Hadrut Masterplan is a city planning and master plan framework developed for post-conflict regeneration in Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Located within the mountainous topography of the Khojavend District, the region carries traces of layered land uses military, agricultural, and cultural each treated as a foundation for a future-forward urban scenario. The masterplan balances two parallel ambitions: honoring collective resilience and memory, while building new socio-economic structures rooted in long-term self-sufficiency.
Topography and ecology form the plan’s core logic. Positioned between the Greater Caucasus ridges, the project area spans elevation gradients from 500 to 1,770 meters, with settlements distributed across forested valleys and sloped basins. The presence of the Gozluchay River and seasonal tributaries defines a hydro-ecological matrix that supports agricultural viability and frames green infrastructure planning. Ecological zones are classified as mountain broadleaf forests, steppe vegetation and cultivated belts, and river-fed irrigation corridors. These systems provide development thresholds and directly inform zoning typologies across residential, agricultural, and tourism-oriented programs.
Building upon this natural infrastructure, the masterplan introduces four strategic axes of development. Military Memory & Urban Identity preserves designated heritage and military zones as cultural anchors, reinforcing Hadrut’s role as a “heroic settlement” through commemorative programs and adaptive reuse scenarios. Agricultural and Industrial Revitalization rehabilitates farmlands and small-scale industrial areas to restore economic autonomy; agricultural parks, fruit and vegetable storage hubs, and livestock corridors establish a productive landscape infrastructure. Cultural & Traditional Center Development revitalizes the historic cores of villages such as Tuğ and Edisha by introducing town markets, cultural institutions, and educational facilities that foster civic life while maintaining architectural continuity. Smart Settlement Framework proposes future-oriented zones focused on resource management, digital infrastructure, sustainable mobility, and smart governance operating as experimental nodes within the broader territorial strategy.
Land use is conceived as a patchwork that integrates administrative centers, health campuses, educational zones, mixed-income housing, and employment areas across a dispersed village network. Residential areas are located on slope-friendly plateaus, while flatlands are reserved for agriculture and logistics. Historical patterns of dispersed rural living are reinterpreted through improved accessibility, centralized service hubs, and public infrastructure clusters such as sports facilities and medical centers organized within 15-minute walking distances from neighborhood cores.
Sustainability is reinforced through landscape continuity. A continuous green belt binds fragmented village clusters, ensuring ecological and visual cohesion. Passive strategies guide building orientation, natural ventilation, and water harvesting, supporting climate comfort and reducing operational demands. Together, these principles frame the masterplan not as a short-term reconstruction effort, but as a resilient, long-term recovery model one that reconnects territory, production, memory, and civic life through adaptive urbanism.