The move of the capital from Almaty to Astana wasn’t just about Nazarbaev increasing his own personal power. It was also an attempt to keep the country viable in its current borders by lowering the chances of the ethnic-Russian-dominated north seceding.

Also, most of Kazakhstan's political elite continued to reside in Almaty and just flew back and forth from the new capital for business, so Astana wasn't even an example of a capital built to secure the rulers from the population.