Three million participants and 140 million opinions: the Active Citizen project turns 6

The Active Citizen project is now 6 years old. Over 3.2 million Muscovites, with more than a million last year alone, have joined a major Moscow project in the project’s six years. The project included over 4,600 votes, most of which have been implemented. All in all, more than 141 million of the city dwellers’ opinions have been taken into account.

“Thanks to Active Citizen, Moscow residents can engage in a direct dialogue with the city authorities and help with important decisions. The project is unique and unparalleled in the world. The main objective is not only to collect city residents’ opinions on the city’s development, but also to supervise the implementation of the projects supported by the majority of Moscow residents. Active Citizen already involves over 3 million Moscow residents in the city’s life. Each city resident should understand that his/her vote is important: it’s great to see how the city is changing under the decisions taken with everyone’s personal participation,” said Alexander Pishchelko, Head of New Management Technologies SPI.

In six years some of the larger votes included the one for a single school student vacation in Moscow — about 500,000 participants (2014), and one on keeping the Voikovskaya name for the metro station — over 300,000 people (2015).

Starting in 2014, pupils of the 11^th grade choose who should take part in the graduation party concert at Gorky Park. Last year the voters selected 40 popular performers, groups and DJs.

“A Million Trees” is one of the major projects. This programme began in the autumn of 2014 and has already passed through nine voting seasons. This was long enough to plant about 23,000 trees and 800,000 shrubs in over 9,000 Moscow courtyards. In voting under the project, Active Citizens choose the courtyards for improvement. In 2019 alone the city received 172 new children’s playgrounds and 25 sports grounds.

Moscow residents also help to draw up area improvement projects under the My District project. They vote online for the best renovation companies to participate in the Moscow Renovation contest and help set up a programme of festive events, including City Day.

In 2019 “active citizen” supported the adoption of an online medical record card system that became available to Moscow residents this January. Now physical exams, tests, vaccination and other healthcare data can be reviewed online and through apps on smartphones.

“Thanks to our “active citizens,” mos.ru now offers an alternative for replenishing the Troika card and for accessing information from the Capital Repairs Fund. In addition, voters chose the name for the Moscow Museum directory: Museum Moscow Online. By all indications, the additional services made available at Moscow residents’ initiative via Active Citizen are in high demand by the public and make life in the capital more convenient. One of our jobs today is to promptly respond to residents’ demands for digitalised services and smart technologies,” said Eduard Lysenko, Moscow Government Minister and Head of the Information Technology Department.

Project participants also express their views on the city’s mass transit system. For example, they supported the development of the Moscow Central Diameters railway project.

The public also discussed whether the city really needed the southern service drive parallel to Kutuzovsky Prospekt: the question concerned building a new road and Muscovites’ transport preferences.

Last autumn Active Citizen held a vote on city festivals. Festivals have become a Moscow trademark and most voters supported the proposed schedule for our festivals.

For more information, readers are welcome to go to the Active Citizen page on previously implemented projects.

Public discussion

Public discussions on the renovation programme and other urban development projects have been held online since 20 March. Active Citizen was chosen as the formal site. The site, including its apps, presents projects, enables discussion with the developers and provides an opportunity to leave comments. The architects and developers consider the public’s comments as though it was a face-to-face discussion.

The online format is very popular: people can see all the development project materials in one place. They can learn, for example, what changes might occur in their district and express their opinions on urban development, all from their home. Over 100 discussions have been launched on the Active Citizen site, and 30 of them are completed: these projects and the final opinions from the discussions are available in the Public Discussions section.

Eventually, the Active Citizen format will undergo an update. IT specialists are working on a map of projects carried out as a result of the voting. Also, new interactive user interface tools will be made available for more involvement in city management, to preserve openness and transparency in decision making by project participants.

“Moscow traditionally marks the beginning of the Active Citizen project, and of course we will continue to do so with all of Moscow. During the coronavirus, we invite everyone to celebrate our birthday online: users will find many interesting activities, quizzes and online events. Please, follow project news. The most active residents will be awarded with prizes and gifts,” added Pishchelko.

The Active Citizen project was launched in 2014. Participants choose streets and yards that need improvement, vote for festival and holiday events and suggest their own ideas on city development. Muscovites have taken part in over 4,600 votes since the start of the project.