Achievements of Moscow: Moscow’s projects which received international awards
Moscow is a growing metropolis with one of the most developed urban economies in the world. The Russian capital is home to many cutting-edge projects in various areas of life. The world community and experts consistently give high praise to these projects. In 2024, Moscow was awarded prestigious international prizes in such areas as digital technologies, transport, entrepreneurship, tourism, environment etc. In particular, the Russian capital received an award in China for organizing the Chinese New Year in Moscow festival, was awarded a UN certificate for developing a smart city, and was included in the World Cities Report 2024 for its best practices. Also last year, it was among the best in various international rankings—for example, it became the best city in the BRICS countries and ranked among the top five best cities in the world.
Openness to tourists and ease of access of city services
In the summer of 2024, Moscow ranked second in two categories at the China Brand Marketing Awards, one of the most famous international professional awards in China. The award recognizes brand-marketing projects implemented in China and abroad. Silver medal in the Best Holiday Marketing category was awarded to the Chinese New Year in Moscow, while the Chinese Bloggers’ Tour to Moscow ranked second in the Best Event Marketing category.
The Chinese New Year in Moscow also ranked first in the Innovations in Culture and Tourism category of the international Golden Flag Award. The award, which was established in China in 2010, recognizes a combination of innovative approaches and cultural values to market-leading brands, PR and marketing projects.
The Chinese New Year was first celebrated in Moscow in February 2024. It included 300 events, such as master classes, excursions, theatrical performances, musical and culinary shows. The festival’s sites were decorated in Chinese style, and the main streets featured festive illuminations. Over 700 thousand tourists and Muscovites visited the festival. This year it will take place again—from January 28 to February 9.
The tours for Chinese bloggers were arranged in September 2023 and February 2024. Guests could enjoy personalized excursions in Chinese, developed specifically for them. Following the trip, bloggers made videos and other content, all of which collectively had over 60 million views.
Last September, Moscow was once again recognized the best city in the BRICS countries in terms of technological and spatial development. For the second year in a row, Moscow ranked first in the Urban & Innovation Environment Index, developed by a consortium of research organizations from China, India and Russia. International experts noted the balanced development of the city, high availability of city services for residents and introduction of new technologies in various areas. In addition, they appreciated the high rate of development of transport infrastructure, as well as the efforts aimed at preserving the city’s environment. The leaders of the 2024 ranking also included Shanghai, St. Petersburg, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Later that year, the consortium of R&D organizations of the BRICS countries released the world’s cities ranking. Experts reviewed many indicators, and Moscow ranked fourth pushing Paris to fifth. The top three cities were London, Seoul and Madrid. According to experts, Moscow’s distinguishing features are a high level of Internet penetration, excellent access of transport and rapid development of transport infrastructure, a convenient and understandable system of digital services for interaction between citizens and city services.
Leadership in advanced technology and culture
In September 2024, Sergei Sobyanin received the World Innovation Award. He won in the Sustainable Cities and Communities category. The international jury highly appreciated the contribution of the Mayor of Moscow to the implementation of advanced sustainable technologies on land, water and in the air. The Global Innovation Prize recognizes leaders who have made outstanding contributions to achieving the UN’s vision of improving people’s lives and ensuring a prosperous planet (the UN Sustainable Development Goals). Its founder is the World Organization for Development (WOD), which has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council.
In early October 2024, the Moscow Mayor’s project Leaders of Digital Transformation won an international award in the area of modern technologies, the Global Innovation & Tech Excellence Awards. The capital’s IT competition among developers to create digital products ranked first in the Public-Private Partnership category. Experts paid special attention to Moscow’s project Leaders of Digital Transformation for its focus on effective interaction between the city and business, and noted its important role in boosting the innovative development of the whole country. It is worth noting that the Global Innovation & Tech Excellence Awards has more than 20 years’ history. It is awarded for the best projects in the private and public sectors that help improve people’s quality of life through modern technology. In 2024, representatives from over 50 countries became candidates for the award.
