Ahmad Shah Baba Mina ( ps, احمدشاه بابا مېنه), formerly known as Arzan Qimat (ارزان قیمت), is a neighborhood in far eastern

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

(District 12), nearby the

Pul-e-Charkhi prison Pul-e-Charkhi Prison (Pashto/Dari: زندان پل چرخی), also known as the Afghan National Detention Facility, is the largest prison in Afghanistan, located in the outskirts east of Kabul. As of 2018, it holds up to 5,000 inmates. The prison ...

. Formerly a village, the area has become a modern

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

with new buildings, an

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

way and many

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

s and shops. It is named after Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of Afghanistan. Downtown Kabul is about 13 km away.

History

This project was ready for distribution by the Municipal Office in Kabul and the Afghanistan Central Council of Trade Unions in 1983. The project was for sale just to the

Afghan government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...

poor workers and employees. The price of each 180 m² was 2.5 US dollars (5200 Afghanis). In 1983, it was just a hostile patch of desert but was then turned into a new town. Today, it is covered by countless recently constructed mud-brick houses, interspersed with the private

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s of venturesome repatriates. As of 2019, the area has relatively good infrastructure and sought-after by middle-class residents, although it is somewhat secluded from downtown Kabul. It is mainly populated by ethnic

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

from the provinces east of Kabul.

Services

Most informal residents did not have

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

until 2008.

Water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

is provided to the new developments but others access underground water by a pump or by other methods.

References

Population Services International Afghanistan about population of Arzan Qeemat by USAID
*

Neighborhoods of Kabul {{Kabul-geo-stub