The Ulaanbaatar City Administration has announced that an apartment complex for 1008 households will be constructed at ‘Nogoon Nuur’ (Green Lake) which covers Bayanburd and Zuun Ail in the Sukhbaatar District. The project entitled ‘Nogoon Nuur’ is to be funded by CHY 350 million of Chinese Government non-refundable aid. The signing ceremony was held on Friday between Mongolian and Chinese officials.

Covering a land area of 4.2 hectares, the project consists of about 21-story eight apartments, and is a new-type residential community equipped with school, 240 children’s kindergarten, school as well as 160 square meters of building consists of shopping malls, medical centers, and other facilities.

Over 200,000 households – or 60% of Ulaanbaatar’s population – who are low-income live in the sprawling shanty towns of the northern districts, spreading across the surrounding hills. These so-called ger districts – burn coal to stay warm and to cook; the smoke produces is the main source of the city’s air pollution. Since 2013, the Mongolian government has been implementing several housing projects, these include: ‘Buyant-Ukhaa-1’, ‘Buyant-Ukhaa-2’, ‘Apartments for 1000 Households in Every Province’ and the ‘State Rental Housing Programme’. However, these have not been enough to clear the heavy coal smog covering Ulaanbaatar’s sky during the winter months.