Finally, it concludes with proposals to cultivate dialogue with citizens and make them active contributors to the urban planning process. Its major cities are also modernising, as their institutions make the transition from a young post-Soviet country to an established independent nation. If urbanisation is to be effective, it should ensure prosperity, social cohesion and environmental protection, but how to guarantee those benefits presents a major challenge. Existing institutions, state budgets, and administrative and cultural practices are not fully ready to transform urbanisation into one of Kazakhstan’s major assets. Given the traditional concentration of skills and resources in Kazakhstan’s central government, the resources, responsibilities and capacities available to local governments are limited. The underlying issue is not whether Kazakhstan has the right local government structure, but rather how well-co-ordinated the different levels of governments are, and the equity and efficiency in the distribution of responsibilities, decision-making powers and resources for urban development that each level of government is granted.