News - Armenia government approves ‘Academic City’ concept: It will be ready in 2030, shall contain up to 16 universities

The Armenian government approved the concept of the Academic City project at its Cabinet meeting Thursday. Presenting this project, Zhanna Andreasyan, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports,  noted that the state development plan of Armenia until 2030 envisages the creation of an Academic City as a modern environment for high-quality education and research. According to her, the concept of this Academic City defines the goals and tasks of creating this city, its clusters, the expected number of university students, lecturers, academic and administrative staff, and the infrastructure that should be provided in this Academic City. "The territories of the Academic City will be planned with the logic that they will be able to locate up to 16 universities: up to 8 state enlarged universities and up to 8 private or international universities provided by law. "At the moment, 4 clusters are described in detail in the concept: technological, arts, education, and officers.’ “The Academic City is adjacent to a highway, it will be connected to Yerevan by a railway as well, a part of which already passes through the main site. "It is planned that movement within the Academic City will have a special regulation, being organized by bicycles, electric transport, and other methods. "Altogether, about 44 thousand people will work and live here," said the minister. Andreasyan added that new infrastructure will be created for the building infrastructure of education institutions, research centers, and production experimental centers, as well as agricultural experimental arable lands. "There will be a dormitory or residential district, a multifunctional transformer concert hall with cinema and theater components. "[There will be] halls intended for various sports, university sports clubs. It is planned to have the national stadium [as well] here, with the possibility of up to 35 thousand spectators, water pools, public transport system, parking lots, etc.,” she said. According to the minister, there are already agreements with the prestigious international architectural organization GMP and construction companies. "The timeframe [for building this Academic City] will have three phases: the design phase, which will begin in October and will be completed in September 2025; the construction phase, which will begin in October 2025 and end in December 2029; and the maintenance phase, which will begin in full as of January 2030," the minister said.