MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION

Over the last 15 years, the construction market of Baku has experienced several stages of growth supported by the sustainable development of the basic sectors of the economy. According to the recently-developed regional development plan of Greater Baku until 2030, it is planned to carry out major reconstruction of existing buildings in the capital and to clean and reclaim contaminated land. The state and private companies are willing to cooperate closely in the implementation of these plans, which was clearly confirmed by the 20th international BakuBuild-2014 exhibition recently held at the Baku Expo exhibition centre.

 Over the past two decades, the BakuBuild exhibition has been attended by more than 3,200 companies from 35 countries, and its pavilions have been visited by more than 100,000 people.

This forum is attended by 490 companies from 29 countries with about 48 per cent of them demonstrating their products at the Baku Expo Centre for the first time.

Along with the products of the dynamically developing field of building materials, BakuBuild-2014 presented projects of the leading construction companies of the country, including those aimed at the implementation of major initiatives for the reconstruction of the capital under the general plan of Greater Baku.

In recent years, the capital of Azerbaijan has been gradually overcoming the negative effects of the construction boom of the 1990s - early 2000s with chaotic construction and violations of the urban development plan of Baku characteristic of that period. One of the consequences of the past era is the irrational use of land, especially in the historical centre of the capital and surrounding areas. The construction of separate buildings, lack of transport logistics and road capacity, lack of necessary utilities and social infrastructure became the leading factor that led to the shrinking of free land in the capital, the cost of which would make it possible to carry out mass construction of economy class residential buildings. In fact, most of the land in the centre of Baku suitable for the construction of multi-storey blocks has already been developed, while the remaining areas are used for building primarily premium class residential complexes because of their high cost.

Azerbaijan's development over the last 15 years has significantly increased the importance of a comprehensive assessment, planning and use of the land fund. These aspects are particularly relevant to the capital with its dense construction, where more than a third of the country's total population is concentrated.

In order to overcome this problem, the plan for the regional development of Greater Baku until 2030 provides for major reconstruction of urban areas, expansion of roads and creation of new recreational areas for which it is planned to demolish the dilapidated housing stock and relocate industrial, administrative, educational and other buildings and structures from the city limits.

According to some experts, the area occupied by unorganized settlements, which boomed in the 1950s and then in the 1990s, is now more than 10,000 hectares, which represents a huge untapped resource for the optimization of construction in the capital. Equally problematic are comparable land plots used in the oil industry, as well as idle factories, former transport bases and warehouses. Located mainly in the territory of Suraxani, Binaqadi, and Xazar districts of the capital, these industrial and infrastructure facilities have long lost their economic and industrial significance.

The possibility of purifying contaminated areas and using them for construction was mentioned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at a recent government meeting, which summarized the socioeconomic development of the country in the first three quarters of this year. The head of state recommended that city and regional executive authorities provide land for construction either in the territory of former industrial sites and factories that are in disrepair, or in places that need environmental measures.

Strictly speaking, this process has already begun: the issue is about the implementation of the Baku White City urban planning project, which covers the eastern part of Baku, an area known as "Black City". The new "White City" will cover an area of 221 hectares, which, for example, is 11 times larger than the area of the historical Old City, turning this area into the largest development in the South Caucasus region. The purification of contaminated land in this area actively involves the subsidiary of the State Oil Company - CJSC Ecol Engineering Services. The design of future buildings in vacated territories involves leading local and foreign construction companies. Their main purpose is to create an urban area, which will combine original architecture and technological convenience of construction, modern infrastructure, and environmental technologies. Apparently, the experience gained during the implementation of the Baku White City project will be used in land reclamation and rational construction in other areas of the capital.

The initiative proposed by the head of state - to involve private investors in cleaning up contaminated land with the further participation of these companies in city planning endeavours in vacated territories - was noticed by participants in the BakuBuild-2014 exhibition. Some construction and design companies indicated their willingness to participate in such projects, believing that with appropriate support from the state budget, massive budget construction of vacated areas will be very profitable and could open a new page in the history of urban development in Baku.

"Leaving the resolution of all environmental and social problems in the country to the government is not entirely correct, first of all, due to budgetary constraints and the need for a long time to concentrate efforts. Therefore, it is necessary to actively involve investors in addressing issues such. The latter is especially true for the capital of Azerbaijan: intensive oil production and the development of the industry in the past century were very detrimental to the ecological balance of the Abseron Peninsula, leading to the contamination of vast areas," the head of the International Relations and Information Department of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, Cahangir Qocayev, told R+. According to him, a number of projects are being implemented in the capital involving reclamation of contaminated land and transformation of industrial landscapes into modern residential and public areas, the largest of which is the implementation of the Baku White City project.

Further steps in this direction in the recently-developed regional plan for Greater Baku include the creation of many hectares of forests and mass planting of greenery in the territory of the old factories in the suburbs of the capital. "The government is interested in involving investors in projects for the reconstruction of environmentally problematic areas of the capital, and the process could involve both local and foreign private entities and possibly, state-owned companies interested in it. For the time being, it would be too early to speak of investor participation in such projects, however, it seems that contaminated sites designed for cleaning up and building could be put up for competitions and tenders in order to select proposals that are the most optimal from an economic point of view and are socially-required," Cahangir Qocayev said.

Confidence in the rapid implementation of these plans is extremely high. This is guaranteed by the long-term plans outlined in the general plan for the development of the capital and its suburbs until 2030. It is expected that in the next 17 years, population growth in the capital will reach 745,000 and total 3.5m people. Accordingly, the housing stock is expected to double and reach 64.147m square metres. At the same time, the supply of housing for one person will be around 25 square metres compared to the current 17.3. For comparison, today the shortage of housing in Baku alone is 15m square metres, and with the current pace of construction, the housing problem in the country will be resolved for at least the next decade, ensuring reliable contracts for domestic builders.