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.
