BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Housing policies must be placed firmly at the center of sustainable urban development and integrated city planning, Ruslan Stoyanov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Azerbaijan, said during a ministerial roundtable held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Trend reports.
The ambassador noted that Bulgaria is actively strengthening coordination in its urban policies by deploying strategic regional blueprints and integrated planning approaches.
"Our primary objective is the sustainable reintegration of the urban environment and the continuous improvement of living standards. Bulgaria is heavily focusing on modernizing its residential building stock, particularly through nationwide energy efficiency programs. Under our national renovation framework, approximately 2,000 multi-family residential buildings have already been retrofitted, directly benefiting nearly 130,000 apartments," Stoyanov detailed.
The diplomat added that additional large-scale projects are currently being executed under Bulgaria’s National Recovery and Sustainability Plan. This experience, he noted, proves that targeted capital investments into the housing sector serve as a critical catalyst for broader urban transformation and social resilience.
However, the ambassador emphasized that challenges like energy poverty and the provision of affordable housing persist, prompting the development of long-term policy adjustments.
"Looking ahead, our core priorities include rolling out targeted building renovations backed by sustainable financing mechanisms, anchoring affordable housing within urban planning frameworks, strengthening the nexus between housing and municipal engineering, and boosting the operational capacity of local governments," he said.
Stoyanov underscored that to meet the overarching goals of the New Urban Agenda, housing policy must be treated as a foundational element on the global stage, driving social cohesion, economic growth, and climate change adaptation.
