On December 9, on the initiative of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly, parliamentary hearings on the theme of “Urban Development and Transport Issues of Yerevan” were held. MPs, representatives of the state department bodies, NGOs and other interested persons participated in it.

Mr. Vardan Ayvazyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly , opening the hearings, said that one third of the population is concentrated in the capital of the Republic, and as a result the issues of Yerevan are important to many citizens and the interest in those issues is great. The parliamentary hearings aimed to listen to the specialists’ concerns- about urban development and transport in Yerevan, and later to have their reflection in the legislative initiatives as well as procedures.

Ms. Lilit Galstyan, MP of the ARF faction , took the floor as a main speaker. She considers the urban development the most dynamic branch of the economy of Armenia and the main area of protection of economic growth. The MP touched upon the hidden issues, the qualitative indicators of the construction and the protection of human and public rights. According to the speaker construction is carried out ignoring public opinion, violating human rights and by breaching laws and international treaties.

Ms. Lilit Galstyan’s assessment is that very often the norms of nature protection or urban development, historical cultural and national values are not provided for in this system. The MP conveyed the assessment of 38 NGOs that there is a threat of Yerevan becoming a desert. The speaker brought a number of examples, which showed that the General plan of Yerevan and the decisions of the urban development council and the mayor are ignored. The member of the ARF faction finds that it was necessary and urgent to have a concept of the development and building of Yerevan.

The next speaker, Mr. Narek Sargsyan, Deputy Minister of Urban Development, general architect of the Republic , informed the participants of the hearings that an urban development council has been set up, aiming to regulate the legislation in this area for the protection of the traditions of the Armenian national architecture, planning special objects for regulating the urban development activity. This structure, comprising of different specialists and representatives of state bodies, should deal with the design of strategy, realization of political decisions and support the formation of joint policy.

Mr. Davit Yeritsyan, Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication spoke on the core issues of transport and particularly on the events of the Ministry.

Yerevan’s Chief Architect, Mr. Samvel Danielyan , touched upon the main development prospects of Yerevan. He said that Yerevan and its center need some changes, the whole area of the city needs to be reconstructed and used equally. For that reason it is planned to create urban development zones in Yerevan, which will be of town-wide importance.

The speeches on expressed issues were numerous: - from expert assessments to political views. The MPs of the Heritage faction, to the picture of the urban development of the motherland, gave such a very bad assessment that they even spoke about the resignation of those who were responsible for that field. In this context they once again spoke on the necessity of adopting a law on Yerevan and electing the mayor. Ms. Karine Danielyan, head of the Association For Sustainable Human Development, summing up the NGOs assessments, was concerned for Yerevan was deserted and seismically gangrenous zone. Ms. Danielyan found incomprehensible the liquidation of trams in Yerevan, when Paris and Strasbourg were restoring and expanding that transportation system. Ms. Danielyan conveyed their proposals in written form to those responsible in the field.

Vice-Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan, responded with the expressed concerns of the imperfection of control mechanisms in urban development sphere and duplication of functions in various bodies. These are pointed out as important and not solved issues. According to the vice-mayor they also see the shortcomings, but need time for the correction, especially when the core issues of the urban development are not new and have history of decades.

Summing up the parliamentary hearings, Mr. Vardan Ayvazyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly, said that the debates would be continued in this format and they would try to improve the picture of Yerevan’s urban development construction by concrete actions and joint efforts. According to him though the reforms in this field are irrefutable there are also shortcomings. Touching upon the transport issues, Mr. Ayvazyan highlighted the necessity of restriction of import of the old motor vehicles and expansions of Trolleybus Park. Mr. Vardan Ayvazyan, expressing his thanks for the expressed concerns and the attitude towards the motherland said that it talks on the love and care for the city.