I must admit that when Ramin sent me a link to his Behance project page for this map a while ago, I assumed it was a (very accomplished) unofficial project. It was only when I followed the website link at the bottom of the sheet that I realised that this was actually the new official map for the Baku Metro. 

It’s definitely a huge improvement over the previous lacklustre version (second image above) and looks very smart and modern. It’s also been nicely futureproofed, as you can see in the third image – expansions have been well planned for within the framework of the existing map.

The minimalist street grid underlying the routes could perhaps use some labels to add some spatial context to the map, and I feel like the two station “light green” spur line could be moved up to align properly with the main Green Line… at the moment, it’s sitting ever so slightly below it and it looks a little wonky. As the eventual plan is to connect and extend the two parts of the Green Line, aligning them properly makes good sense to me. The service patterns to the spur Bakmil station could also be indicated a bit more clearly: the current hard T-intersection doesn’t give enough information at the moment.

Our rating: A huge improvement! A few minor issues, but this is a very confident, forward-looking map. Four stars.