Uploaded on 2015-11-20 by ArminiusUngeist

To support a city the size of Atyrau, most of the food is imported. The small farms around the city can barely support themselves and the fish in the Ural river is definitely not sufficient to support the needs of the city.. The water provided isn't of a good quality. Imported drinking water can be bought at every shop around the city and it is the only one safe to drink. The water I use to shower is filtered. With the exception of clay found in abundance that can be used to make bricks, there is no other type of raw material in the vicinity of the city. The stone used to build residential houses is brought from about 500 Km away as I've been told. All other materials used to build larger structures are imported, usually from abroad. Due to the fact that the city dwells in the middle of a semi-desert the ecosystem doesn't provide many medicinal plants. The health system relies heavily on imported man made drugs. **Regulating services**: Due to its industrial area being located in the city, the quality of air in Atyrau is less than satisfactory and, as far as I know, there are no immediate plans to improve it. As the soil barely allows plants to grow (salinity is excessive) there is not much carbon dioxide removal and, according with what I've been told, the petrol and diesel sold at the pump barely matches Euro 3 standard (pollution is, therefore, high). Some petrol stations still sell petrol under 90 octane. The river seems to be quite polluted as well. During several trips in the outskirts of the city and also out of it, I've seen scores of dead or dying fish near the shore. Except for a limited strip along the river crossing the city, there is no naturally growing vegetation in or around the city. Being built on a flat land the city is not subjected to too many extreme events. Cold winter with harsh, high chill factor blizzards and hot summers with over +40 degrees Celsius are most common. Also, at the slightest rain the city becomes a pool of mud. As the dust is carried everywhere, even the paved areas are covered in this all pervasive mud. Vegetation would help to deal with the problem but it cannot grow exactly because of it. It seems to be a closed circle. The salinity of the soil doesn't allow any vegetation to grow, and even in the instances when nutrient rich soil was laid over, it didn't last long until the salt made its way up. Obviously, there's not much pollination and biological control happening. **Ecosystem services**: The only thriving species around the city are cats and mosquitoes. Wild life is timidly present with a few species of resilient birds like sparrows and pigeons. Few other species make do along the river. In recent years, dragonflies have been introduced in an attempt to get rid of the all pervasive mosquitoes. Fumigating is another way the city thinks can deal with the problem, but that can have unwanted long term effects on the population. **Cultural services**: There are a few green areas and parks, all located along the river. Most of them have various fitness equipment to be used by the populace. Being an oil city, the only tourism here is “work tourism” (if I can call it that) with little revenue that can actually support a cultural life. Like all former soviet cities, Atyrau has an art museum and a theatre, the museum hosting local art and craft without much external input, while the later being the usual venue for local traditional folk shows, usually celebrating some event of local or national importance. Occasionally is being used by some Russian ballet or theatre itinerant companies. For the ones in need of religious spiritual experiences there are several various religious denomination establishments in the city, while all the others will have to make do with their lifelong narrow nationalist and patriotic education at work in the public system as societal glue. May 9th (the Victory Day against Nazi Germany) seems to be one of the most important celebrations here, still bringing together people with most diverse social and ethnic backgrounds. Nature doesn't seem to be a powerful binding element as there isn't much concern about its quality and preservation. Overall, I don't consider Atyrau to be a resilient, self-sustaining, self-reliant city, with a quality of life bellow average. If interested, various images of the mosque, the Russian church, museum, theatre and parks in their city's architectural context can be found over the internet. **Images** ![Industrial area][1] ![Shower filter after being used once][2] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14480057129940155.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14480058965575231.jpg