www.ssoar.info

Modernising the waterfront: urban green, built environment and social life of the promenade Darieva, Tsypylma

Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Darieva, T. (2015). Modernising the waterfront: urban green, built environment and social life of the Baku promenade. Europa Regional, 22.2014(1-2), 65-79. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-456899

Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). We grant a non-exclusive, non- Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses This document is solely intended for your personal, non- Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für commercial use. All of the copies of this documents must retain den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. all copyright information and other information regarding legal Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use. anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

Tsypylma Darieva

Abstract Zusammenfassung This paper comprises of a description and analysis of material- Modernisierung am Wasser: Städtisches Grün, ity and social life of one specific urban public space, the Baku bebaute Umwelt und soziales Leben der Promenade Promenade. Drawing on ethnographic field work in , von Baku I provide some insights into Baku’s experience of the recent Dieser Beitrag besteht aus einer Beschreibung und einer modernization of urban public space by looking at the method Analyse der Materialität und des sozialen Lebens eines spezifi- of modernization employed to realize the visions of a public schen öffentlichen Ortes im städtischen Raum – der Promenade green park. Particular attention will be paid to the role of trees in Baku. Unter Bezugnahme auf die Ergebnisse ethnografischer and green architecture as a tool for ordering the city and the Feldforschung in Aserbaidschan gebe ich einen Einblick in den political mobilization of nature in the process of constructing Modernisierungsprozess von öffentlichem Raum. Dabei socialist and post-socialist public spaces in Azerbaijan. Beyond konzentriere ich mich auf die Modernisierungsmethode, die bei the changing materiality of the built environment and urban der Konstruktion einer öffentlichen Grünanlage, eines Erho- green, I discuss how the Baku Promenade has been perceived lungsparks, zum Einsatz kam. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt and used by ordinary people, as well as the meanings visitors liegt dabei auf der Rolle von Bäumen und grüner Architektur attach to the urban park in their memories of the late Soviet als Werkzeug zur urbanen Ordnung und politischen Mobilisie- era. I argue that the official redevelopment of Baku Promenade rung der Natur im Kontext des sozialistischen und postsozialis- has purified the space not only from the materiality of its tischen Lebens in Aserbaidschan. In einem Ansatz, der über die Soviet era asphalt, but also from its egalitarian sociality and sich verändernde Materialität hinausgeht, erörtere ich, wie die local intimacy of tree-shaded walkways. Baku Promenade von ganz normalen Menschen wahrgenom- men und genutzt wird, jedoch auch, welche Bedeutung Besu- Urban green, modernization, Azerbaijan, waterfront, sociality, leisure cher dem Stadtpark in ihren Erinnerungen an die späte Sowjetzeit beimessen. Ich argumentiere dahingehend, dass die rezente Sanierung und Kommerzialisierung der Promenade den öffentlichen Raum nicht nur von der Materialität seines Asphalts aus der Sowjetära befreit hat, sondern auch von seiner egalitären Geselligkeit und der von Bäumen beschatte- ten lokalen Vertraulichkeit.

Stadtpark, Modernisierung, Aserbaidschan, Ufer, Sozialität, Freizeit

65 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

Советский парк – массовый парк, он an object of governance ( 1988; Orient included adults’ and children’s проводит огромную культурно- sports, educational entertainment, wal- Mitchell воспитательную работу; его was designed as “the cradle of progress king and viewing the landscape; they Rabinow 1989), and the socialist city посетитель – трудящийся самых - were beyond the reach of religious desi- различных национальностей. mative modernity” ( et al. res and the traditional norms of leisure and (…) a generative model of transfor activity within private courtyards, which Alexander The Soviet park is a park for masses and issue outlined in their introduction, this were regulated by the hierarchy of kins- 2007, p. 3). As the editors of this special it is the place to promote the cultu- instrumental understanding of the city is hip and gender segregation. ral-educational work; its visitors are characteristic of Soviet urbanism, and outlined the meaning of the Soviet urban Humphrey workers of very different nationalities.1 found its expression in the realms of ur- courtyard (dvor ban design, infrastructure and architec- urban ideology of Russia’s residential ) and of greening for the In the past, the city had a soul; today it ture. Another integral part of Soviet city areas, where inhabitants were expected has become beautiful and shiny, in a planning as a tool for effective governan- to cultivate a sense of collective well- somehow unfamiliar and scary way. ce was urban green and garden art, who- being in a micro-climate by spending se mission was to reinforce the dominan- hours doing voluntary work, such as ce of ideology and to frame a view of an planting trees, gardening and watering (Pаньше у города была душа, сейчас 2 - ( только лоск и красота не понятная, а Vyacheslav Sapunov 2011 vements. Adapting Howard’s Garden City urban courtyard in Soviet cities was где-то даже пугающая …) official building glorifying socialist achie Humphrey 2005, p. 52). However, the principles, the fundamental idea of Soci- planned for recreation and communal Introduction alist Realism included not only4 building services as a protected inner area, cont- Commemorating the centenary of the microrayan5 as the socialist neighbour- rasted with the outer zone of streets and Baku Promenade, the newspaper Bakin- hood unite, Palaces of Culture ( - squares. As in the West ( skiy Rabochiy - 1999; and the Soviet state had been engaged in de- Siegel Berman 1988), cally wrote on August 14th 2009 about a the House of Pioneers ( - veloping mass leisure culture and one can (Baku Worker) enthusiasti baum Donahoe Habeck 2011), modernization and re-development pro- blic sites of human engineering, but also observe a spectacular growth of open air Reid 2002) as pu ject, initiated and funded by the state au- environmental planning. Indeed, in the leisure activities also in traditional Mos- thorities: “New modernized hotels and a studies of socialist modernity, little atten- lem societies. Similar to Gorky Central business centre are already under const- tion has been given to the meaning of Park of Culture and Leisure in , ruction on Baku Promenade. The most green elements of public buildings, parks parks in the Caucasus and Central Asia positive news is that all industrial struc- and green stripes in the city as equally should provide a new space for Soviet tures located within the construction grandiloquent symbols of socialist urba- ‘spiritual values’ and the new understan- area will be removed. This will improve nism. Construction of green spaces for ding of nature, a healthy environment for the ecological situation and the environ- public use occurred on both sides of the the leisure of the working masses. ment in our Baku Bay”3. world. Like Nazi Germany`s Kraft durch Exploring the changing materiality of In this paper, I provide some insights Freude folk campaigns, the mission of the public space and the redesigning of urban into Baku’s experiences in the recent ‘mo- Park of Culture was to emancipate, civili- green landscape in Azerbaijan, in the fol- dernisation’ of urban public space by loo- ze and nationalize workers’ free time and lowing pages I discuss how Baku Prome- king at the method of modernization em- leisure by promoting the active use of pu- nade has been designed by city planners ployed to realize the visions of a public blic spaces, hygienic habits, fresh air and and how it has been perceived and used green park. Particular attention will be access to nature. But unlike European by ordinary people. It will be suggested paid to the role of trees as tool of orde- and US American experiences, modern that visitors’ memories of the urban park ring and as an arena of ideology ( socialist leisure and recreation was cen- in the late Soviet era still contribute to 2000, 2005; and tralized and organized outside the realm the conceptual world of post-socialist Ba- Low one hand, and to the meaning of social of commerce and private clubs. Open air kuvians. Focusing on the transformation Jones Cloke 2005) on life of green architecture in the process space was considered to be a place for re- - of creating a public space in Azerbaijan, gulating Soviet-type ‘cultured leisure’6, an terfront promenade, I locate this artefact of one specific public green space, a wa on the other hand. One of the characteri- important aspect of Soviet life with its ae- in the larger context of the Caucasus’s stic features of modernity and modernist sthetic vision of a progressive society. history of urban modernity, and make lin- practices has been the idea of the city as Cultured leisure activities in the Soviet processes in port cities globally. Based on kages to contemporary gentrification 1 See in USSR’s Park Architecture 1940, p. 3. 4 Compare with Shaw 1979, Zuzanek 1980, Petzold ethnographic research, an analysis of in- 1988, Kucher 2007. 2 Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mCjjfc- formal interviews with visitors, archival 3SYk&feature=related. 5 See more on microrayon in French 1979, Smith 1996. 3 See in Dzhevanshir 2009. 6 Compare Hoffmann 2003. documents and literature, the paper

