Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Baku, an extraordinary and impressive capital city of the Land of Fire, today is known far beyond the region thanks to its fairy beauty and sustainable development.

Incredible construction boom of recent years in Baku, also known as the City of Winds, amazes many by new hotels, office buildings, skyscrapers, sporting complexes and museums of modern art.

Indeed, the city is quickly rejuvenated and by 2030 some expect the city to turn into “Singapore” of South Caucasus.

The process of modernizing the city was launched a few years ago and is continued under the “Greater Baku Regional Development Plan” covering the period of up to 2030.

Developed on the basis of the agreement signed between the Azerbaijani government and the World Bank, the plan consists of two stages.

Deputy Director of the State Town Planning Department of the State Town Planning and Architecture Committee Fakhri Aydamir stressed that Baku will completely changed by 2030.

Baku will be even more charming, since large-scale projects are expected to be realized, stimulating the development of a number of industrial sectors.

The new plan stipulates construction of new railway lines, roads, parks and many other infrastructures making the life of the city residents more convenient and the appearance of the city more stunning.

One of the features of the plan can be the revival of tram lines. Tramway network appeared in Baku in 1924 to replace the horsecar lines existing since 1889. Later in 2004, Baku eliminated this public transport, and became the largest city in the CIS without the tram.

The plan also stipulates construction of the Olympic city near Boyuk Shor, Azerbaijan's second largest lake and the largest lake in the Absheron Peninsula.

Reconstruction and development of the eastern part of the city center will also be realized within this plan. Baku White City is one of the major projects of the plan, according to which, this part of Baku, once considered "black city", will now be called "white". The Baku White City master plan envisages the creation of 10 universal urban districts with each of them to offer its residents the best living, working, recreation and entertainment conditions. This is the largest ongoing project in the Caucasus, covering 221 ha including 39 ha of landscape.

The key aim of the plan is to eliminate congestion in the capital. Therefore it's planned to move the universities from the city centers to the territory of outskirts such as Alat, Sangachal, Zig, Khojahasan, Dubendi, Sumgayit and Boyuk Shor.

Fakhri Aydamir said the names of these universities are still unknown: “It’s just a proposal, and they will be revealed on the next stages of the project.’

The refreshing work will also concern Absheron Peninsula, Sumgayit and Khirdalan cities, located away from the capital. Under the Greater Baku plan Khirdalan will have its metro, while resident of Sumgayit already enjoy modern high-speed trains.

Another stage in the plan is Proper Baku Land use and Zoning Plan that covers an area of more than 33,000 hectares in the central part of Baku. The plan provides increase of greenery through the Baku Seaside Boulevard, a favorite promenade of many Baku residents and visitors.

Since the vast majority of historical monuments are concentrated in the central part of Baku, this part of the city will be protected and construction work will be forbidden here.

The plan also stipulates withdrawal of the industrial enterprises from the city center, replacing them with business centers, sporting venues, hotels, parks. The plan also includes construction of roads for tourists using special transport and electric cars.

Further steps for Greater Baku include the creation of many hectares of forests and mass planting of greenery in the territory of the old factories in the suburbs of the capital.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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