Abstract:
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.