BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. Demining is an integral part of reconstruction work, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of Azerbaijan, Anar Guliyev, said during the panel discussion titled "Mine Action as Foundation for Urban Recovery" at the 4th International Mine Action Conference on "Humanitarian Demining for Urban Recovery: Setting Standards of Excellence for Safe Settlements," Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
Guliyev noted that as Azerbaijan celebrates 2026 as the Year of Urban Planning and Architecture, there is a significant opportunity to approach demining activities with a new understanding, not as a separate process from development, but as an integral part of planning and building safe, resilient, and sustainable communities of the future.
"Since the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020, 437 Azerbaijani civilians have been killed or injured by landmines. However, Azerbaijan is making significant progress in meeting this challenge.
The activities of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture are particularly important at this juncture. Our role is not limited to the planning of individual cities and settlements.
This role involves defining a specific framework that guides the transformation and long-term development of entire territories. In this context, land security and accessibility are key planning conditions," he pointed out.
The chairman emphasized that spatial planning determines where settlements should develop, how they should be interconnected, how infrastructure should connect them, and where public facilities and economic zones will be located.
"This approach is further strengthened in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Land accessibility affects the structure of settlements, determines development priorities, and guides the sequence of land use," he added.
