Azernews.Az

By Sabina Mammadli

The goal is to create "cities of the future" on the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, Founder of SA Partners Swiss Company Dunja Kovari said.

She made the remarks during Azerbaijan National Urban Forum on the topic "Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda - as the leading force for restoration and reconstruction in the post-conflict period".

The entrepreneur stressed that the issues of greening will be at the center of attention according to the plan for the restoration of Zangilan city. She stated that the company wants to preserve the existing nature of the city and make sure it is rich in parks.

Regarding the plan for the restoration of Kalbajar city, Kovari noted that the main goal in this region is to create all conditions for the development of tourism.

"Kalbajar is known for its hot springs. The company's goal is to create a large number of social facilities - recreational and sports facilities, spas, and fitness centers. Of course, greening the city will remain one of the priorities," she added.

She noted that the priority for the restoration of Gubadli city is the preservation of water resources.

"A concept such as a 'closed cycle water ring' will provide an opportunity to conserve and reuse water resources," she explained.

Similarly, Special Representative of the Azerbaijani President to Zangilan district Vahid Hajiyev stressed that the country will continue work on improving Zangilan city to a high standard.

He noted that Zangilan is a regional center, built in accordance with concepts of 'green' and 'smart' city.

"For example, to restore the ecosystem destroyed during the occupation, 20,000 plane trees and 1,000 kilograms of oak seeds were planted in Zangilan District. Moreover, more than 3,000 different trees were planted in Aghali village recently," Hajiyev said.

Noting that residential areas in Zangilan will be integrated into park zones, which will be further emphasized by the nature-oriented landscape, he added that residential buildings will be integrated into the layout and design of the park region to very high standards with the use of local materials as well as modern technologies.

He stressed that logistics, tourism, and agriculture are also priorities in the restoration work.

Ecological aspects

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Energy Minister Elnur Soltanov said that 'green' energy from Karabakh will be supplied to Absheron Peninsula.

"In accordance with the project that Azerbaijan is implementing with BP, green energy to be produced on the liberated territories will be transported to the Absheron Peninsula, where BP will use it to decarbonize the oil and gas sector," he said.

Additionally, he stressed that Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy is considering a new project on the construction of a floating solar power plant with a capacity of 50 MW with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The ministry noted that Azerbaijan plans to expand in this area. It's planned to develop and implement a pilot project and then develop a corresponding large-scale project.

"The pilot project includes the construction of a floating solar power plant with a capacity of 100 kW on Lake Boyukshor," Soltanov stated.

Deputy Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Firdovsi Aliyev also added that the concept of sustainable urban planning and the general plan for restoration is already being implemented on the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

"In this direction, the Azerbaijani government in accordance with the general plan on the restoration of liberated plans is implementing such concepts as smart cities and villages, green economy, and sustainable development," he said.

According to Aliyev, creating environmentally sustainable cities is one of the priority issues for Azerbaijan as well as waste and water management.

"Azerbaijan pays attention, among other things, to the regulation of waste emitted by industries, pollution due to transport in the direction of transition to zero emissions. The country has already created all the conditions for the introduction of environmentally friendly and hybrid vehicles," he stated.

Aliyev noted that the greening of the cities is also one of the priority issues. He added that the circular economy is also one of the priority issues and strategic documents in these directions are already being implemented.

"This concept, for example, is included in the general plan of Baku city. Thus, Azerbaijan plans to increase the number of green zones in Baku up to 3,000 hectares, which will be more than 25 kilometers," the minister informed.

Cultural aspects

During the same forum, Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov emphasized that landmines hinder the conduct of archaeological work on the liberated territories.

"Monuments of Azerbaijani culture and cultural heritage have been destroyed in this territory for 30 years, their origin has been changed or illegal archaeological excavations have been carried out, which is contrary to international conventions. After the liberation of these territories from occupation, ruins and acts of vandalism were discovered here," Karimov stated.

He noted that today the employees of the Ministry of Culture still face difficulties in carrying out monitoring due to the unsafe situation in the liberated lands.

"During the preliminary monitoring, out of 706 monuments on the state registry, 403 historical and cultural monuments were researched. In addition, 864 cultural institutions were monitored. 162 new cultural monuments were also discovered," Karimov informed.

He added that the priority tasks now are to clear the liberated territories from mines and ensure safe archaeological work.

"Employees of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan monitor the liberated territories. The main goal is to determine and classify the degree of destruction of historical monuments. After that, they are planned to be restored. As for archaeological sites, the ministry is working on their conservation," he added.

According to Karimov, in the period before the liberation of Azerbaijani lands, UNESCO was informed about the destruction of monuments there, which was obtained using satellite images. He noted that at present this method is used only in places with difficult terrain.

The minister stressed that these kinds of forums provide an opportunity to exchange views on plans in connection with the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

---

Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz