Today, over 60 percent of Mongolians live in cities, a rate over 15% higher than the world average. Unfortunately, the city has not been able to accommodate such growth, and as much as 60 percent of the city’s residents live in ger areas. This has caused serious environmental problems; air pollution levels in Ulaanbaatar have reached harmful levels. The Mongolian capital is the world’s coldest capital city; it is among the highest in the world. In past years around 80% of air pollution in Ulaanbaatar has come from stoves burning unprocessed coal, which are essential to heat traditional ger dwelling homes in the sub-zero temperatures.

For fighting the problem, the Government of Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar City Administration have been implementing housing projects to construct apartments in ger districts. For example, Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has signed a financing agreement with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Construction and Urban Development as well as State Housing Corporation of Mongolia to construct 5,002 homes in Khan-Uul District.