A mixture of legal and illegal housing appeared on these new city territories within a few years (1998-2005). In 2012, the city limits were expanded even further. The total area of new municipal territories was equal to 11.900 hectares. In 2014, the city limits were again expanded by 23 200 hectares, which included 27 settlements and a population of more than 92 000 people (President of Kazakhstan, 2014). These include such goals as to improve urban and industrial infrastructure, expand entry routes to the city', and develop mountain recreation and sport facilities for the Asian Olympic Games in the National Ile-Alatau Natural Park. The local environmental NGOs raised awareness about the construction of the new sport complex in the territory of the national park (NGO Green Salvation, 2014).