Page 77 - bne Magazine February 2023

bne February 2023 Eurasia I 77
Wrestling champ turned mayor grapples with tough challenges in Mongolia’s capital
Michael Kohn in Ulaanbaatar
Two decades ago, Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren was battling oppo- nents on the wrestling mat as an Olympic athlete. Now he spends his days trying to put a stranglehold on Ulaan- baatar’s traffic and air pollution prob- lems as mayor of the Mongolian capital.
While his wrestling career is over, Sumi- yabazar is still taking on challenges
that result in both wins and losses. He’s credited with improving parks and open spaces, but has been blamed for the increasingly intolerable traffic.
There is a lot riding on his success. The population of Ulaanbaatar has nearly tripled in the past two decades to 1.6mn people, putting a heavy strain on its ageing infrastructure, which mostly dates to the Soviet era. Many residents are looking to the 48-year-old mayor to fix their city’s multitude of problems, which range from affordable housing to air pollution to traffic.
The challenges are immense but Sumi- yabazar is no stranger to pressure. He won the wrestling tournament in 2006. He has also represented Mongolia in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. He even had a short stint as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
His unique ability to successfully throw his competitors to the ground runs in the family – his three brothers and his father have all wrestled at the national tourna- ment level. One brother, Dagvadorj, went to Japan where he became a Yokozuna, the highest honour in sumo wrestling.
While some snickered at a wrestler trying to govern the nation’s capital,
politics and wrestling have mingled before in the North Asian country.
Mongolia’s most famous wrestler, Bat-Erdene Badmaanyambuu, won the national Naadam tournament 11 times and then went on to a successful career as a member of parliament. Another wrestler and judo phenomenon, Batul- gaa Khaltmaa, served as Mongolia’s fifth president.
Boxers and wrestlers beyond Mongolia’s borders have also achieved political success after retirement. Kyiv’s current mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has won mul- tiple heavyweight titles as a boxer. And the flamboyant professional wrestler Jesse Ventura had a run as Minnesota’s governor in the early 2000s.
Sumiyabazar has followed their lead and is looking to make a name for himself as a problem solver. He has slashed spend- ing to tighten up the city’s budget, going as far as banning end-of-year holiday parties for city staffers.
Bespectacled and fond of dark suits, Sumiyabazar does his work with an air of modesty. In a recent promotional video with the International Finance Corpora- tion (IFC), he appears seated next to a chess board, busily arranging papers on his desk while speaking excitedly about transportation upgrades in the city.
As for alleviating city congestion, he’s made decentralisation a priority for his administration. A plan to build six com- mercial and administrative hubs in dif- ferent corners of the capital is in motion to minimise the need for residents to go downtown.
Ulaanbaatar Mayor Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren. / Jargal DeFacto, screenshot.
City Hall has already moved from the central square to the southern outskirts. A new suburb close to the new airport
is being planned. Sumiyabazar has
been busy ordering the demolition of unsightly and illegally-placed garages, storage units and fences across the city.
Improving the city’s greenspace and public gathering areas has also been a priority. Especially downtown, where he’s transformed vast areas of waste ground into public parks.
The Children’s Park – a downtown fixture of the city that has been partially boarded up for years following an attempted land grab – is also going back to public hands. The mayor has vowed to redevelop the park and has enlisted financial aid from mining giant Rio Tinto.
Tree planting is also high on the city’s agenda. In March Sumiyabazar announced that 120 million trees will be planted by 2030, as part of the government's plan to plant 1 billion trees across the country.
"The Amusement Park area should be turned into a green space," Sumiyabazar said in a public address. "The one billion tree national movement is important for establishing parks and green space in every district to create a comfortable living environment for citizens."
The mayor has also taken steps to stop the destruction of historic Russian buildings in his city and has taken measures to have them preserved.
“The various beautification and livability projects of the downtown core have been pursued with some drive
www.bne.eu