The Cultural Heritage Forum organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture as part of the 100th anniversary of Heydar Aliyev in the "Gulustan" Palace is closed. On December 19, the last panel session of the forum on "Cultural heritage and modern architecture: principles of urban planning" was held. "Development of modern Azerbaijani architecture, national elements, and design", "Principles of sustainable urban planning", "Architecture and urban planning in territories liberated from occupation. Smart cities", "Great Return", “Implementation of the program: challenges and goals", "Modern cities and urbanization issues" and "Urban planning and preservation of monuments" topics were heard in the panel moderated by Honored architect Ilgar Isbatov, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture.
Before the speeches, the participants watched a video prepared by the Ministry of Culture on the topic of the panel. Fariz Ismayilzadeh, Executive Vice Rector of ADA University, noted that large-scale restoration and construction works are being carried out in the liberated areas today: "In this regard, a survey was conducted among students at the educational institution. I think it is very important to learn the opinions of the people who will settle in our liberated areas in this area." Faig Hajiyev, adviser of the Special Representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, provided information about the restoration and reconstruction works carried out in the territories liberated from occupation belonging to the Karabakh economic region (except for Shusha district). He said that in accordance with the "1st State Program on the Great Return to the Territories Liberated from Occupation of the Republic of Azerbaijan", 1 city and 12 villages in Aghdam district, 1 city and 10 villages in Fuzuli district, Hadrut settlement and Tugh village in Khojavand district will be designed and built by 2026.
At the same time, restoration of our historical and cultural monuments within the framework of large-scale construction works is also in focus. Work is being carried out in this direction as well. Muslim Imranli, head of the department of management and protection of historical and cultural heritage of the Administration of Shusha City State Reserve, emphasized that the master plan prepared for Shusha city covers all existing monuments: "Despite many years of discussions, there are still problems related to the determination of monument protection zones in our country. We hope that this issue will be resolved in the coming years." Rafik Mirzayev, head of the Urban Development Department of the "Azerdovlatlayiha" Head State Design Institute, spoke about the urbanization process that currently covers the whole world. He said that there are 79 cities in our country. According to calculations, the population of 30 cities is less than 15 thousand, including 4 cities whose population is less than 5 thousand. Currently, 56.4 percent of the population lives in urban areas. That is about 5.5 million people."
At the end, the questions of the event participants were answered. Thus, the Cultural Heritage Forum held for the first time in our country came to an end.