In addition, in October 2024, Moscow received a certificate within the framework of the international UN initiative United for Smart Sustainable Cities. Moscow managed to confirm its status as one of the most technologically advanced megacities in the world. Experts assessed the city based on 90 criteria reflecting the effective application of innovative solutions in different areas, such as economy, environment, culture, society etc. In particular, foreign experts emphasize that Moscow’s territory is covered almost completely with high-speed Internet (98.9 percent coverage).
The Global Cities Index 2024 was issued in November. Moscow ranked first in terms of the number of museums. The Russian capital was ahead of other cultural megacities of the world, such as London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, Barcelona, Beijing, Tokyo and New York. In total, the ranking featured 156 cities from around the world.
Achievements in AI and 3D projects
Two Moscow digital projects won the international BRICS Solutions Awards. The project Digital Twin of Moscow ranked first in the category Platforms and Integrated Solutions for Government and Public Administration. The platform represents an exact 3D copy of the Russian capital, displaying all buildings and facilities, engineering and transportation communications. The project helps authorities to make arrangements for the construction of residential houses and other buildings, adopt management decisions and monitor the implementation of socially significant urban projects.
The winner in the category Artificial Intelligence and Digital Services was the project Experiment on the use of innovative technologies in the area of computer vision for the analysis of medical images and further application in the healthcare system of the city of Moscow. The project is implemented by the Center for Diagnostics and Telemedicine of the Moscow Department of Healthcare with the support of the Moscow Department of Information Technology. Thanks to the artificial intelligence (AI), experts can process the results of CTs, MRIs, X-rays, fluoroscopy and mammograms. It helps improve the quality and speed of X-ray diagnostics and reduce the workload on doctors.
Improving the environment and caring for the future
Last autumn, the results of the International Climate Competition Green Eurasia were summarized. A number of Moscow environmental projects took first places and won prizes at the competition.
Thus, regular electric river boats ranked first in the Green Transportation category. Meanwhile, a comprehensive plan to increase Moscow’s resilience in the face of climate change won in the Climate Resilient Cities category. The document was issued by the Moscow City Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection. The project Energy and Environmental Audit of the Effectiveness of Green Technologies in Construction in the Moscow Region ranked second in the Green Construction category. It helps in monitoring the efficiency of energy resources use and calculating the impact of buildings under construction on Moscow’s environment.
Comfort in a Big City: Switching Heat Loads as the Basis for Moscow’s Energy Efficiency, a joint project of the Department of Economic Policy and Development of Moscow and Mosenergo, won in the Low Carbon Energy category. It was launched in 2013. The project helps to switch heat loads from boiler houses to Mosenergo thermal power plants. This results in fuel savings, reduced greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions, and increased efficiency of the city’s overall heating and energy system.
In addition, the Green Eurasia jury members awarded the third place in the State Strategies and Practices in the Sphere of Climate category to the project Obtaining Moscow City Government’s ESG Status and the analytical report Urban Climate Agenda Report. Moscow City Government assigns the ESG status after assessing a company through multiple factors (goodwill, ecological and environmental impact, benefit plans and many others). Any company active in the fields of industry, transportation, construction and real estate, catering and trade, telecommunications, and other industries of the economy can undergo the assessment.
The Urban Climate Agenda Report explores the main aspects of urban economy in terms of its impact on climate (energy, transportation, waste and green spaces), as well as existing strategic urban climate policy documents.
In November 2024, the Russian capital’s green bond project received international recognition. UN-Habitat experts recognized Moscow’s best practices in the World Urban Report. In total, the appendix to this document compiles 25 of the world’s most successful practices that address climate change. According to UN-Habitat experts, green bonds are an innovative and effective tool through which the city finances climate change action.
Green bonds are a special type of securities that make it possible to invest in the city’s environmental projects without the risk of losing money.