Bechu & Associés has emerged as the winner of the international open competition to shape the master plan for Hunnu City, a visionary new urban district south of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Announced in 2025, the proposal sets out a long-term framework for a vast 31,503-hectare site near Chinggis Khaan International Airport, with development unfolding in carefully planned phases through 2045. Rooted in Mongolia’s ambitious Vision 2050 agenda, designed as a future urban city at the center of national priorities, supporting economic independence, strengthening climate resilience, and celebrating cultural identity.
Hunnu City is imagined as a regenerative urban masterplan, where infrastructure, landscape, housing, and community life evolve together in a renewed harmony between nature, society, and architectural innovation. From the initiation of the design process, the architecture rejects rigid, imposed geometry, instead allowing the land itself to shape the city, drawing cues from the open steppe, prevailing winds, water systems, and natural cycles to create a place that grows organically from its environment.
Hunnu City is imagined as a living urban system that listens to its surroundings and grows in harmony with natural and human flows. The design weaves together water reuse, renewable energy, ecological corridors, and smooth mobility to create a walkable, human-centered 15-minute city. Rooted in Mongolian traditions, the master plan draws inspiration from the sacred symbolism of the number nine. This idea is translated into the master plan as nine guiding pillars that frame the city’s vision. The pillars, including nature, heritage, resilience, and time, shape the city designed to evolve thoughtfully across generations.
At the heart of the master plan lies the idea of Amid Od, or “stars of life,” shaping the city as a modern constellation. These circular centers, inspired by the traditional Mongolian ger, serve as powerful identity anchors for future generations as well as cultural, social, energy, and food hubs. Organized through cellular planning, the city unfolds in living layers around density, activity, and programs around the Amid Od, then spreads out into gardens, productive landscapes, and open steppe. This gradual transition allows urban life and nature to merge seamlessly, creating a city that feels both grounded in tradition and open to the future.
Hunnu City as an Urban Constellation for Mongolia’s 2050 Future
Designed as climatic biomes with lightweight, adaptable envelopes, the buildings ensure comfort in Mongolia’s extreme climate. Passive solar strategies, heat recovery, and rainwater harvesting help balance harsh winters and hot summers. At the urban scale, ecological corridors, no-build zones, and water-sensitive landscapes mitigate wind, flooding, and hydrological risks. Resilience and circularity are embedded through near-zero energy urban cells, passively survivable buildings, and locally sourced, demountable materials. These systems are unified by intelligent smart-grid networks that optimize energy and resource use across the city.
Hunnu City as an Urban Constellation for Mongolia’s 2050 Future
The city’s urban architecture places food and soil at its core, treating food security as a foundation of true sovereignty. Regenerative farming, short supply chains, living soils, and circular water systems create a closed-loop cycle where water nourishes the land, the land produces food, and waste is transformed into energy, compost, and animal feed. This approach supports both settled communities and nomadic traditions, ensuring resources are locally sustained. The system strengthens the connection between human well-being, ecological health, and long-term prosperity.
Hunnu City as an Urban Constellation for Mongolia’s 2050 Future
The design unfolds as a living ecosystem where nature, culture, and people evolve together. By blending environmental intelligence with cultural identity, the vision moves beyond conventional urbanism and emerges as a forward-looking urban model that is sustainable and culture-driven.

Published Date:2026-01-04