The 13th edition of the World Urban Forum, due to begin in Baku on Sunday (17 May), is an ideal opportunity for Azerbaijan to show the world what successful post-conflict urban development looks like, a representative for the conference has said.
Eldar Rasulov, Senior Manager for Content and Media Relations at the World Urban Forum 13, told AnewZ’s Nadia Gyane on Friday that Azerbaijan will showcase the progress it has made in reconstructing the liberated territories of Karabakh and East Zangezur at the U.N. urbanisation event.
“It’s now a really good time for Azerbaijan to show how urban development could actually look after post-conflict,” he said.
“We are showcasing the reconstruction process that we've made so far in a short period of time. [...] We want to show regional countries how we rebuilt, how we are still rebuilding those territories, and how smartly we are trying to do that,” he added.
As part of Azerbaijan’s Great Return Programme, large-scale restoration and construction work is being carried out in Karabakh and East Zangezur, with schools, hospitals, power plants and homes under construction, the country’s President, Ilham Aliyev, has previously said.
Rasulov said the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, had also undergone significant changes over the past decade, becoming greener and less car-focused.
“If you ask any citizen how Baku changed in a 10-year timeline, there are lots of things. When we're talking about green vehicles, scooter lanes, micromobility, and issues like that, the city is changing its look,” he said.
The tagline for this year’s conference is ‘Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities’.
At a time when major cities around the world are facing severe housing crises and three billion people globally face some form of housing insecurity, the theme could not be more relevant, Rasulov said.
“It’s becoming more and more an agenda on a number of governments' lists in relation to housing and just housing in general,” he said.
The World Urban Forum 13 will run from 17 May to 22 May at the Baku Olympic Stadium.
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