I.Metshin: “The meeting of mayors of the cities of the Silk road is a resumption of a thousand-year dialogue of civilizations”

Ilsur Metshin, Kazan Mayor, President of the UN Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA), took part in the International online forum “Global Silk road-Mayoral Forum”. A platform for dialogue between representatives of local authorities is organized within the framework of the International online congress “G-Global. The world of the XXI century”.

Serik Nugerbekov, head of the G-Global International secretariat, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.

As Ilsur Metshin noted, all cities and countries are facing a global problem-the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “Urban life can get a new impetus for development. E-government and healthcare, online consultations, remote work, online education, and e-Commerce are already part of everyday life. We need to learn from what is happening around us, adopt positive experience from colleagues and implement them in the field. I welcome the exchange of experience and constructive dialogue at events such as the International Congress “G-Global The world of the XXI century” and I believe that our joint efforts will ensure the creation of concrete opportunities for creating a healthy and viable future in comfortable smart cities”, - Metshin said.

“The great silk road has played a huge role in the development of economic and cultural relations of many peoples of the world, and also served as a conduit for the spread of technology and innovation. The meeting of the mayors of the cities of the Silk road is a resumption of the thousand-year dialogue of civilizations linking East and West,”-  the Kazan Mayor said.

He told the forum participants that the Tatarstan capital occupies a leading position among the 15 million-person cities in Russia in the level of development of modern city management technologies.

“Strategic investments in sports, medicine, and public spaces have improved the quality of life in Kazan and were highly evaluated by the competition committee of the world-famous Lee Kuan Yew award. Along with Seoul, Tokyo, and Hamburg, the city received a special award. In 2018, Kazan was among the finalists of the IV International award for urban innovation in Guangzhou for the first time”, - the head of the Tatarstan capital said.

He noted that the Smart utilities and Smart transport solutions have been partly implemented in Kazan.

In order to prevent traffic congestion and improve the efficiency of using the road network in the capital of Tatarstan, the Automated traffic management system project is being implemented with the use of adaptive management methods, which changes the approach to traffic light regulation.

Besides, a comprehensive municipal geographic information system was launched this year. “Today we have already switched to the electronic General Plan of the city, electronic land use and planning regulations, land surveying projects. Presently, we have come to the creation of a full - fledged digital copy of the city”, - the Kazan Mayor emphasized.

He also said that this year the city launched a project to create a big database, which will enable government authorities and the business community to build on analytics when making decisions and forming business plans.

International online congress “G-Global. World of the XXI century” will take place in Nur-Sultan from November 18 to 20.