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Associate professor: Excessive technicization of urbanism is a global problem

21 May 2026 10:35 (UTC +04:00)

Urban planning, architecture and urbanism are increasingly becoming a more technical field, Anar Valiyev, associate professor of public affairs at the School of Public and International Affairs of ADA University, said during the event titled “Housing and Education: The Role of Living Space in Architecture Curricula” held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, APA reports.

Anar Valiyev noted that this is one of the biggest challenges for modern education: “The main problem I currently observe is not only in Azerbaijan, but also in many European Union countries and even in the United States, where the field of urbanism has become excessively technical. If we look at the curricula in Azerbaijan, students in architecture schools mainly study technical skills, drawing, project tools and similar subjects. However, disciplines such as urban sociology, urban anthropology, urban economics, geography and history are not taught sufficiently.

As a result, students tend to prefer a more technocratic and technical approach and move away from the humanitarian approach. That is why in Azerbaijan and in many former Soviet countries, the approach is viewed more from an engineering perspective. In other words, the main goal is to build something, to construct the city from the perspective of buildings. But the issue of making the city livable for people moves into the background.”