of multilevel automobile interchanges from 24 to 41. Data from the Bureau of National Statistics indicates that between 2021 and 2023, Astana experienced a 12.3% annual increase in freight turnover, a 3.5% rise in passenger traffic, and a 40.6% surge in tourist flows. However, disparities remain stark. The Logistics Performance Index ranks Kazakhstan 79thglobally, and infrastructure access is unevenly distributedamongAstana’s21meso-districts. Urban congestion is directly tied to poor internal street connectivity within meso-districts. Many buildings lack direct road access, funneling all traffic to peripheral arterial roads. This bottleneck effect leads to traffic pile-ups, reduced efficiency in freight delivery, and increased environmental costs from vehicle emissions.This article builds on expert assessments and graph- theoretical modeling to map the polarity of meso-districts. High-polarity districts show strong interconnections and logistic capacity but also face the highest congestion. Peripheral districts, despite availability of land resources, remain