Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, is relaxing rules in a bid to fuel an economic renaissance. Shukhrat Latipov, 25, needs to renew a special permit called the propiska every six months just to work in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Without that, he risks expulsion to his hometown, Navoi, 300 miles northwest of Tashkent. This isn’t some George Orwell story: For Uzbek citizens not born in the capital, this is the reality. But change is in the air, and without it, Latipov wouldn’t even be in Tashkent. The new Uzbek government of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is slowly liberalizing the draconian Tashkent population control rule from the Soviet era that was strictly continued under Islam Karimov, who led the nation from independence in 1991 till his death in 2016. This transition coincides with China’s efforts to limit the population of Beijing and Shanghai. Under the old system in Uzbekistan, only the following were entitled to permits: those born in the capital or to parents who were, those married to propiska holders and government workers. This led to a population growth of just 14 percent in Tashkent between 1991 and 2017, compared to 56 percent growth in Uzbekistan as a whole. | 