We are a nonprofit social innovation firm dedicated to finding innovative and creative solutions to some of the most pressing issues in the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar. We partner with top universities and institutions globally and locally in the fields of architecture, design, engineering, and education.
We work in the ger areas of Ulaanbaatar city. ‘Ger area’ is a unique and traditional urban form typical to Mongolian urban centers. The capital city of Ulaanbaatar is home to almost half of Mongolia’s total population of 3.3 million. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world, with temperatures frequently dipping below -40°C (-40°F) in the winter. Ulaanbaatar is composed of two distinct urban forms, the centrally located, planned apartment areas and the semi-formal, unplanned ‘ger areas’ that encircle the city. Of the close to 1.5 million residents of Ulaanbaatar, 60% live in the ger areas. ‘Ger’ is the Mongolian word for the round tent-like nomadic dwelling. The ger areas are composed of both traditional gers and self-built detached houses, but the main identifying factor for the ger areas is that none of the households are connected to the core infrastructure of central heating, running water, or plumbing. Over the past 25 years, Ulaanbaatar’s population has more than doubled due to the rapid rate of migration of former nomadic herders into the city. For a country that has maintained a nomadic herding culture for centuries, living in an urban environment is a brand new phenomenon that presents infrastructural, political, and social problems.