66 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

attempts to illuminate what kind of valu- Promenade, packaged in marble and gra- the central city landmark of Baku and has es Bakuvians express towards the formal nite, lined with exotic palm and cactus been the subject of and portrayed in nu- trees, has been turned into a sanitized merous guidebooks, novels, tourist pic- renewal of the embankment and its new commodity decorated with global sym- tures and advertising postcards. It can be beautification design, the recent physical spirit. Similar to Seta - bols of modernity and designed for local easily reached by means of public trans- lysis of Parque Central in San Jose and and international elites. portation (metro station Sahil - Low’s (2000) ana relying on te car and by foot from different corners ), by priva Locating Baku Promenade of the city. Constructed and designed on De Certeau’s (1984) idea of strategies for ordering the city, I argue Baku Promenade is a waterfront space - everyday practice in response to official with green public areas, referred to in nade claims to represent the modernist artificial soil, the waterfront Baku Prome quotidian accounts simply as the Bulvar city close to nature. that the official redevelopment of Baku only from the materiality of its Soviet era (Fig. 1). Built between the 1880s and It was the Soviet master plan of 1937 Promenade has purified the space not asphalt, but also from its egalitarian so- 1909, it occupies a large part of the Cas- ciality and tactics of intimacy of the late structure by centralizing the core of the that significantly reshaped Baku’s city Soviet era. In referenceto the globalizing the natural amphitheatre of Baku Bay. city around the waterfront of Baku Bay pian seashore (3.5 km) and is a part of processes in cities, outlined by The stripe between Azneft Square and and the House of Government. The urban as ‘social and cultural evacuation of spa- Baku Harbour is one of the largest urban - Herzfeld open public spaces in Transcaucasia. It is tion’ of main roads and boundaries be- green landscape was designed as a ‘fixa ce’ (2005), I shall suggest that the Baku Baku’s city plan including the Baku Promenade

0 100 200 300 400 m

Source: Azerbaijan International. Azercom

Fig. 1: Baku’s city plan including the Baku Promenade

67 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

tween different zones: residential, indus- revitalization programme planned for In 1999 Baku Promenade was included trial and cultural zones. In line with the 2009-2015 aims to turn the green pro- on the list of strategic places for city re- concept of the Soviet institutions Azer- menade into a showpiece of post-mo- development, signed by the ‘Father’ of the baijan’s leisure and holiday resorts, pub- dern Caspian urbanity of the Dubai type, independent Azerbaijani nation, Presi- lic parks and outdoor leisure centres controlled by the state authorities, new dent Heydar Aliev, and in the state’s have been employed to realise the visions elite groups and international compa- coastal zone management plan. Bulvar of socialist transformation and the mak- nies. According to the ambitious plan, the Pri- ing of a new man. Accordingly, since the proposed redevelopment of the 3.5 km morsky Park received a new status and name − early 20th century, an increased diversi- stripe of Baku Promenade includes the - (National Seaside Park). As ty of green spaces such as recreational idea of expanding the length of the Pro- verned directly by the Cabinet of Minis- a state-financed property, today it is go public parks (Park Kultury - - tries and not by the municipal administ- dens, sports areas, playing grounds in res, of removing the harbour and other ration. At the same time, this change was ), botanic gar menade by another twenty five kilomet residential courtyards and green stripes industrialized zones completely. The of- part of Baku’s mayor Hajibala Abutali- between streets has characterized urban - bov’s ‘purifying project’, initiated in 2001, planning and everyday urban life in the menade more attractive to tourists and whose bulldozer campaign cleared the ficial efforts to make the waterfront Pro oil city of Baku. Though, some larger international investors involves an acti- city centre of kiosks and the dwellings of projects were never realized, the city’s ve attempt to ‘purify’ the place from its poor refugees and migrants was carried - Soviet past and materiality, from local out under the slogan of returning Baku to ly during the socialist period of gover- migrants and the poor appropriated the the way it appeared in the 1970s and greenscape nonetheless grew significant nance. Since the collapse of the Soviet Bulvar in the late 1990s, and to create a 1980s. state, some of the territory belonging to new global image of Baku as ‘Dubai on Costly renovation activities started in parks and green sites in Baku has been the ’. 2007, however, the ambitious plan to ex- - pand Baku Promenade to the Zykh regi- peared due to the process of post-social- decreased in size, modified, or has disap ist privatization and the spectacular con- struction boom ( 2010; - Burger Valiev tion of approximately three million, is a 2009). Post-Soviet Baku, with a popula vibrant urban centre in Transcaucasia mostly due to the second oil boom7 that started in the region after the signing of the ‘contract of the century’ by the for- mer Azerbaijan president Heydar Aliev and major international oil companies in 1994. In line with the nation-state ideol- ogy, most of the parks have been re- named: Kirov Park to Şəhidlər Xiyabanı

Baku Commissars to Sahil Park. (Martyr’s Lane), the green stripe of 26 Once created as a ‘remarkable gift’ of the Russian colonial past and later enlar- ged and reconsidered as a modernized socialist space to demonstrate the achie- vements of Soviet ‘cultured leisure’, over the last decade the Baku Promenade fa- ced a new era of neo-liberal, state-sup- ported redevelopment. The waterfront

7 The current oil boom is called the ‘second’ in relation to the first oil boom at the end of the nineteenth century as the utility of oil reserves was identified for the economy. After the 1960s, the Soviet oil industry in Fig. 2: Baku’s waterfront project Azerbaijan did not invest much in oil industry development, since huge oil and gas reservoirs were Source: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=610923 discovered in Western Siberia. (last access on August 11th, 2015)

68 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

with trees associated with urban life. But today’s positioning of the trees, their form and the ways in which they ‘work’ are different to the past. The trees should demonstrate not only Baku’s new green materiality; they are also a symbolic mar- ker of Azerbaijan’s new connectedness to the global urbanism. In the summer of

