Urban Planning in Baku: Who is Involved and How It Works

Abstract

This article examines the urban governance system of Baku City with a focus on recent urban reconstruction projects. First, I outline the mechanism of oil surplus recycling that underlies Baku's recent construction boom. Second, I explore the regulatory regime and the roles of different government agencies engaged in "implementation games". City politics has thus turned into an arena for the neopatrimonial scramble for public resources. Baku’s urban policy decisions reflect the confluence of interests of bureaucratic patronage networks and oligarchic-business groups. What is good (profitable) policy for these rent-seeking groups can harm social welfare, the quality of undersupplied social services (such as education and health care), and other public goods needed by ordinary residents, fueling the growing tendency toward urban segregation by class and income.