Ilsur Metshin: ‘15 days is not the limit, we dream of issuing permits in a day’
With the transition to digital, Kazan has shortened the time for issuing permits and tightened control over the state of the city
Kazan is going to complete the filling of the “digital twin” of the city with geodata next year, which promises convenience to developers and trouble for violators. “The time for issuing permits has been reduced by 4-7 times. And this is not the limit — we dream of issuing them in one day," Mayor Ilsur Metshin confidently stated at a meeting of Kazan City Duma. KMGIS (Complex Municipal Geoinformation System) developers must complete the integration of all existing digital modules that record changes in urban space: from the state of engineering networks and gusts to the detection of unauthorised land grabbing. Cargo carriers turned out to be “victims” of artificial intelligence: fines for 109.5 million rubles were issued for uncovered bodies while driving, and now they want to throw AI to fight icicles on roofs.
How much does Kazan spend on AI implementation?
Kazan is one of the top 3 Russian cities in terms of digitalisation of urban space, said Radik Shafigullin, the deputy head of the Executive Committee of Kazan, during a report in Kazan City Duma. According to the Q index (the level of digital technology penetration), Kazan is slightly inferior to St. Petersburg — 84.79 points against 85.52 points, respectively. Moscow turned out to be at the top of digitalisation with a Q index of 120 points, it followed from the presentation.
The rating was compiled on the basis of open analytical data collected in 2023. At the same time, Kazan's budget cannot compete with the gigantic IT budgets for the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies available in the federal cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. For example, Kazan spent 300 million rubles a year ago, the Northern Capital — 30 billion rubles, and the Primary Capital — 140 billion rubles, Shafigullin cited statistical data on financial costs. And, most likely, the gap in money will widen, but Kazan continues to participate in the race of “smart cities” in Russia.
Where are the city authorities directing the power of artificial intelligence? According to Radik Shafigullin, first of all, to accelerate the issuance of permits. Digitisation of all land plots in Kazan is currently underway, and orthophotographs with data on the state of underground utilities are being formed. 75% of Kazan's networks and 65% of its public spaces have been digitised. “Thanks to this, the facts of unauthorised seizure of land plots are revealed," the deputy head of the executive committee noted along the way. The city authorities would like to block unauthorised buildings online, but the operation of UAVs is prohibited. Currently, the KMGIS platform includes 560,800 documents on constructed facilities, and in the future the system should combine Kazan's General Plan, land use and development rules, planning projects, and integrated development, Radik Shafigullin said.
It is fast and convenient for developers and citizens.
In the future, this will enable the user to obtain permits in one click — by cadastral number. Automation of municipal services has significantly reduced the time required to provide services to businesses. Previously, the developer had to wait 102 days to obtain permission to use the land, but now the deadline has been increased to 15 days. The land was redistributed in 228 days, and now it takes 40 days. And for citizens, they want to create personal accounts on the My Kazan platform, where authorised users will get timely information about water and electricity outages and receive invitations to various events.
“Our budget for digitalisation is 50 times less than that of St. Petersburg, and 500 times less than that of Moscow. Nevertheless, we continue to implement digital technologies," said the Mayor of Kazan. According to him, AI helps to make the city comfortable for business. “The period for issuing permits has been reduced by 4-7 times in 8 years. And this is not the limit. We dream of issuing permits in one day," he set out to achieve fantastic goals.
Caution: Camera Ahead!
On the other hand, AI is merciless to violators of urban space. Two years ago, the city authorities installed the CitySoft system, which detects cars with uncovered cargo using traffic cameras, Radik Shafigullin said. At the moment, 2,600 decisions have been issued to impose a fine of 109.5 million rubles. However, the payment level is low — 4.2 million rubles.
Why is this so, the deputies of the Kazan City Duma asked during the meeting. In response, the deputy head of the executive committee said that judicial practice on them has not yet developed, carriers are challenging fines in the courts. But the control action is recognised as effective. The CitySoft system is equipped with 10 analytics modules. They detect piles of garbage, posters on poles, and uncovered trash. So far, the modules cover 50% of the roads of the first category, that is, they monitor 1,000 km of roads. The information system data is integrated into a single urban dashboard, through which managers at various levels are promptly warned about deviations in the urban sector. Now they want to throw AI into the fight against icicles on roofs, as well as open the issuance of electronic coupons for snow disposal at Vodokanal stations.
Without much discussion, the deputies adopted the deficit-free budget of Kazan for 2025 for the future 2026-2027. Its income and expenses will amount to 50.1 billion rubles. Deputy Lyudmila Andreeva asked how much money was allocated to support the children of the participants of the SVO. It turned out that the amount increased by 20 million rubles to 130 million rubles.