The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a $250 million financing package for Uzbekistan to improve municipal infrastructure and services for residents and businesses in 16 districts and cities across the country through the Livable and Productive Cities Program (LPCP).

Over half of Uzbekistan’s 37 million people live in cities, a share expected to surpass 60 percent by 2050. Rapid urbanization demands improved planning, infrastructure, and municipal services, such as transport and waste management.

Meanwhile, uncoordinated urban expansion, aging utility and social infrastructure, and limited access to water, sanitation, roads, and public spaces reduce quality of life and business productivity, while natural hazards such as earthquakes, heat, and floods intensify these pressures.

To address these challenges, the government launched the Accelerated Integrated Development of Districts and Cities Program (AIDP) in 2025 to support infrastructure and economic development in 16 strategically important districts and cities with a combined population of 3.6 million.

The LPCP will support implementation of the AIDP to develop infrastructure in these areas, including the cities of Yangiyul and Margilan, as well as 14 districts across 13 regions of Uzbekistan: Kungrad, Chimbay, Asaka, Gijduvon, Gallaaral, Yakkabog, Khatirchi, Chartak, Bulungur, Syrdarya, Denov, Kuva, Shovot, and Khazorasp.

The LPCP will be delivered by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and local authorities in participating regions, districts, and cities. It is designed to achieve the following goals:

• Expand residents and businesses’ access to municipal infrastructure and services by investing in social, utility, transport, business, tourism, and public facilities—such as hospitals, schools, preschools, water supply systems, public toilets, roads, pedestrian walkways, markets, parks, and flood-protection works, among others.

Infrastructure projects involving land acquisition or involuntary resettlement will not be supported under the LPCP.

• Strengthen local authorities’ capacity to prepare and implement spatial, master, and capital investment plans that enhance livability, business and local economic development, and resilience to natural hazards.
• Develop capital investment plans with the involvement of citizens and businesses to ensure that the municipal infrastructure and services included in these plans respond to their needs, including the needs of women and other vulnerable groups, and support local economic development and job creation.

The MEF will allocate LPCP funds each year only after local authorities in the covered areas demonstrate strong performance in spatial planning, capital budgeting, and infrastructure delivery, making this the country’s first regional performance-based funding model.

By 2030, the LPCP aims to directly benefit about 1 million people in 16 districts and cities—half of them women—through improved municipal services and infrastructure. This includes better transport access for 300,000 people and enhanced public spaces and parks for 400,000. Infrastructure projects will also create around 10,000 temporary construction jobs.