A three-month period nears its completion since the formation of the new Cabinet of Ministers by order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev. One of the government members appointed by the Presidential Order of 21 April 2018 is Samir Nuriyev, Chairman on the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Over the past 100 days, the Committee, under the new Chairmanship, has strengthened its institutional development and human resources capacity as well as taken significant steps in several areas.

The main goal of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture is to ensure the urban planning process and implement the state policy and regulation in the area of design and architecture. One of the priority tasks assigned to the Committee by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan relates to accelerating the process of preparation and improvement of the country’s area planning documents to bring it in line with the best of international standards. The preparation of the Baku City Master Plan along with ensuring planned and systemic development of the Capital city is of paramount importance for the political, economic and cultural life of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

To resume the activity previously started in this area by the Committee and ensure its proper continuation based on the best international experience, meetings have been held with representatives of several international organizations operating in Azerbaijan and possible areas of cooperation discussed. At the same time, the successful urban planning activity of many international companies was analyzed, direct connections established, and meetings held to conduct a productive exchange of views around the topic of consideration.

Following the respective Order signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture will ensure full compliance of the Baku City Master Plan preparation process with the international standards and apply the best international experience to producing a high-quality Master Plan content by hiring the Boston Consulting Group, i.e. one of the most reputable global strategic consulting companies referred to as “G3.”

Established in 1963, the Boston Consulting Group of companies has established a network comprising over 90 representative offices in 50 countries of the world to provide services to the public and private sectors as well as non-governmental organizations throughout all regions of the world. Being one of the largest global consulting companies, the Boston Consulting Group not only possesses an extensive international expertise in such areas as zoning and development of urban planning, creation of comfortable urban environment, transformation of employment, and elaboration of cluster-based strategies for the development of urban infrastructure, tourism, transportation, and social areas. In the past 5 years, the Boston Consulting Group has successfully implemented over 550 such projects worldwide. Recently, this renowned consulting company has implemented similar projects for large cities, including Moscow, Kyiv, Beijing, Stockholm, Boston, New York, etc.

Phase 1 will focus on ensuring proper analysis of all previous urban development and area planning documents relating to the capital of Azerbaijan, including the Greater Baku Regional Development Plan and Proper Baku Land use and Zoning Plan. This phase will emphasize the verification of current projects' relevance, assessment of the infrastructure improvement needs, and preparation of Baku city urban development concept through the application of the best global experience in this area. This process will imply the study of master plans of various cities worldwide, including the analysis of the cutting-edge international expertise in the respective area, and possible application of that experience in Azerbaijan. At the same time, Phase 1 will also imply proper consideration of the country’s relevant legislation, including due assessment of the respective urban planning norms and regulations, and appraising the need for improvement.

Currently, the scope of activities included in the preparation of the Baku City Master Plan envisages proper hiring of highly qualified professional foreign and local entities and experts to prepare appropriate design proposals and requirements for the development of the Master Plan that will cover such components as the urban planning and architectural design, preservation of memorials, engineering systems, social infrastructure, environmental matters, and other areas.

During Phase 2, the Committee will, in cooperation with the Boston Consulting Group, use requirements specified at Phase 1 to initiate cooperation with reputable urban planning, architectural, and engineering companies as well as respective experts, thus ensuring the continuation and completion of the Baku City Master Plan development process.

Meanwhile, to ensure due consideration of modern global trends and the advanced global experience, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture attaches great importance to the establishment of bilateral relations with competent foreign state bodies as well as holding international events as a platform for participation of urban planning and development entities.

The Republic of Singapore is one of the countries possessing a distinctive and successful urban planning and development model and ensuring the development and implementation of state policy with regard to creating a comfortable urban environment and modern urban infrastructure. In recent times, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan established links with the Ministry of National Development of the Republic of Singapore and initiated the exchange of experience.

Among other activities, the Ministry of National Development of the Republic of Singapore duly ensures regulation of urban planning and construction, development of a comfortable urban environment and human capital, thus inviting global recognition of Singapore as the city of knowledge, culture, and perfection.

The Ministry of National Development has an extensive structure including several subordinate entities, e.g., the Building and Construction Authority, the Housing & Development Board, the National Parks Board, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Centre for Liveable Cities, and the Professional Engineers Board.

At the invitation of the Minister of National Development of Singapore, a delegation of representatives of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture headed by Samir Nuriyev, the Committee Chairman, recently participated in the Urban Sustainability Week held in Singapore.

The Urban Sustainability Week became one of the largest global events in the area of urbanization and urban development management that gathered together thousands of people representing all continents, including ministers, mayors, business leaders, and experts. At the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Singapore, the Urban Sustainability Week is used as platform to hold the World Cities Summit as well as other large-scale international events dedicated to the effective management of residential areas, various aspects of sustainable development process, including diverse sectoral exhibitions, forums and presentations on urban development.