trees and numerous exotic trees from 2009, more than fifty Washington palm South Africa, the Netherlands, the Canary Islands, Mallorca, and Saudi Arabia were imported to Baku and planted at great ex- pense in the soil of Baku Promenade. Ho- wever, the promotion of the new global green does not provide enough shelter or shade during the hot Baku summers. The second step has been to enhance the area through the construction of modern pu- blic toilets and the addition of large num- Fig. 3: New green design at the Promenade, April 2011(Tsypylma Darieva) bers of designed rubbish bins – accompa- on was not innovative one. It should have as a new ‘civilized’ environment for glo- nied by the deployment of numerous cle- been mentioned that the idea goes back bal business and neo-liberal capital, with aning personnel with modern technology to the 1989 Soviet master plan for Bul- wellness centres and parking lots. Rebuil- for cleaning and cutting grass. Another var’s reconstruction. In the 1980s, archi- ding the ceremonial and multifunctional tectural competitions were held locally place attractive to international business green landscape was the erection of lar- practice of the reconfiguration of the and throughout the Union to generate de- people and tourists from the West, it is ge ornamental stone gardens with a vari- signs and norms for the waterfront re- here that people are expected to under- ety of exotic cactus plants. Spaces around construction, however the plans have not stand what the new Azerbaijan and mo- restaurants and cafes entrances are often been realized. According to the master dern Baku represent. Though water and - - water viewing is a important element in diterranean thuja bushes and East Asian marked and beautified by evergreen Me nade was designed to link the western the image-making of Baku, however the bamboo plants. The processes by which plan (1989-2005) a gigantic green espla corner of Sabail with the eastern part of city does not present itself explicitly as a trees become culturally and politically Akhmedly microrayon ( 1996, port city. The built environment­ and the atmosphere of the Bulvar are intended to - on understanding how the place and Gassanova meaningful have significant implications Nowadays, the Primorsky Park project landscapes are imagined – in this case the p. 176). is as grandiose as the newly constructed nation-state9. Rather than providing a ‘Dubai on the Caspian Sea’. Having a pre- reflect the secular presence of a strong embankment of the Ishim River in space for leisure and recreation, their dominantly decorative function and per- 8 The central mission is once again about pro- forming special ‘legal’ statuses, these renovation activities are visible not only pagating national ideology and re-educa- sorts of plants and trees (palm trees or post-socialist Astana (Kazakhstan). ting the local population. also in a new materiality of national sta- new geo-political positioning. In this way in new facilities, edifices, and design, but cactus) represent the state’s desire for a bility. This visual manifestation of as ‘central’ to the state’s redevelopment the trees serve as decoration in a ‘neo-tri- The first step to mark the Promenade post-socialist stability can be seen in the plans was to replant the promenade with umphal’ aesthetic sense, and at the same use of costly materials like granite stone, costly imported trees and numerous de- time they symbolize the instrument of or- cobblestone paving, and stone polished corative plants. This action is similar to dering and the way political power is sha- tiles instead of the cheap asphalt and the activities undertaken during the tsa- ping the Promenade. According to popu- grass of Soviet times. The park is delibe- rist period in 1909 and during the socia- lar narratives circulated in Baku, the rately designed not only as a place for or- list period to construct the seashore park trees planted on the Promenade and at derly strolling of the working masses, but other sites were chosen because the cur- 9 In 2001, a new mosque was erected on the site where rent Baku mayor prefers global palm Sergei Kirov’s monument was toppled in 1994. However, the image of Sunni mosques, built in a trees to traditional native species, such as 8 See more on Astana development in Buchli 2004, recognizable Turkish style, is not included in the Bissenova 2014, Laszczkowski 2014. cultural repertoire of Baku’s official city landmarks. plane trees (chinar -

). The final step to per 69 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

form national agenda on the territory of the park was the act of ‘planting’ a gigan-

This development forms the backdrop tic flag on a pole 162 m high. for an epochal shift in the usage of the waterfront, namely, the creation of priva- te residential properties in the former state park and on harbour territory. The monumental names of the buildings, such as Port Baku Towers or , ex- plicitly promote Azerbaijan’s brand as the modernist ‘Land of Fire’10and Baku’s wa- both to its proximity to the city centre terfront as the ‘finest’ of addresses due and its prized panoramic view over the water. Unlike Western capitalist cities, where the suburbs are the preferred spa- ce for creating gated communities for up- Fig. 4: Baku Promenade as a medieval castle, painted by Gmelin per-class and middle-class residents, the Source: Bretanitsky 1970, p. 13 central part of large post-socialist cities is still attractive to the residents. Among In the middle of the nineteenth century, back to the medieval garden culture the new elite, it is considered to be a after being separated from the Safavid known throughout the Middle East and prestigious place to build residences des- Persia, Baku was associated with a pro- the Caucasus and associated with small pite the deteriorated ecological situation vincial town on the margins of the Russi- in the central parts of cities. Developers an Empire, uezdnyi gorod Shemakhinskoi (bag, yashil, gül parks with flowers and fruit gardens of elite waterfront residences seek to cre- gubernii.12 Till the 1880s, Baku’s built en- Baku were planted mostly for private ). Green gardens in old ate a new image of the former industrial vironment had an urban structure typical purposes. Some trees were planted to areas and the state park by segregating of Moslem cities, including the architec- surround public places such as mosques the location from the rest of city’s histo- tural dominance of the Shirvan-Shah Pa- and markets13, with the main utilitarian ry, life and its infrastructure, offering a lace complex, and the at aim being to provide shadow in the hot new type of ‘gated’ residence with little Baku Bay inside the walled inner city, city and protection from the strong Cas- Icheri Sheher. Surrounded by mosque pian winds. Usually it was chinar tree complexes, bathhouses, caravan sarays, or no contact with other public spaces − these new properties in Baku. crooked streets, small markets and the in organizing the green spaces in the as reflected in the language advertising (plane tree) which played the central role Port Baku is an exciting new destinati- traditional neighbourhood unit called South Caucasian towns. Another com- on that is set to become the capital’s most mahala, the Palace was protected from monly found form of green areas were prestigious address. The development the waterfront and the outside world by will include luxury residential apart- gardens or fruit orchards, with a highly gardens traditionally designed as flower ments and penthouses, retail and restau- Regarding spatiality, traditional Mos- decorative function and used as an inti- a thick double wall (Fig. 4). rant facilities, on-site leisure amenities lem urban spaces were characterized not mate private space, not accessible or vi- and state of the art, iconic headquarters - sible from the outside ( , 11. ween private and public spaces, but also only by the lack of a fixed division bet Gassanova 1996 by the centrality of an inner courtyard orchards covered an area of 166.5 ha, and office space p. 48). Till the 1870s, Baku’s gardens and Historical and Social Contexts with different degrees of accessibility, the when the territories of Icheri Sheher" throughout the Twentieth spatial segregation of men and women, Century and quarters that could be closed off and 14. (23 ha) and Vorstadt (89.3 ha, outside of Prior to the end of the 19th century, there locked for the night ( 1988, p. At the end of the 19th century, Baku ap- Icheri Sheher) are taken together were no public green parks in Baku ( - 56; - guberns- Mitchell 1991, p. 127; cept of urban greenery in Azerbaijan goes Gas Gilsenan 2000). The traditional con peared in official documents as sanova Fatullaev 1987). 12 ‘Uezdnyi gorod Shemakhinskoi gubernii’ is the 13 Usually four trees were planted on one spot historical definition of this city and means a ‘town in (Salamzade 1964; Gassanova 1996). 10 See Schindlbeck 2008. Shemakha province’. The Russian term uyezd 14 Vorstadt was the term used in Baku to define the 11 See in: http://www.portbaku.az/towers/location/ (last (district) was used for the administrative division in the residence and trade quarters built in the 19th century accessed on September 13th 2014). . See Fatullaev 1978. outside of Icheri Sheher. See in Fatullaev 1978, 1998.

70 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

Fig. 5: The Baku waterfront at the end of the 19th century Source: Fotofond of the Museum for Azerbaijan’s History, papka Sahil, Nr. 4314, Baku kiy gorod - trial centre of the Russian Empire. This (regional city), a colonial indus change occurred as a result of the first oil of Baku into the international oil eco- boom (1850 and 1920) and the inclusion nomy, when urban spaces in Baku were were removed for industrial and trans- significantly transformed. Many gardens portation purposes. The city suffered from a shortage of water. The colonial go- vernment introduced a new order of openness reinforced by the construction of wide, straight streets, plazas and edi- - rounded by the local architecture of cara- fices built in the European style and sur van sarai, shops, naftilnye fabriki (small factories manufacturing oil products for Fig. 6: The western part of the waterfront Source: Iljine 2013, p.12 The modern spirit of the European sty- local households). le was considered to be radically different strip was used predominantly for econo- was mainly used for economic and mili- to the traditional Moslem spatial organi- tary purposes by the Russian colonial ad- zation of a city15, as open squares, quays, - ministration and industrial companies: mic purposes − as a space for ware­ promenades and larger parks with pub- dustrial piers made up the waterfront shipping, oil transportation, laundry was- houses, stocks, and piers. Forty five in lic management were rarely a primary concern in traditional Moslem urban sett- oil companies were Kavkazi Merkuryi, Le- - stripe, among them the most influential hing (Fig. 5, Fig. 6). lements. In order to cope with the de- bed, Kaspiy ( - on plan for the Promenade in 1909 (ar- With the launch of the first constructi mands of the rapid oil-boom driven urba- ter on, the waterfront strip was enlarged Fatullaev 1998, p. 52). La nization processes, the thick medieval in order to make space for an improved seashore began to turn ever more into an chitect Nicholas von der Nonne), the castle walls of Icheri Sheher were pulled transportation system. Through the phy- aesthetic object.16 Further parts of the down to make space for a harbour and sical extension of the seashore area, the - transportation. The narrow waterfront traditional residential mahalawas ‘mo- ved, the harbour was cleared of ware­ (Icheri Sheher) walls were remo ved’ further into the city, so that the ne-

