The post-Communist growth machine: The case of Baku, Azerbaijan

For years the scholars of urban studies ignored the issue of existence of growth machines in post-Communist cities. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has existed in post-Communist space, especially in the former Soviet region. Although there are local geographical peculiarities, there are also striking similarities between growth politics in post-Soviet, European and US cities. Baku is interesting case from this perspective as the city has developed in a different way than those elsewhere in the region. While market forces do not play an important role in urban development there, government-led urban elites—the growth machine—define the political economy of the city and future development.