( CNN ) -- Azerbaijan 's capital Baku might have an ancient heart , but it is getting a remarkable modern face . Funded largely by money from oil and gas exports , the city has become one of the most vibrant places on the planet for grand designs , with numerous head-turning projects towering above low-rise Soviet-era apartments and medieval walled city . One ground-breaking work of public planning is known as `` White City '' -- an optimistic title and flip of Baku 's old moniker of the `` Black City '' ; a title gained because of oil-related pollution . On a 220-hectare site that was formerly a storage hub for the industry , ground is being cleaned up and prepared for offices , hotels , homes and facilities for 50,000 Baku residents and 48,000 workers . Across the country improvements are being made in infrastructure . Within five years in Baku more roads , new parks , a new transit system , water supplies and internet connections will all be in place . Already dominating the skyline are the iconic Flame Towers that are close to completion , plus the Baku TV Tower . Joining these soaring landmarks are some even more eye-popping structures ; the towers of Crescent Place and the Hotel Crescent , designed by South Korean architecture firm , Heerim Architects and Planners . The firm won the rights to build the two projects , as well as the 39-story Crescent City and 38-floor future headquarters for the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic ( SOCAR ) , through an international competition . `` ( Azerbaijan ) is considered to have the will and economic power based on high-growth that can widely accommodate new architecture designs , '' wrote a spokesperson for Heerim . `` Many clients in Azerbaijan are actively accepting creative designs ... that will provide great advantages to their national development . '' When completed in 2015 , Hotel Crescent will stand on the banks of the Caspian Sea , its 33-stories housed in a vast , down-turned crescent . A sister project was proposed called the Full Moon Hotel that would have brought something resembling the Death Star from `` Star Wars '' to the Caspian coastline . The White City project may take decades to complete and be less radical in its design , but it and other projects in the city shows a commitment to give the Azerbaijan capital more than just a clean up .
Baku , capital of Azerbaijan , is undergoing a major face-lift . Major project called 'White City ' is planned for old oil refinery site . Comment: Infrastructure to make it a regional hub also being improved .