15 See Janet Abu-Lughod 1978. 16 See Fatullaev 1978.

wly created artificial waterfront territory 71 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

one hand, traditional, narrow, Moslem, private, irrational; on the other, modern, linear and open, European, public, ratio- nal. An important step in the modernizati- on of the new space and the institutiona- lization of the park was the planting of trees as a mechanism for social ordering and landscaping. Particular species of tree were introduced, those trees with urban associations – horse-chestnut, weeping willow, elms, pines, a local spe- cies of plane tree and olive tree. Public trees and the park were seen to be for therapeutic purposes and not only as pu- rely decorative and for the production of fruits typical to the Caucasus. After the th Fig. 7: The Governer’s Garden at the beginning of the 20 century socialist revolution, Baku, being a highly Source: Iljine, p. 73 houses, docks, and other structures, and strolling until 1920 and it was not a spa- number of multi-ethnic working-class industrialized oil city with a significant the city turned to face the Caspian Sea ce for socializing for the common wor- people, gained new status as the ‘outpost with a wide strip of open boulevard. This kers and the urban poor. The emergence of socialism in the Orient’.18 Associated shaped Baku’s urban landscape accor- of Baku Promenade as a place with pub- with the spread of modernity, European ding to European sensibilities and high- lic access to the water for leisure and enlightenment, and human progress 19, lighted the seascape’s aesthetic value. recreation can be traced back to 1921. the arrival of socialism in the urban It is an interesting point that urban life Thus, from its beginning to today, the Caucasus resulted in the adaptation of in pre-industrial Baku was clearly sepa- Baku Promenade’s history can be divided Howard’s ideal of Garden City and the de- rated from the Caspian waters and the into four different periods of moderniza- velopment of the ‘proletarian wellness’ maritime landscape. The thick walls of tion: industry, the systematic production of the medieval castle protected the city po- 1. from medieval oriental castle wall to green spaces for cultured leisure within pulation not only from outsiders, but also city boundaries.20According to the socia- from the strong Caspian wind (khazri 2. from industrial space to recreational industrial space (1870-1909); contrast, the Baku Bay area was redesi- site with restricted access (1909- in Baku was to develop the seashore as a ). In list ideals, the specific ideological point gned to create a modern public ‘meeting place of collective relaxation not just for place’: , with its open ac- 3. from a capitalist to a socialist place of entertainment, aesthetics and simple joy, 1920); cess to seashore views, which should sha- but rather for health, hygiene and civili- pe an urban vision and the European con- 4. from a socialist egalitarian to a neoli- zing all social groups in the collective cultured leisure (1920-1991); ceptions of urban aesthetics and hygiene. beral showpiece of national heritage body of the ‘backward’ nation, including Gubernatorsky the Azeri indigenous population. Sad The grand transformation of the city The first green parks − (1999-2015). Nobel’s , Mariinsky Sad and The landscape, its use, the social context, from colonial to socialist involved both (Governor’s Garden), the Garden at Tsitsianovsky Sad − were designed in the and the meanings of the waterfront as a change and continuity in the way public 1880-90s as sites for an aristocratic way public space have differed during each places were redesigned and used. By ex- of life, diplomatic occasions and distingu- ished visitors17. Later on, in 1909, room interests of the urban managers and their period in ways that reflect the different aberowski wietochowski asimov was made to allow the use of the water- 18 See B 2003, S 1995, G 2011. front and the water as a place for leisure 19 Compare with Hirsch 2005, Grant 2010, Alexander et plans for the purification of the space. activities, with restricted access. - al. 2007. Though this story of purification pertains 20 This development model for urban parks is relevant to The seafront strip called Nikolaevskaya vides a good example of the way in which larger and smaller cities in the former like to one specific public place, this case pro Moscow and the neighboring Yerevan, the capital city naberezhnaya did not become a place for the locally built environment shaped a of Armenia. However, whereas Yerevan was constructed as a Gesamtkunstwerk of the socialist era, the Soviet urban planning in Baku and Tbilisi creating spatially-separated and, at the incorporated the previously existing urban structure. 17 About the development of ‚aristocratic‘ and formal new profile of the post-colonial city by Compare with Ter-Minassian 2007, Assche 2009, gardens in Europe see, for example, in Mukerji 1994. same time, interweaving worlds: on the Botyakov and Kapustina 2013, Kalyukin et al. 2015.

72 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

locus of political propaganda and techno- logical modernism.21 It was far beyond the idea of western parks made only for holidays, pleasure, play and fun for those who had time and means. Consequently, the built environment around Baku Pro- menade was framed by monumental so- cialist architecture in the form of Stalinist palaces such as the Lenin Museum22 and the Government House23 as well as the gi- 24 Nagorny Plato in 1939. Government buil- gantic figure of Kirov (Fig. 8), erected at dings and the monument were supposed to achieve a ‘commanding presence’ ( - lar design would triumph over the mes- Herzfeld 2005) and in which spectacu siness of mahala and the dominant Mai- Fig. 8: Sergei Kirov’ s monument at Nagorny Park in Baku in the 1980s den Tower. The Promenade was a visible Source: Renz 1985, p. 53 sign of the political regime of Transcauca- sia and was regularly used for the de- monstration of political power in the form of spectacular celebrations on Sovi- et holidays, namely May Day on May 1st and Victory Day on May 9th Until the 1960s, Baku Promenade was (Fig. 9). dominated by the display of Soviet mili- tary advances and the ideology of raising the new Soviet man through the const- ruction of sports centres and ‘cultured’ places, whose task was to develop heroic socialist spirit, European sensibilities of progress, and to cure the Soviet Azerbai- jan men and women with fresh sea air. From the 1930s to the 1960s, a major at- traction of the waterfront promenade was the modernist structure of a public Fig. 9: Celebrating the May 1 in the 1960s and professional parachute jumping site. Source: Soviet Azerbaijan 1958 tending the openness and accessibility of al past continued under the Soviet rule. 21 See Hoffmann 2003. On the spatial and architectural dimension of ‘cultured leisure’ also see Siegelbaum Baku Promenade, this public space acqui- 1999. red a new meaning that differed from culture prescribed behavioural norms ba- 22 The museum edifice is built in a typical monumental Whereas the official principles of Soviet Stalin Empire style with references to antique Greek that of the past. Initially restricted to the sed on order, cleanness and sobriety, the temple architecture; G. Medzhidov was the architect of city’s elite, the Baku Promenade became straight open green pathways, asphalt the Lenin Museum. 23 The , a gigantic triumphal a space for the masses. Instead of being - complex, was erected in 1952 by the Moscow the backdrop to the minarets of Icheri viet symbols were assumed to discipline architects Lev Rudnev and Viktor Munts according to and representative flowerbeds with So the ideology of ‘national in form and socialist in Sheher and the money of oil magnates in the ‘uncoordinated’ activities of the mas- content’. the Outer City, the natural amphitheatre ses. 24 Sergey Kirov (Sergey Kostrikov) 1886-1934, Russian Communist whose assassination marked the of Baku Bay was to function as the stage The planning of the public green space beginning of the Great Purge in the Soviet Union (1934-38).Kirov worked in Transcaucasia, in 1921 he for socialist state scenery, which promo- was considered to play a socially trans- was appointed as the first secretary of the Azerbaijan party organization and subsequently helped to ted an idealized egalitarian society for formative role by functioning as a bridge organize the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated the working class and peasants beyond to emancipation from the traditional gen- Socialist Republic (March 1922), which at the end of 1922 was incorporated into the U.S.S.R. Source: commerce and social inequality. Thus, der roles of Islamic society, to the upbrin- http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/319265/ Sergey-Mironovich-Kirov (last accessed on use of the ‘remarkable gift’ of the coloni- ging of a new Soviet generation, and as a September 13th 2014).

