Following the instructions received from the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture is pursuing the preparation of the Baku City Master Plan. As mentioned before, to ensure the two-phase process’ compliance with the international standards as well as the application of the best international experience to producing a high-quality Master Plan content, the Committee shall hire the Boston Consulting Group, i.e., one of the most reputable global strategic consulting companies known as “G3.” After the completion of Phase 1, an open tender procedure was announced to launch Phase 2 by hiring a reputable international company.

Phase 1 focused on ensuring proper analysis of the Greater Baku Regional Development Plan and the Proper Baku Land use and Zoning Plan implemented in conjunction with Boston Consulting Group. It later transpired that, during the preparation of those urban planning documents, it was impossible to collect necessary documents and verify their relevance, as these plans lacked proper linking to the land Cadastre, thus allowing for a significant amount of inaccuracies. In this connection, some parts of these documents underwent a proper examination to find out whether they can be used for the preparation of the Baku City Master Plan.

At the same time, Phase 1 was used to learn the views of competent executive authorities, public organizations, local experts, and city inhabitants (through social surveys) on the future development of the capital city to work out the concept of Baku future urban development based on the available international experience and modern trends.

The review of international experience allowed for proper familiarization with the urban planning and zoning cases implemented in different cities around the world (e.g., London, Toronto, Vienna, Dubai, Copenhagen, Paris, Prague, Doha, Moscow, etc.), thus unfolding their advantages and disadvantages.

The following four priority areas have been identified in the framework of the adopted Baku Urban Development Concept:

1.    Ensuring its sustainable development through the balanced zoning and ensure the development of alternative centers and sub-centers while maintaining the traditional city center;

2.    Regeneration of the city and its environment, effective use of its area, and providing the population with comfortable living conditions;

3.    Preservation of the city’s national and cultural heritage, architectural beauty, and cultural richness;

4.    Ensuring the post-industrial transition of city economics.

To provide for the development of Baku city as part of the Absheron Peninsula, the following four major requirements have been identified:

- to improve engineering and communications systems, road transport infrastructure and public transport system;

- to boost the qualitative and quantitative indicators of public places;

- to improve the environmental protection and environmental condition;

- to increase the employment opportunities for the population;

- to promote the socio-economic role of Baku suburban settlements and increase their self-supporting capacity.

The Master Plan is the major strategic document focusing on the foregoing conceptual priorities in the context of urban planning, providing area planning solutions, and defining the requirements for construction and urban infrastructure development. At the same time, another crucial role of the Master Plan in the modern urban management context implies proper initiation of a dialogue between the government, business, and investors.

The Phase 1 activities centered on the development of appropriate project proposal by the Committee to hold, jointly with the Boston Consulting Group, an open tender procedure to select an internationally recognized urban planning company. With due participation of the leadership of the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan Architecture and Construction University, a Tender Commission was established to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the tender proposals to be submitted by the competition participants. Apart from members of the Committee staff, the Tender Commission includes the representatives of competent state bodies (Baku City Executive Power, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and Baku Transport Agency).

The announcement on the tender offer will be published through the national media outlets, the Committee website www.arxkom.gov.az, the www.tender.gov.az portal, and global architectural and urban planning networks.

With the support of the Committee and the Boston Consulting Group, the winning bidder will implement Phase 2 of the preparation of the Baku City Master Plan.