Baku told how it should be: the theme of the liberated territories on WUF13

The 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) continues its work in Baku. The second day of the forum was marked by a very important topic - "Post-conflict urban planning: restoring a destroyed identity and rebuilding an integrated future."

Post-conflict urban planning is a topic in which Azerbaijan has accumulated considerable experience. The country is carrying out restoration work on an area of 11 thousand square kilometers. Towns and villages are rising from scratch. In the literal sense of the word. In an area the size of Lebanon, all the infrastructure necessary for life is being created from scratch. Underground utilities and roads are being laid, power plants and pipelines are being built, residential complexes and enterprises are being built. Since the Second World War, no country that has experienced a devastating conflict has had such an experience. If there was a scale of the degree of destruction, the Karabakh conflict would occupy the highest line.

The President of Azerbaijan is not exaggerating when he says that we are rebuilding liberated towns and villages from scratch.

Moreover, this is done at the expense of our own resources and at an accelerated pace. It takes decades, donors, and the patronage of international organizations to bring thousands of square kilometers of land filled with mines and covered with ruins back to life. The war in Ukraine is still ongoing, and the world is already discussing the creation of a donor structure that will finance the country's reconstruction after the cessation of hostilities.

There have never been any international donor initiatives regarding assistance to Azerbaijan in post-conflict reconstruction. Baku has never asked for help, has never extended a hand, but does everything on its own. 

According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2021-2025, 22 billion manats were allocated from the state budget for the restoration and reconstruction of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. In 2026, the state budget provides 3.5 billion manats for these purposes. Budget expenditures for these purposes in 2027-2030 are projected to amount to 13.3 billion manats (about $7 billion).

These are very large sums for a small and not the richest country, but you don't think about the costs when you see how the liberated lands are expected. Today, more than 85,000 people live, work, and study there. The Karabakh land once again blossomed with all the colors it had been deprived of for thirty years.

In order for this to become possible, it took five years of intensive creative work going on in parallel with mine clearance. The safety of people returning to their lands is the number one task.

"I believe that by now we have developed a unique experience in building cities and villages from scratch," President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Euronews on the sidelines of WUF13. "Unfortunately, this was the result of large-scale destruction in the occupied territories, and we had no other choice. A step-by-step approach, and in some cases parallel development work, has led to the fact that 85,000 people have already returned in five years."

Initially, as the head of state noted, the issue of energy supply was resolved. To date, 307 megawatts of hydropower capacity have been commissioned in the liberated territories, and 340 megawatt solar power plants are under construction. The volume of production here will be sufficient not only for Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, but also for a much wider area.

The next stage is the road transport infrastructure. 68 road projects with a total length of 3,878.1 kilometers are planned to be implemented in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. According to the State Agency of Highways, 48 tunnels with a total length of 71.2 kilometers are planned to be built at the beginning of May, 7 of them have already been completed (13.6 kilometers). In addition, 447 bridges are planned to be built in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, 392 of which have already been built. To date, over 1,400 kilometers of highways and more than 120 kilometers of railway track have been laid. The construction of the Agdam-Shusha highway is being completed, the roads Sugovushan-Sarsang reservoir-Gozlyukerpyu-Kalbajar, Sugovushan-Kelbajar-Agdere-Aghdam, Askeran-Khojaly-Khankendi and Barda-Aghdam-Askeran are being built.

Of particular interest is the development of the railway network in the liberated areas. In 2025, the Baku-Agdam route was opened. In 2026, it is planned to complete the Aghdam-Khankendi line, as well as reconstruct the Yevlakh-Barda section, after which a direct high-speed connection between Baku and Khankendi will open.

Let's emphasize that this grandiose work has been going on for only five years, and so much has already been done. "This is how the true owners of this land behave, unlike those who come only to demolish, destroy, bring sorrow and suffering," the President of Azerbaijan said at the opening of WUF13.

President Ilham Aliyev stated that one of the primary tasks currently facing the Azerbaijani government is the restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, territories that have been under Armenian occupation for almost thirty years and have been completely destroyed and devastated. The Head of State recalled that during the occupation years, international observers and those who visited the area compared Aghdam to Hiroshima. "They called it the "Hiroshima of the Caucasus," because the city simply did not exist. It was completely leveled to the ground, and unlike Hiroshima, this did not happen in one day as a result of the explosion of an atomic bomb, but during the thirty years of occupation, when buildings, historical structures, public buildings and houses were simply dismantled and completely destroyed," the head of state said.

I remembered the words of the President of Azerbaijan, which he said in May 2021 at the ceremony of the beginning of the restoration of Aghdam. He said, "We will build Aghdam that will become an example for the whole world."

Today, one can observe the outlines of the city that Aghdam will become. It will no longer be a small town on a regional scale, but a large settlement with a developed modern infrastructure and equipped with "smart" technologies. The general plan of Agdam impresses with original solutions. The project, which has become the fruit of cooperation between specialists from different countries, will allow Aghdam residents to return to a completely different Aghdam. Many of them, who settled in the capital after ethnic cleansing, will not feel the difference. This city really promises to surprise the world.

In general, Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur will surpass many other regions of the country in terms of urbanization. We would not be surprised if the next World Urban Forum is held in Aghdam or Khankendi in a few years.

According to Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, the projects implemented in the territories liberated from occupation are an interesting experience for the whole world. Comprehensive work is underway here related to institutional organization, planning approaches, organization of the construction process and the return of people to their native lands. By sharing this experience on the WUF13 platform, Azerbaijan presents its approaches to urban planning and post-conflict reconstruction, the head of the State Committee told reporters during the forum.

Azerbaijan's experience is unique and will undoubtedly be in demand. Unfortunately, the current geopolitical situation suggests that the number of conflicts in the world will only grow. And modern types of weapons have great destructive power, and you can see how entire cities are collapsing, industrial giants are being leveled to the ground. Although the towns and villages of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia were destroyed not by bombs, but by bulldozers and human hands (if, of course, Armenian vandals and looters can be called people), the result is the same.

Azerbaijan shows by its example that there are no unsolvable tasks. And he can share his experience with anyone who wants to know what creation is.