73 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

- body activities. Except for Nagorny Park, rachute station and the library were con- bling an oil tower was located in the none of these larger projects were reali- sidered to serve adults’ leisure, the chil- A ninety-five-metre high tower resem middle of the Promenade and was the zed because of the lack of proper irriga- dren’s zone included the State Puppet symbol of Azeri modernization within the tion systems and professional skills to Theatre, open air cinemas, a chess club, socialist Soviet nation. In the 1960s, after build such green grandeur in the amusement attractions, and a recreatio- a few accidents had occurred at the para- Southern city. Nagorny Park, located at nal place for young families called ‘Little chute tower, the site was stripped of its the south-eastern part of the Baku Bay Venice’. The shape of recreational spaces original purpose and turned into a purely waterfront, was designed and realized by - aesthetic site, often referred to by city the Moscow architect Lev Ilyin, who de- ralized ideology which experienced sig- in Baku was much influenced by a cent guides as ‘our Eifel Tower’. Today, Baku’s scribed the main function of socialist - Eifel Tower has been reduced to functio- green architecture in the national Soviet chev’s Thaw period. The new constructi- nificant transformation during Khrush ning as a public clock tower that shows republics as ‘socialist in context and na- on policy in the 1960 put into practice the local time, air temperature, and the tional in form’. From the point of view of Khrushchev’s abandonment of the Stali- speed of the Caspian wind. its functionality, it was supposed to be nist Empire’s ‘triumphal style’. Instead of Baku Promenade became a laboratory composed for the sake of civilizing the stone and marble, Soviet architects used for new forms of urban life with regard to human being’s senses and body in relati- new construction materials, such as con- socialist leisure and the Soviet urban on to local nature. crete blocks, and metal technology27. In ‘green’ policy25. The thirties were years in “The natural beauty of Baku’s am- contrast to the monumentality of tri- which the strategic greening of Baku and phitheatre landscape and the park itself umphal palaces designed as a means of the development of recreational areas led should be admired by visitors, but not propaganda, such as the Government just as an exotic and entertaining ele- House with its row of ‘blue pine trees’ size of green spaces, and in this way res- ment, but as a synthesis between local - to a significant increase (40 times) in the haped the surface and the dry, dusty air culture and nature characterized by the lours, the summer cinema and the Café combined with flowerbeds in national co of Baku. Along with Nagorny Park and the freshness of the Caspian Sea’s breeze and Pearl, erected in the 1960s by the Russi- Baku Promenade, smaller urban parks - an architects Shulgin and Nikonov, diffe- and green squares were laid out: Vladi- wers” ( red from the former in their lightness, ac- by the smell of beautiful southern flo mir Ilyich garden, the 26 Baku Commis- Incorporation of and emphasis on the cessibility, and visible ‘people-oriented- Gassanova 1996, p. 138). sars Square, Karl Marx Park, Nizami Park, value of local nature in combination with ness.’ The transparent walls, large Sabir and Vurgun green squares. As - the sea view was in the fore of Baku’s windows, light frame structure, nume- noted in her study on gardens park composition. These concepts led to rous ‘democratic’ entrances, and the pro- Gas the implementation of green terraces and sanova the early plans drawn up by the Baku parterres mixed with rows of large deci- enabled these places and their clients to and parks in Azerbaijan (1996, p. 136) ximity to nature (green areas and water) Commission of the Azerbaijan Commu- duous trees, all different in their sizes easily interact with their surroundings. nist Party (August 16th and green colour tones. The local stone In the 2000s, the chess club and the ‘Litt- and marble was used for the constructi- le Venice’ amusement attractions were 1931) envisaged on of raised terraces and viewing points removed or replaced by new structures; five new recreational parks on a large the Caspian shore on the Patamdam hills at Nagorny Park. Similar to Nagorny Park, however the Café Pearl has retained its scale: Zykh Park (300 ha), Shykh park on - two long terraces at Baku Promenade original form and seems to be successful were planted with endemic and exotic as a tourist attraction. (150 ha), Nagorny Park (150 ha), Dzerz - evergreen and deciduous trees such as: hinsky Park (106 ha), and Lenin Park on tern designs for recreational parks inten- karagach, plane tree, pine tree, cypress, “It was a warm city …”: Remembe- Stepan Razin hill (180 ha). Unlike wes ded for enjoyment, with swimming bea- Chinese sofora, weeping willow and palm ring Bulvar as a Location ches, parking lots and golf courses (see trees Washingtonia. Between September and December 2009, The Soviet park management policy - supposed to call for walking, sport and found its expression in the division of the ding the collection of a set of informal in- Low et al. 2005), the new parks were I conducted my field work in Baku inclu park terrain into two main zones: child- terviews with visitors to Baku Promena- ren’s and adults’ recreational zones. Whe- de. Sevil Guseynova, a local sociologist 25 In the 1930s and later on, classification of green squares and lanes was proposed by the Central reas paths for strolling, restaurants, cafes, and a PhD student at Humboldt Univer- Committee of City Planning: 1) a green square in a 26 heart of a city with the main City Square, 2) a green traditional open-air chaihanes , the pa- sity , assisted me in this phase of zone in front of public buildings (city council, theatre, university, etc.), 3) a green zone inside residential collecting material. The aim of the obser- quarters, microrayon, 4) a green strip at the vations and conducting informal talks intersection of several streets, 5) a temporary green 26 Chaihane is the local term for a tea house, which square on the sites of destroyed buildings or areas usually serves tea, snacks and non-alcoholic beverag- temporarily free of buildings. See in Smolenska 2012, es. Such tea houses offer a space predominantly for p. 231. male visitors to the promenade. 27 Compare with Reid 2002.

