WUF13: Azerbaijan showcases post-conflict urban transformation model

Azerbaijani lawmaker Nigar Mammadova highlighted housing as a key global challenge and outlined Azerbaijan’s post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Karabakh as a model for sustainable urban development. 

Housing provision remains one of the world’s most pressing challenges as rapid urbanization, climate change, rising living costs, and mounting pressure on infrastructure create new demands for governments, MP Mammadova said as she addressed a roundtable discussion held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Mammadova stressed that the development of sustainable and inclusive cities is no longer solely an urban planning issue, but also a matter of social justice, economic growth, environmental security, and public well-being.

“In the cities of the future, the level of civilization will not be measured by the number of skyscrapers, but by the ability to provide every person with safe and reliable housing. The role of parliaments in this process is especially important: they shape the legislative framework, approve the state budget, oversee the government, and represent the interests of citizens,” she said.

The Azerbaijani MP also highlighted reconstruction projects underway in territories liberated from occupation, describing them as a new model for modern and sustainable urban development.

According to Mammadova, the implementation of “smart city” and “smart village” concepts, alongside green energy solutions and digital governance systems, demonstrates how future cities should be designed and managed.

“The concepts of the ‘smart city’ and ‘smart village,’ green energy solutions, and digital governance systems demonstrate how the cities of the future should be built. At the same time, the development of the Middle Corridor is creating a new urban and economic transformation in the region. This initiative is making an important contribution to urban development, the expansion of logistics opportunities, and the strengthening of international cooperation,” she added.

By Vafa Guliyeva