The participation in the World Cities Summit and its side events provided the Azerbaijani delegation with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the examples of the most successful global experience and establish personal contacts with leaders of many megacities to discuss opportunities of beneficial cooperation. Meanwhile, the multiple parallel sessions held on the margins of the Summit included thematic sessions and panel discussions dedicated to the activity of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture and such crucial topics as “Urban Planning and Management,” “The Role of Master Plans in the Development of Inclusive Society,” “Sustainability of Urban Environment and Economic Aspects,” “Social Innovations: the 3P (Public-Private-People) Partnership,” “The Role Played by the Application of Innovations and Information Technologies in Cities,” etc.

During the trip, the Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture held formal meetings with the Minister of National Development of the Republic of Singapore, General Director of the Department of Building and Construction, CEO of the Housing Construction and Development Council, and CEO of Urban Reconstruction Department, and collected a comprehensive information on the major activity of the foregoing entities. Also, the Committee engaged in broad discussions concerning future cooperation opportunities and exchange of experience on area planning documentation, development, and application of urban planning norms and regulations, etc.

The State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture will conduct a proper analysis of the information on the extensive experience of Singapore and many other megacities acquired during the trip to enhance the effectiveness of its future activity.

To ensure implementation of the coherent government policy defined by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan with regard to ensuring the supervision of the country’s urban planning, design and implementation activities, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture has taken a series of steps to establish close cooperation with several central and regional executive bodies.

It should be noted that the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture signed the Memorandum of Cooperation and Information Exchange with the State Committee on Property Issues, thus providing a good example of boosting the effectiveness of interagency interaction. The Memorandum defines the priority areas of cooperation between the two Committees and specifies ways to develop future relations, thus exemplifying the importance of boosting the effectiveness of the two bodies’ interaction and enhancing the public governance level in the respective area. The introduction of a single format of information exchange in several areas will be of practical importance for the development of public regulation in the area of urban planning and construction.

At present, the large-scale construction and improvement activities are implemented in the capital city and regions of our country, including the construction of new living quarters and the implementation of large projects aimed at the improvement of people's living conditions. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev authorized the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture to ensure a well-planned and systematic implementation of this priority task in keeping with effective urban planning legislation. To carry out this priority assignment, the Committee pays special attention to ensuring the use of modern information technologies, innovative approaches as well as to establish a single integrated and centralized database.

The Committee’s cooperation with the State Committee on Property Issues provides both bodies with an opportunity to ensure the coherence of current and future information used in their respective areas of activity, and integration of the State Urban Planning Cadastre into the unified State Cadastre System of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and implement the exchange of experience in this area.

Special attention is continuously paid to enhance the effectiveness of daily multilateral cooperation between the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture and members of the Republic of Azerbaijan Government as well as other state entities.

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev keeps the country’s urban planning activity in the center of his attention. This was once again made obvious by the instructions he gave to government members at the Cabinet of Ministers’ session dedicated to the outcomes of the first six months of 2018 and the forthcoming agenda.

To ensure the implementation of the Presidential instructions on the need to reinforce the fulfillment of urban planning requirements and prohibit the illegal construction activity in the city of Baku, the Committee has recently launched the implementation of urgent measures to supervise the urban planning activities in several areas.

In the first place, the area planning documents currently submitted by local authorities to the Committee and the State Construction Registry are subject to chamber auditing. There is stringent supervision in place to ensure their compliance with the legislative requirements in the area of urban planning.

Based on the Committee’s 2018 Action Plan, applications and complaints filed to the Committee as well as information spread by media outlets, local authorities undergo the unplanned investigations and mobile visual inspection teams carry out urban development control measures.

The urban development control measures implemented by the Committee disclosed multiple construction projects launched in the capital city before the conclusion of the permission procedure or in spite of the prohibition thereto, thus discovering cases of preparation for building and occupancy as well as, in some instances, the ongoing construction operations in different districts of Baku. At the same time, in some cases, the area planning documents developed at the request of physical persons and legal entities working in the construction sector violated the requirements of the urban planning legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In such cases, the Committee provides respective executive bodies with mandatory “Instructions” requesting them to revoke the building permit they granted. In the absence of the building permit provided the respective executive authority before the onset of construction operations or special building sign set up after the start of construction operations, the perpetrators of such violations undergo stringent control procedures and measures imposed by the law-enforcement bodies.

In this context, the Committee pays special attention to the protection of citizens’ human rights by initiating immediate investigations based on the petitions/complaints filed by citizens concerning the illegal building operations conducted in common and/or other public areas thus, with the support of respective state bodies, preventing violation of the urban planning legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

To ensure further implementation of the duties defined by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture will do its best to organize its activity most efficiently.