74 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

with the visitors was not to provide a re- waterfront had attracted Bakuvians from - presentative survey of the park’s usage different districts to take a break from wer seeds, which are part of popular re, it is forbidden to crack roasted sunflo - noisy central Baku, to stroll, to view the everyday nutrition and the cracking of vide an insight into the local attitude to- sea and to partake in other informal acti- which is a social activity all over the after its beautification, but rather to pro wards the redevelopment processes. The vities. The smell of popcorn, roasted sun- Caucasus. The Soviet modernism of Baku park is an important element in under- standing the urbanity by function and by usually combined with the sound of the culture of maritime viewing and the ur- flower seeds and vanilla ice-cream was Promenade − a state park promoting a location. The majority of interviews were animated voices of street photographers, ban practice of strolling, without com- - offering to take cheap photographs of - selves as Bakintsy, ‘real Bakuvians’, long- passersby at the shore. In 2009, the ma- ced by the state’s coastal management conducted with visitors who define them merce and businesses − has been repla term residents and second generation jor attraction of the eastern part was a plan and real estate marketing design. city inhabitants whose parents were born long pier, about four hundred metres long Our study has revealed that, though in the city or moved to Baku from Russi- acknowledging the physical beauty and an or Ukrainian cities in the 1960-70s. I the sea. Before the restoration, it was the visible improvement of the surface of the and fifty metres wide, stretching out into am aware of the limitations of this me- pier and the eastern part of the Prome- promenade, long term residents of Baku thod and of its situative character; howe- nade which were most intensively used do not feel comfortable with and connec- ver in spite of methodological challenges for multiple activities and the routine ted to the new image of the Baku Prome- the data provide valuable insiders’ views ‘arts of doing’ ( - nade. The ‘scary beauty’ of the shiny and which help to get access to another di- ferent times of the day, at least a hundred clean stone coastal stripe seems to be left De Certeau 1984). At dif mension of the waterfront world and to and twenty people were standing, sitting, exclusively to the owners und producers its sociality. walking, listening to music, doing gymna- of this place: the state, new elites and fo- Bakintsy are considered to be the op- stics, sleeping, kissing, and taking photo- reign investors. Many local visitors ex- posite of the local rural migrants and graphs on the pier. Two years later, after pressed that they miss the cosy familiari- highly skilled international expats who my return to Azerbaijan in March 2011, ty and the sense of community tangible the Baku Promenade has been comple- - population. Among Bakintsy there is a tely renovated and cleaned. Instead of vi- ple doing mundane activities during the comprise a significant percentage of city when the Promenade was filled with peo strong sense of social boundaries, which tality and a diversity of visitors, there late Soviet period. Despite the centrality is expressed through a public display of were increased security measures and of socialist ceremonial uses and its role ‘urban manners’, a multi-ethnic backg- the park was dominated by cleaning wo- as a site to demonstrate ‘cultured leisure’, round, a higher level of education, and a men and civilian watchmen30. Although the Bulvar was simultaneously a place for - ordinary pastimes, informal activities and ge.28In October 2009, half of the prome- empty Baku Promenade, it was few local urban routines that built a sense of local fluent command of the Russian langua on a weekday one could expect to find an nade strip was packaged in white marble Bakuvians and tourists who visited the community. Shady trees and seaside ben- and granite, and newly planted Washing- park at particular times: early in the mor- ches offered denizens an open space to tonia palm trees marked the manifestati- ning and during the daytime. Many of the express individual relations and intimacy on of the solid materiality of state power visitors were those who lived in local beyond socialist obligations. Though sha- and Azerbaijan’s connectedness to global neighbourhoods, but also those who ped by the Soviet asceticism and a mo- urbanism. Though reconstruction works came to the Promenade by car. dest consumerist culture, due to it open- had started, the other part of Bulvar was The visitors complained about new re- ness it was a public realm characterized still a popular and important site for gularities and having a strong feeling of by a diversity of visitors and vivid inter- recreation for many old and new Bakuvi- being under surveillance, as was noted by action between different social groups. ans, including people of different genera- one of the visitors in October 2009: “You On November 27th tions and social backgrounds: pensioners, are not walking in a public park but in a male visitor with two children remembe- 2009, a fifty year-old families with children, recent migrants state-controlled area like a military com- from rural areas, students, business peo- pound.” Dogs were and are strictly prohi- the renovation: “No doubt, they have be- red his specific feeling of leisure before ple and tourists.29 Not only in the sum- bited on the entire strip of Baku Prome- mertime, but also in other seasons, the nade, as is the riding of bicycles, inclu- park became surprisingly clean and you autified the Promenade properly. The ding bicycles for kids during the daytime 28 See more on this issue in Darieva (2011), Grant after nine in the morning. Filming is not (2014). can find rubbish bins everywhere. But, allowed without permission. Furthermo- 29 However, in the eyes of long-term Russian-speaking something unfamiliar is occurring here … Bakuvian residents, the image of Bulvar was strongly feeling anymore. Perhaps this place can associated with the presence of rural migrants and I do not know … There is no ‘the Bulvar’ bad manners of those who were ‘unprepared’ for be compared with Istanbul’s waterfront, urban life. I discussed this issue in my previous 30 For these purposes, sixty men were recruited as the publications. See Darieva 2011, 2013. Promenade policemen by the Ministry of Sport. but it is a different atmosphere. The same

75 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

- ving picnics, and have you seen the out- yachts, but no fishermen and people ha wearing high-heeled shoes! You know, I fits of our girls? They go out to the Bulvar grew up close to this place and my grand- parents always took me to the Promena- de. We met many kids here and it was ne- ver boring for us. We used to go the open- air cinemas and the Children’s Theatre. Different boys from different areas gathe- red at the Bulvar and sometimes we had our local battles, in particular with boys from Bailovo, the working class hooli- Fig. 10: Bulvar in the 1980s gans. I have to say that people had a dif- Source: Fotofond of the Museum for Azerbaijan’s History, papka Sahil, Nr. 6862 ferent understanding of leisure in Baku and it was somehow differently organi- bench, they were just enjoying the park had one rouble in his pocket. We felt that zed. Usually we visited the park with a and being together and holding hands. we were rich. It was so popular to play group of friends or with family members. Perhaps my son kissed his girlfriend. billiards in those times! I also remember In the summertime it was a special joy to Suddenly a policeman approached them how I caught a serious cold. It was the buy ice cream, and in the winter to order - winter time, and the doctor recommen- a grilled chicken tabaka at café Sahil, or our’ in a public space. Can you imagine, ded that I eat one fresh egg yolk with a and fined them for their ‘amoral behavi my son and his future wife were forced to piece of butter and go out to breathe in a good mood, and it was quiet. Today, go to the police station and stay there un- fresh air at the Bulvar each morning. So, just sitting on the bench … everyone was til we parents were able to rescue them every morning I got up at six o’clock, ate Often, interviewees indicated that the by paying 100 US $. You know, later on, I this egg yolk and went out to Bulvar to- it is different …” Promenade was associated with space for heard that it was the way in which the gether with my father and our dog. It was personal freedom, holiday and relaxation policemen earned their pocket money at a really beautiful time. There were twen- and family norms. The sense of commu- Local senior citizens and their grand- with their dogs at our traditional spot. beyond the control of official institutions the Bulvar …” (Fig. 10). ty or twenty-five people who gathered nity and the tactics employed to create children comprised a distinct and import- The dogs brought us human beings to- personal space took place under the sha- ant group of visitors during the late Sovi- gether, and we knew each other personal- de of large sycamore and olive trees. On et period. According to a 38 year-old ly. There was one guy, an Armenian, who December 7th,2009, a 55 year-old female male visitor, senior citizens, children and went jogging every morning with his visitor emphasized the free character of dogs had daily contact with the Bulvar. huge aging bulldog Kio, who ran behind the park, which tolerated informal and The interviewee believed that the park him. All those dogs played with each private forms of leisure and mundane en- was a peaceful place for different social other, and we owners chatted and shared joyment: “Bulvar was always a special groups. Soviet modernism within Baku’s news and gossip. It was a warm atmo- place for me: Sometimes we children, in- green public space resembled the every- stead of going to school (No 134 at day urban culture of other European so- dogs anymore. Do not know where all sphere in the city … Today you don’t see cieties in the twentieth century in the these dogs are gone ... There is too much Bulvar, bought ice-cream and sat on the control. It reminds me of Tsarist times, I Baksovet)during the day, escaped to the bench. Moreover, at our school we had a among neighbours and ordinary people, read somewhere that there was only one way in which it identified commonality special tradition of continuing to celebra- who were drawn into semi-interpersonal entrance to the park and a guard (gorod- te our graduating party at the Promena- networks: “When I was a schoolboy, I nichiy de and we danced till the sun rose. used to spend my whole free time here at people inside. If he did not like somebo- ) watched the entrance gate and let There was a visitors’ boat at the shore. the Boulevard. There were many senior dy, this person was denied entry into the Today, no one would let their children ce- citizens playing domino, chess and nar- park. Today, I have a similar feeling, as if lebrate a party at Bulvar. Nobody would dy.31 It was a quiet, safe and peaceful pla- somebody is always observing me. In So- want to, instead we face watchmen ever- viet times, nobody cared about your be- ywhere. My son recently had a problem came here to play billiards and each of us haviour at Bulvar, and all visitors were ce. After lessons, five or six of us pupils with them. He was going to be married, somehow peaceful. It was an urban cul- and of course he regularly met his future 31 Nardy is a local term for backgammon game, a board ture.” game for two persons popular in the Caucasus, wife on dates. One day, sitting on the Middle East and Turkey.

