Planning Sustainable Social Infrastructure

in the Green New Cities of Azerbaijan

Huseynov Emir Fikret (1)1, Ahbarov Sadraddin Huseyn (2)2, Aliyev Samir Mammad (3)2
1
Azerbaijan Architecture and Construction University, 2 Executive Power of Baku City
Baku, Azerbaijan Republic

Abstract
The article is discussed formation of green new cities structure and the planning sustainable social
infrastructure in Big Baku region. The author pays special attention on necessity of the system, complex
decision of tasks in the Regional plan for development of the green new cities in region. Thus are
allocated the basic aspects which decision will allow to defining directions of region development. It is
supposed, that the General plan of the Big Baku and green new cities for long years will fix the spatial
organization of region. The theoretical findings of this article are useful guidelines for designers and
managers.

Keywords: planning, sustainable, social infrastructure, green new cities, Azerbaijan

1 INTRODUCTION Pirallachi - future green new cities of Apsheron, where

New cities usually symbolize the origins of the city. While
these areas are usually endowed with a multitude of new
social infrastructure, they are also the areas that are most
prone to the undesirable and consequential effects of
growth and urbanizations, including overcrowding, air
emissions and poor environmental quality [1]. Urban
planning of green new cities serves as a fundamental
catalyst for change, improving environmental quality of
the natural and built environments, and upgrading
conditions in new areas [2]. This paper analyses strategies
that have been used in the planning sustainable social
infrastructure in the Green New Cities of Apsheron,
Azerbaijan. This study is aimed at providing on the
strategies that have been used to upgrade the
environmental quality of this green new cities as a case
from which many lessons can be learnt, thus attempting at
diminishing undesirable effects and improving the urban,
social and environmental quality of its urban spaces for
the well-being of citizens. This paper focuses on the role
of planning sustainable social infrastructure in the green
new cities of Azerbaijan. It proposes a more nuanced
approach to understanding of that complex phenomenon,
which would include the possibility that some of its forms
may represent the much needed transfusion of new and
healthy energies into the tired urbanities. The examples of
planning sustainable social infrastructure presented in the
paper indicate that some of the outcomes of sustainable
planning are superior to well theorized examples of urban
planning.
Those examples are from Big Baku, one of the fastest-
changing cities in the world. The chosen locations are in
the precincts of Alyat, Gobustan, Sangachal, Dubendi and
living connections with the past coexist with practices of
the oil power World City [3] [4], located between the
West and the East, on a new Silk way [5]. The paper
advocates locally attuned approaches to cultural
sustainability, and careful balancing of planning with
urban self-regulation. Authors of article offers creation on
Apsheron urban planning systems of new type - “Eco-
cities” which, on its belief, will be capable to provide
sustainable development of capital Baku and the existing
occupied places of region.
Sustainable development of new cities - “Eco-cities” in
the Regional plan of the Big Baku is planned to be carried
out due to ecological corridors and the uniform "linearly-
strip" communication structure uniting in interconnected
moving system all settlement of peninsula.
2 RETROSPECTIVE VIEWS ON FORMATION OF
NEW CITIES IN THE BIG BAKU
In order to comprehend the nature of new cities, it is
essential to look back into history and identify their
beginnings, growth, development and the multiple layers
time has bestowed upon them. It is interesting to note how
the new quarters of the city tend to represent their origins.
The beginnings of most world-famous cities, such as
Alexandria, Egypt, Istanbul in Turkey and Baku in
Azerbaijan [6] [7], were originally constructed in the area
that nowadays represents the historical beginnings of these
cities. Over the centuries, the city's new urban fabric
began to articulate with respect to this historical centre,
and urbanization accordingly occurred in a peripheral
direction, as depicted in the diagram in Figure 1 below.
The importance of new centers is that they serve as a place

Proceedings of EcoDesign 2011 International Symposium

M. Matsumoto et al. (eds.), Design for Innovative Value Towards a Sustainable Society, 1044
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3010-6_221, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012

of identity, memory and belonging [8]. New city centers
of the Big Baku tend to forge an urban identity for the rest
Fig. 1: Diagram to show New Urban Expansion that
Radiates out from the City Centre, in a Concentric,
Linear or Polycentric Direction
of city, and for surrounding districts to adopt. In many
cases, new districts are representative of the entire city, the
result of the outstanding multitude of new buildings, social
infrastructure and heritage and archaeological sites, which
manage to endure time, contradicting new functions and
development that take place around them, at expeditious
rates. New cities of the Big Baku usually tend to serve as
the city's central business districts, or the information and
new technologies centers, as they are often referred to.
This is owing to the high percentage of commercial
functions, public buildings and offices that exist within. In
this way, the new cities tends to both represent a great deal
about the city's economic performance and success, thus
adding notable eminence and value to it.
3 CHALLENGES FACING NEW CITIES
While new centres are real periphery to the city both
historically and geographically, they are also subject to
many challenges and obstacles. The explosion in urban
population is partly to blame for this. In 2007, the world's
urban population had exceeded its rural population, and by
the year 2050, the world's urban population is expected to
increase by up to 65% [9] [10]. New cities of Azerbaijan
and all over the world tend to witness a multitude of
undesirable effects, the result of the overwhelming waves
of rural migration taking place. Overcrowding and
consequential unplanned growth of the new cities have
resulted in environmental degradation on a variety of
scales. This is inclusive of localised environmental health
problems, such as indoor air pollution and contamination
of drinking water, and city-regional environmental
problems such as ambient air pollution, inadequate waste
management and resultant pollution of water-bodies such
as rivers and lakes. this persistence and the overall laissez-
faire attitude that is usually adopted by city
administrations may contribute to pollution on a broader
scale, and have extra-urban impacts such as ecological
disruption, resource depletion, emissions of undesirable
1045
greenhouse gases and subsequent rise in anthropogenic
heat in the ambient atmosphere.
4 PLANNING OF GREEN NEW CITIES AS A
CATALYST FOR CHANGE
Urban planning and the formation of green new cities
contribute largely towards upgrading environmental
quality as the vast umbrella, thus serving as a fundamental
catalyst for change. Development projects taking place in
new districts tends to attract a variety of economic activity
and competition, therefore encouraging both new
inhabitants and visitors to revisit and rediscover these
restored vicinities of their cities. Moreover, upgrading the
physical built environment, social fabric and urban spaces
within the new urban structure all contribute towards
increasing their adoption as places for public congregation
and activity. This consequently increases social interaction
and cohesion between citizens. Furthermore, planning and
the formation of green new cities tend to re-affirm
residents' feelings of identity and sense of belonging.
Furthermore, urban planning is often witnessed as an
approach towards sustainability. According to Stren and
Polese [11], one of the main aims of sustainable urban
policy is to "bring people together, to weave parts of the
city into a cohesive whole, and to increase accessibility
(spatial and otherwise) to public services and
employment." in addition, sustainable areas and green new
cities are those which are created to support sustainable
living, with a prime focus being placed on economic,
social and environmental sustainability [12].
This is of distinguished importance in new districts which
tend to represent and symbolize a diverse set of ideals of
the green new city's identity, including its history and
culture on one hand, and its local economic viability on
the other. This paper aims at scrutinizing the green new
cities on the Caspian seaside of Apsheron peninsula, in
Azerbaijan, which is also known as the Baku city
agglomeration (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: (Left) An Aerial View of the Core City of Baku's
Caspian Location. (Right) Metropolitan rings surrounding
the Core City.
The paper sheds light upon recent attempts that have been
made at urban planning by the Azerbaijan architecture and
construction university (architecture projecting and urban
planning chair) and the society of Urbanists of Azerbaijan