On April 9, a scientific seminar entitled “Urbanization and Social Transformation: Azerbaijan's Experience” was held at Sumgayit State University, organized by the Department of Philosophy, Sociology and Political Science of the Faculty of History and Geography. Dean of the Faculty, Professor Adil Bakhshaliyev opened the seminar with an introductory speech and spoke about the importance of the event and said that a series of events are being held at the university and the faculty in connection with the declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Architecture and Urban Planning” in our country. He brought to attention the relevance of the topic by providing information about the history of the creation of cities, the formation of ancient settlements and the stages of development of planned urban planning. He emphasized that the large-scale infrastructure projects implemented in our country, the reconstruction of public spaces, the application of “smart city” approaches, as well as the implementation of modern urban planning concepts in liberated areas are among the important achievements in this field. Then, the senior lecturers of the Department of Philosophy, Sociology and Political Science Farida Jabrayilova made reports on the topics of “Azerbaijan’s Urban Planning Strategy: From Historical Heritage to Modern Innovations”, Zahid Bunyadov on “The Urbanization Process and Its Main Causes”, and second-year student Fidan Masimova on “Social Problems Caused by Urbanization”. The speakers provided information on the social consequences of the urbanization process, priority directions of urban development and future prospects.

The seminar continued with a broad and interesting discussion around the topic.