76 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

The memories of the late Soviet era and fronts and, as is taking place in US and Literature - European port cities which undergo a sy about the new technological and ideo- post-industrial transition, transforming localized reflections expressed by Bakint Abu-Lughod, J. (1987): The Islamic City logical production of the space indicate working class areas to recreational areas Contemporary Relevance. In: Interna- − Historic Myth, Islamic Essence, and with middle class residences and upsca- tional Journal of Middle East Studies practices have challenged long-term re- le users: hygienic and spacious with the 19, issue 2, pp. 155-176. silent objection. Shiny purification sidents of Baku, who perceive the place emphasis on more light and fresh air for as an object of admiration, yet one which residential purposes32. Whereas in the and City Planning in Tbilisi. Where Eu- Assche, van K. et al. (2009): City Culture actually reminds them of a panopticon. - rope and Asia Meet. Lewinston. The Promenade has vanished as a locati- ge occurred due to the shift from indust- and western harbour cities a significant chan on and as a site for ‘cultured’ and infor- ry-dominated towards tertiary-sector ur- Alexander, C. V. Buchli (eds.) mal activities: instead it has been used as ban economies, Baku Promenade and Asia, London. (2006): The Urban Life in post-Soviet a stage for the major strategic re-making Baku harbour were redesigned as a result of the image of a new Baku, the Dubai on of a top-down decision with the purpose überall: Stalinismus im Kaukasus. Baberowski, J. (2003): Der Feind ist the Caspian shore. of creating a spectacular centrepiece of München. national identity on the world scale. As Conclusion highlighted by Bruce Melts into Air: The Experience of Mo- Berman, M. (1988): All That is Solid This description and an analysis of one ‘hyperbuilding architecture’ becomes dernity. New York. Grant (2014), a - that the socialist and post-socialist mo- on of the Bulvar is part of the aesthetici- the Garden City: Tracing Howard’s specific urban public space have shown another opiate of the masses. Purificati Birch, E. (2002): Five Generations of dernisation of Baku Promenade can be zation process, those visible and materi- Legacy in Twentieth Century Resi- perceived as a spectacular history of pu- al strategies to exorcise the past which dential Planning. In: Parons, K. and D. render urban green spaces as technolo- gies of urban governance and social City to Green City. The Legacy of rification. The collapse of Soviet socialism Schuyler (eds.) (2002): From Garden to create a show-piece of monumental exclusion. However, this process is not Ebenezer Howard. Baltimore, pp. reflected the changing strategies of how culture at the Caspian Sea. Apparently, unique to Baku. Global trends in the Ba- 171-200. the visible exterior, the application of kuvian green aesthetics indicate the post-modernist solid materials, the mar- decay of the legacy of socialist Garden Astana: Between the ‘Art of Govern- Bissenova, A. (2014): The Master Plan of king of the social order through the pre- City planning in the South Caucasus, and ment’ and the ‘Art of being Global’. In: sence of watchmen, the cleaning services, a promotion of state sanctioned new con- the exotic trees, and a new accent on glo- tent and forms leading to a loss of former State in Central Asia: Performing Poli- Reeves, M. (ed.): Ethnographies of the balized urban architecture allow the au- egalitarian access. Broken by an insecure tics. Bloomington, pp. 127-148. thorities and developers to produce a period of the 1990s ( . and new cultural means of power and cont- the previous sociality and local intimacy - Rumyansev 2008), Botyakov, Y E. Kapustina (eds.) rolling public space. My attempt was to of tree-shaded walkways was replaced by tural Networks in the Urban Context. (2013): The Caucasus City: Ethno-cul bring to the fore a ‘regionally nuanced aesthetically driven physical and imagi- understanding of post-socialist moder- nary solid ‘forms of order’, lined with bu- St. Petersburg (in Russian). nism’ ( - siness centres, expensive clubs, palms Bretanitsky, L. (1965): Baku. Baku. litical mobilization of nature in the and high-heeled urbanism. Green archi- Pickles 2010) and the issue of po Buchli, V. (2007): Astana: Materiality of post-Soviet Caucasus which is shaped by tecture is again used as a powerful tool Urban Life in post-Soviet Asia. London, the City. In: Alexander, C. et al. (eds.): the legacy of socialism and an openness for marking the territory of power, howe- pp. 40-69. to the new geographies of connectedness. ver this time of a select portion of the po- - I argue that though the built environment pulation of Baku. Though they are fewer, en City. Bremen. Burger, S. (2010): Baku. The Wind-beat and the socialist monumental architec- however, locals have incorporated tactics ture, including the park and green squa- of using the Bulvar in to their intimate Everyday Life, University of California De Certeau, M. (1984): The Practice of re designs, played an enormous role in memories and their own understanding Press. shaping Baku’s communist every day life, of living in modern Baku. we should still consider the sociality and Spaces after Socialism. Ethnographies Darieva, T. et al. (eds.) (2011): Urban the power of individuals who appropria- of Public Places in the Eurasian Cities. ted the space for their own in a variety of Frankfurt/M. ways. Further, in Baku we can observe global - Darieva, T. (2011): Purifying the Public trends in revitalization of urban water- 32 Compare with Sieber 1993, Kokot 2008, Hein 2011. nade of Urban Histories. In: Neprikos- Place? Baku Promenade as a Prome

