The mysterious balcony directive 

With most people in big Kazakh cities living in flats, balconies are the only piece of outdoor — or at least semi-outdoor — space their residents have.  

A lot of the balconies in Kazakhstan at least in modern buildings, including mine, are enclosed, which means they have a wall to waist height then the rest is glass, with one or two windows that open.

Rather than a space for sitting out in the sun, most people use them to smoke from and store bulky items. 

In Astana, new apartment blocks are being built with these enclosed balconies, and an order has apparently gone out from the highest level, from #1, ie the president himself, that open balconies would have to be closed in. 

I know about the rule because one of my friends is bemoaning the loss of her terrace, once a lovely party space in summer, which now has a wall and windows built around it. 

But we don’t know why… It’s one of those mysterious directives from on high that everyone obeys, but nobody quite knows why it’s been issued. 

Snow accumulating on open balconies caused them to collapse, was one theory. Open balconies look untidy — had the president been offended by this and wanted all the old carpets and shabby furniture neatly behind walls? Or perhaps someone had plummeted drunkenly from a high balcony. 

Who knows? Certainly not me.