Derbent Master Plan

Typologies:

Cities and Agglomerations

Status:

Concept

Year:

2019

Location:

Russia, Derbent

Area:

6 963 ha

Consortium:

A.DEPT, SWA, Практика, ШТАБ — Центр городских проектов, Knight Frank, RussiaDiscovery

Works list:

Master plan

Design concept

Together with our partners, we developed a spatial development strategy for the district through 2040, connecting different layers of the city's history — from the Silk Road quarters to Soviet industrial territories — with a new economic model based on tourism, culture, and small business.

Analysis

The master plan is based on a reading of the city's historic fabric: the Naryn-Kala fortress, the old town, and the seaside quarters define the compositional framework along which Derbent's new public framework is structured.

The strategy is implemented in phases: by 2024, the central axis and the first phase of the embankment are activated — "quick wins" that launch cultural and entrepreneurial initiatives. By 2028, new growth points emerge in the urban fabric, including an agropark in the north and a distributed network of tourism companies.

7 principles of spatial development

System of attraction points

Goals for 2040

1 000 000

tourists per year

+220%

growth of the city budget revenues

40 000

new jobs

The strategy works through specific projects: historical landmarks are given new life, while industrial sites become cultural clusters.

Silk Road. New market building

The open-air market in the historic quarter is being transformed into a covered pavilion with a timber frame — a tribute to the trading traditions of the Silk Road, yet with modern comfort for both shoppers and vendors.

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Khan's Baths

The historic domed bathhouse is being restored and given a new life as a cultural and wellness facility — preserving the historic roof while adding new public spaces around it.

Congress Hall

A new city symbol rises on the cape of the embankment a congress hall with a sculptural roof, visible from both the sea and the mountains, uniting exhibition, business, and public functions.

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Global strategy for the embankment

The waterfront is designed as a continuous pedestrian route with a shifting character from the historic and commercial zone near the port to sports and family spaces, a crescent-shaped beach, a marina, and an art cluster. Each section gains its own identity while remaining part of the overall framework along the sea.

Derbent's economy rests on three pillars tourism, agriculture, and light industry each of which is given its own growth points within the master plan structure.