77 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2

- R structure: Architecture and Soviet Aserbaidschan, Armenien. München. novennyi Zapas (Sacrosanct Reserve), Humphrey, C. (2005) Ideology in Infra enz, A. (1985): Kaukasus. Georgien, - Imagination. In: Journal of Royal An- 6 (80), pp. 119-138 (in Russian). lic Place. Baku Promenade between Eu- thropological Institute, Issue 11, pp. Norms and Form of the Social Environ- Darieva, T. (2013): Reconfiguring a Pub Rabinow, P. (1989): French Modern. - 39-58. ment. Cambridge. ent on Orient: Images of Asia in Eur- - rope and Asia. In: Koshino, G. (ed.): Ori asian Countries. Comparative Studies attle. Anthropological Perspectives on Tree Iljine, N. (2013): Memories of Baku. Se Rival, L. (1996): The Social Life of Trees: on Regional Powers Series, 13. Sappo- Symbolism. Oxford. ro, pp. 117-132. Generation of Post-socialist Change: Kalyukin, A. et al. (2015): The Second Gorky Park and Public Space in Mos- Paradise: The Pioneer Palace, Moscow, Reid, S. (2002): Krushchev’s Children of Baku’s Bulvar. In: Baku’s Worker. Au- cow. In: Urban Geography, Volume 1958-1962. In: Crowley, D. and S. Reid Dzhevanshir, L. (2009): The New Style gust 14th 2009, p. 4. 36/5, pp. 674-695. - . and - day Life in the Eastern Bloc. Oxford, pp. (eds.): Socialist Spaces: Sites of Every Reconstructing the House of Culture: eas of Transition. Ethnographic Per- 141-180. Donahoe, B O. Habeck (eds.) (2011): Kokot, W. et al. (2008): Port Cities as Ar Community, and the Making of Culture spectives. Bielefeld. - in Russia and Beyond. New York. K - wards Baku’s Transformation from the Rumyansev, S. (2008): Oil and Sheep: To zeitkultur im Stalinismus 1928-1941. capital to the capital city. In: Milerius, ucher, K. (2007): Der Gorki-Park. Frei at the beginning of the 20th centuries. Collogne. Fatullaev, S. (1978): Urban Architecture - Lens of Urban Research, Vilnius, pp. N. (ed.): P.S. Landscapes. Through the Leningrad (in Russian). Laszczkowski, M. (2014): State Build - Fatullaev, S. (1998): Encyclopaedia of ing(s): Built Forms, Materiality, and the 228-266 (in Russian). and I. Ethnographies of the State in Central baijana XVI-XIX vv. Moskau. Baku’s Architecture. Baku (in Russian). State in Astana. In: Reeves, M. (ed.): Salamzade, A. (1964): Architektura Azer Asia: Performing Politics. Bloomington, - French, R. Hamilton (1979): Is there Socialist City. Spatial Structure and Urban pp. 149-72. schan – Land des Feuers: Geschichte a Socialist City? In: French, R. (ed.): The Schindlbeck, I. (ed.) (2008): Aserbaid Policy. Hoboken, pp. 1-22. und Kultur im Kaukasus. Berlin. Space. Oxford. S - Lefebvre, H. (1991): The Production of History in a Southern City. In: AbImperio, viet City. In: French, R. and I. Hamilton Gasimov, Z. (2011): Baki: Walking Through haw, D. (1979): Recreation and the So of Public Space and Culture. Austin, - Low, S. (2000): On the Plaza: The Politics - Texas. ture and Urban Policy. Chichester, pp. issue 1, pp. 1-24 (in Russian). (eds.): The Socialist City. Spatial Struc baijana. Baku. (Azerbaijan’s Gardens 119-143. Gassanova, A. (1996): Sady I parki Azer Parks: Public Space and Cultural Diver- Low, S. et al. (2005): Rethinking Urban sity. Austin, Texas. Urban Waterfront: A Question of Vi- and Parks) Sieber, T. (1993): Public Access on the Ethnos, issue 75, 2, pp. 123-147. sion. In: Rotenberg, R. and G. Mc- Grant, B. (2010): Cosmopolitan Baku. In: of Anthropology on Urban Design. In: Lawrence-Zuniga, D. (2012): Influences Architecture and the Political Life of Banerjee, T. and A. Loukaitou-Sideris Urban Space. Westport, pp. 173-194. Grant. B. (2014): The Edifice Complex. Donogh (eds.): The Cultural Meaning of Surplus in the new Baku. In: Public Cul- ture, issue 26/3, pp. 501-528. London, pp. 137-149. Soviet Workers’ Leisure: Workers’ (eds.): Companion to Urban Design. Siegelbaum, L. (1999): The Shaping of Clubs and Palaces of Culture in the Religion and Society in the Modern Cambridge. 1930s. In: International Labour and Gilsenan, M. (2000): Recognizing Islam: Mitchell, T. (1988): Colonizing Egypt. Middle East. London. M - Working-Class History, issue 56, pp. 78- - zation of Nature in Seventeenth-centu- 92. ukerji, C. (1994): The Political Mobili ic Landscapes and Global Networks. ry France. Formal Gardens. In: Theory Hein, C. (ed.) (2011): Port Cities. Dynam London. and Society. Renewal and Critique in - Smith, D. (1996): The Socialist City. In: Social Theory, Volume 23/5, pp. 651- cialism. Urban and Regional Change Andrusz, G. et al. (eds.): Cities after So Monumental Vacuity and the Idea of 677. Herzfeld, M. (2006): Spatial Cleansing: the West. In: Journal of Material Cul- P - Cambridge, pp. 70-99. and Conflict in Postsocialist Societies. ture 11, issue 1/2, pp. 127-149. zeitverhaltens in der DDR und der So- etzold, G. (1988): Erforschung des Frei wjetunion. Berlin. Ukrainian Urban Complexes as Objects Smolenska, S. (2012): Green Areas in Ethnographic Knowledge and the Mak- - of Heritage Protection. In: Learning Hirsch, F. (2005): Empire of Nations: ing of the Soviet Union. Ithaca. cialism. Common Spaces and Produc- Pickles, J. (2010): The Spirit of Post-so tion of Diversity. In: European Urban Design of Socialist Realism. Heritage from Moscow? Architecture and Urban The Cultural Norms of Soviet Moderni- Dialogue -Berlin 2011.A Docu- Hoffmann, D. (2003): Stalinist Values: ty, 1917-1941. Ithaca. 127-40. mentation. Berlin, pp. 229-238. and Regional Studies, issue 17 (2), pp.

78 Tsypylma Darieva: Modernising the Waterfront: Urban Green, Built Environment and Social Life of the Baku Promenade

- Azerbaijan: a Borderland in Transition. gust 11th, 2015. Swietochowski, T. (1995): Russia and php?c=USSR1940. Last access on Au Dr. Tsypylma Darieva New York. Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena - Elites in Baku. In: Stadt/Bauwelt, issue Caucasus Studies Department Valiev, A. (2009): The Role of Business struction d’une capital àl’époquesovi- 183, pp. 28-35. VW Project „Transformation Ter-Minassian, T. (2007): Erevan: la con etique, PU. Z of Sacred Spaces“ USSR’s the Soviet Union. A Time-Budget Anal- Jenergasse 8 uzanek, J. (1980): Work and Leisure in 07743 Jena - ysis. New York Park Architecture (1940): [email protected] ww.landscape-design.ru/articlex. АрхитектурапарковСССР. In: http:w

Peзюме Résumé

Модернизируя городскую набережную: Зеленые на­саж­ La moderne au bord de l'eau: espaces verts, environnement Цыпылма Дариева Tsypylma Darieva дения, застройки и социальная жизнь Приморской bâti urbain et vie sociale de la Promenade de Bakou набережной Баку Cet article décrit et analyse la matérialité et la vie sociale d’un espace public urbain particulier, la Promenade de Bakou. En m’appuyant sur des travaux ethnographiques réalisés en Azer- Статья представляет собой описание и анализ меняющейся baïdjan, je fournis quelques aperçus de la modernisation ré- материальной­ субстанции и общественной жизни одного cente des espaces publics urbains de Bakou en examinant la городского пространства – Приморской набережной Баку/ méthode de modernisation utilisée pour réaliser les visions Бульвара. На основе результатов этнографических поле­ d’un parc public. Les arbres et l’architecture verte feront l’objet вых исследований в Азербайджане даётся представление­ d’une attention particulière, puisqu’ils permettent à la ville de об опыте Баку по осуществлённой модернизации го­ prendre part au processus de construction d’espaces publics родского общественного/публичного пространства. При socialistes et post-socialistes en Azerbaïdjan. Au-delà du chan- этом особое внимание уделяется роли деревьев и зелёной gement de la matérialité de l’environnement bâti, j’explique la архитектуры в качестве инструмента для струк­ ­ perception et l’utilisation de la Promenade de Bakou par les турирования города и политической мобилизации gens ordinaires et l’importance que les visiteurs attachent au природы в рамках создания социалистических­ и пост parc urbain dans leurs souvenirs des dernières années de социа­листических общественных пространств в Азер­ байджане. В подходе, который выходит за рамки анализа меняющейся материальной субстанции среды, рассма­ l’Union soviétique. J’affirme que le réaménagement officiel de matérialité de son asphalte caractéristique de l’Union sovié- тривается, как бакинская городская набережная/Бульвар la Promenade de Bakou a purifié l’espace non seulement de la tique, mais également de son caractère social égalitaire et de воспринимается и используется обычными людьми, а l’intimité des allées ombragées. также какое значение посетители придают Бульвару в своих воспоминаниях о конце советской эпохи. Исходя из Espaces verts urbains, modernisation, Azerbaïdjan, bord de mer, so- этого утверждается, что стерилизация бакинского ciabilité, loisirs променада освободило пространство не только от материальной субстанции асфальта советской эпохи, но и привело к потере эгалитаризма, равной доступности общественного пространства и расслабляющей атмосферы тенистых аллей. -

Городской приморский бульвар, модернизация, Азербайджан, бе рег моря, социальность, отдых 79