Garabagh and East Zangazur: Building Back Better

Aghali Smart Village (2021): The first completed smart village, with 87 solar-powered homes achieving 70% energy savings; a prosumer model allowing residents to sell excess electricity. By May 2022, 66 families had been relocated, with full digital connectivity, smart meters, and automated home systems. 

Garabagh reconstruction vision: A January 2021 presidential initiative for the “Great Return” programme targeting more than 40,000 families by 2026, and integrating sustainable materials, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure across all new settlements.

Comprehensive IoT sensor networks monitoring air quality, traffic, energy usage; intelligent waste and water systems (25-80L savings per person daily); automated irrigation; and cloud-based territorial management platforms.

Addressing the 20% rural-urban digital divide; the introduction of e-governance platforms for seamless citizen services; and bridging the gap from a 122nd global ranking in internet speed; smart villages as innovation incubators.

With COP29 hosted in Baku (November 2024), up to 160 GW of renewable energy potential is being developed through major projects; and SDG11 implementation showed a five-point improvement in 2022 sustainability scoring.