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Akbar Novruz

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Rufat Mahmud, Chairman of the Board of the “Icherisheher” [Old City] State Historical-Architectural Reserve Administration, stated that the 13th session of the United Nations World Urban Forum (WUF13) held in Baku has become one of the most significant international urban development events organized to date.

Speaking to AzerNEWS about the outcomes of the forum, Mahmud noted that participants and international experts have widely described WUF13 as one of the largest, most impressive and most engaging forums ever held within the framework of the global urban agenda.

“We have already been analyzing the results of the forum. We can say, and we have also heard this in many speeches, that this forum is one of the most magnificent, largest and most interesting forums ever held in the world.”

According to Mahmud, the event has been especially important for Azerbaijan because it created an opportunity to present the country’s urban development and cultural heritage management experience to the international community.

“This is a very important event for Azerbaijan because highly significant issues were discussed, and the Azerbaijani experience was presented to international experts and the global community,” he noted.

Mahmud emphasized that Icherisheher’s experience in preserving cultural heritage and managing historical urban areas attracted particular interest from international participants attending the forum.

“We, as representing the Icherisheher, can say that our experience in the protection of cultural heritage and reserve management was met with great interest and has already been presented as an example in several areas,” he stated.

He also highlighted the implementation of the “smart reserve” concept in Icherisheher, noting that its digital solutions and community-centered approaches have become examples of modern heritage management.

“In particular, the concept of a smart reserve has been implemented in Icherisheher. The digital approaches used there, work with residents, museum activities and tourism development have all been highlighted as examples,” Mahmud added.