cities. These objects may be relocated to other regions, if needed. Overgrowth of cities
impedes their management, increasing the requirements for water, land, energy and heat
(Yang et al. 2012). In some developed countries, the studies are devoted to the development of
medium-size cities because of the challenges related to high urbanization, and the need of
great financial amounts to manage the megalopolises (Korpi et al. 2011).
Study area
Baku is the biggest capital and port city in the Caspian Sea with its large population, social,
economic, cultural and scientific potential. In 2012, the population of Azerbaijan was about
9235.1 thousand persons, of which 52.9% (4888.7 thousand) were dwellers of cities. Greater
Baku covers 2130 sq. km of area. Taking into consideration the neighbouring settlements, the
population of the city is about 2122.3 thousand people. 1194.8 thousand persons, or 56.9% of
the population, are concentrated in the core city, and 927.5 thousand people are dwellers of
the suburban settlements. 23% of the total population of Azerbaijan and 43.4% of the urban
population of the country live in Baku (Azərbaycanın əhalisi 2012). Sumgayit city, the territorial
unit of Absheron, Khirdalan city and 11 other settlements are included into the Baku
agglomeration as well.
The high-speed development of Greater Baku led to the emergence of numerous problems in
the last 20 years. Banished from Armenia, tens of thousands people have been settled in the
territory of Greater Baku in the 90s. Besides this, the high growth and migration of the rural
population have been responsible for the gradual enlargement of the territory of Baku. As a
result of the enlargement of residential areas both in Baku and in the surroundings, the urban
settlement as well as the cities of Khirdalan and Sumgait physically merged with Baku. This
situation led to the irrational use of lands which could be destined for rest and green areas, or
the development of agriculture. Urban-type settlements have been created as transition ones in
order to convert villages into cities during the Soviet period. Since the 30s of the twentieth
century, many small clusters near Baku city enlarged and they were given the status of ‘urban-
type settlement’ due to the rapid development of the petroleum industry. The conversion of
villages into urban-type settlements as well as the emergence of new settlements was ob-
served also in other regions of Azerbaijan in relation to the use of natural resources, and the
creation of industrial and agricultural facilities (Əfəndiyev 2002). At the present, many
settlements, of which most dwellers are not engaged in farming, are classified as urban-type
settlements. About 70 such settlements are situated around Greater Baku.
Chaotic development of settlements and unregulated territorial enlargement of Baku resulted in
the arising of ‘pseudo-urbanization’. As a result of this process, the great agglomeration was
formed and it is difficult to be regulated. In the meantime, overconcentration of population and
economic areas in the territory of Greater Baku is negatively affecting its economic and
demographic potential, and the development of other regions in Azerbaijan.
The development of petroleum industry in Absheron area is particularly mentionable here.
Thus, the exploitation of the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea since 1994, the creation
and development of numerous foreign companies in the petroleum industry, the involvement of
large portions of foreign investments and manpower into Baku resulted in the high development
of this territory. Therefore, the development of the non-oil sector in the regions is necessary in
order to reduce the great difference between Baku and other regions.
In addition to the significant expansion of Greater Baku, it is also notable that many old, low-
rise and unfit areas, in term of living, encompass large territories within the core city. New
buildings are being constructed in inside green areas or in places with old buildings, industrial,
service and trade facilities that pulled down in recent years. Great challenges are faced
concerning the maintenance of habitation because of the expensiveness of the construction
Economic and Geographic Factors Affecting the Development of Greater Baku
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works, or when funding is managed at the expense of state budget. It also should be noted that
the prices for lands both within the territory of Baku and its surroundings increased in recent
years. Rules of urban planning are not observed in the central parts of the city where buildings
were constructed in 20-80s of the twentieth century, and the situation continues to exist along
with the new buildings. In the meantime, the overgrowth of automobiles and population number
in recent years is responsible for the city’s overloading with vehicles and public transport,
causing jams on the roads. Traffic stoppers take place not only in the central districts but also
in the edge areas as they face the outward flow of population from the city in the morning and
in the opposite direction in the evenings because significant parts of the population are dwellers
of the suburban areas.
It should be noted that land is a valuable resource in Greater Baku. There are numerous large
living blocks in the territory of agglomeration. In the meantime, lands usable for the farming
activity area and the former areas of industrial activity as well as territories of oil fields have
been converted into living blocks. As a result, natural and environmental potential of the lands
have been deteriorated. Challenges in the provision of hot water, electricity and heat are faced
by the dwellers. Also, it is necessary to determine the land reserves suitable for the creation of
industrial, commercial, green and leisure-time areas.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of Greater Baku, a number of facilities of
industry, transport, commercial and infrastructure are being relocated in the surroundings and
the other regions. These include the Seaport, Ship-repairing and Shipbuilding, Oil Refinery
Plant, Oil Engineering Plant, Bus Station, a number of trade centers, storehouses and facilities
of infrastructure. Also, new buildings and living blocks are being formed in Gara Sheher area.
The ring roads, bridges, arterial highways, many-branched roads, and tunnels are also
constructed around the city in order to prevent traffic jams and to facilitate the transport
functioning. However, the taken measures are not sufficient yet and the implementation of
influential works is still needed.
Research on the studied area
Regulation on the development of cities and effective urban planning are necessary issues in
terms of managing the urbanization processes. Urban planning is analyzed by many scientific
works. The important problems taken into consideration when developing urban planning are
the following: management of transport; grouping of cities as functional territories; rational use
of land resources; preservation and restoration of natural and environmental conditions;
distribution of areas of habitation and manufacturing; maintaining the historical and
architectural monuments; ethnic traditions as factors in urban planning.
The enlargement of territories in the process of urban development was the study subject in
several works of the researchers in the United States, Russia and Poland. The development
and expansion of cities as well as the economic potential of urban areas are studied by
researchers from China (Qin et al. 2006, Zhang and Sun 2011), India (Jesitha et al. 2011),
Brazil (Goncalves et al. 2006), Mexico (Tallet and Valette 2010), and other countries.
The management of cities’ development, the regulation of cities and their suburbs and
employment provision are studied in the United Kingdom (Krueger and Gibbs 2010, Greasley
et al. 2011, Champion and Townsend 2011), Germany (Heinelt and Zimmermann 2011),
Poland (Grabkowska 2011), Southern Europe, and the CIS countries (Lappo 1997, Pertsik
2009). Not only large cities but also developing small clusters are the study objects of works of
scientists from the United States or the United Kingdom. All of this research deals with the
priorities in the development of cities and the ways to solve the involved problems (Jesitha et
al. 2011, Lee 2011).
Vusat AFANDIYEV, Zakir EMINOV, Saleh NAGIYEV
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