Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 16 /Trend A.Akhundov/
Transfer of universities from the central part of the capital to the suburbs will be considered within the new development conception of Baku.
This was reported by head of the Department for Information and Foreign Affairs of the State Committee for Town-Planning and Architecture Jahangir Gojayev on Tuesday.
"Establishment of student campuses is based on world experience and has lots of advantages. This will reduce traffic flow in the central part of the city and lead to growth in the level of education. In addition, this will lead to profitability of the suburban electric train, as this type of transport is economically unprofitable and survives due to subsidies," Gojayev noted.
He said that in the case of such a decision, the universities located directly in the centre are going to be transferred first.
"Azerbaijani State Pedagogical University, State Oil Academy, the general corpus of Azerbaijani State Economic University are among that group. The location of the Academy of Public Administration will not be changed due to a small staff" Gojayev stated.
According to Gojayev, if the issue is to be considered by the Ministry of Education and other state agencies, free, unpopulated suburban areas will be chosen for the new location of universities.
Gojayev said the transfer of ministries and other state structures to suburbs or other cities depends on a political decision.
The Greater Baku Development Plan will include the city plus 11 surrounding areas, as well as the Sumgayit and Absheron region with Khirdalan, a total area amounting to almost 250.000 hectares.