The photo is sourced from azertag.az
“Progress in digitalization, which ensures improvement in the quality of public administration, is most noticeable at the city level. Therefore, sharing experiences between BRICS cities is of great importance, especially since there is no development gap between the BRICS member countries, which is typical for associations mixing well-developed and emerging nations,” said Nobel Laureate Rae Kwon Chung, Chairman of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee. According to Chung, Moscow can play a special role in this networking, as the Russian capital city is seeing simultaneously a widespread rollout of digital platforms and colossal investments in the development of transport and urban infrastructure. “Technology, however, is not a panacea, but only a tool for development, which should be directed not just from the top down, but also from the bottom up. Communities are partners and important players of the change,” Chung emphasized.
“We must build smart, human-centric cities,” Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and former Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), said at the plenary session. According to her, Kuala Lumpur is actively developing digital infrastructure: 27% of the city’s residents use 5G networks, including “digital nomads” who enter Malaysia on special visas. “We plan to develop Kuala Lumpur’s educational and creative capacity, and spread the startup culture throughout Malaysia,” said Maimunah Mohd Sharif.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) will be held in November 2024, also pays a great deal of attention to the development of a convenient urban environment for its residents. “Most industrial enterprises have now been relocated beyond the city limits. This has opened up full access to the city embankment, the total area of which has increased more than fourfold,” said Baku Mayor Eldar Aziz oglu Azizov. In the past few years alone, 400 parks have been created from scratch or restored in the city. One of the challenges to be met in the next few years will be to unclog the city center, as envisaged by the Baku General Plan through to 2040.
“The main idea of today’s forum is for us to be able to hear each other,” Sergei Brilev noted in his closing remarks. “Moscow is a well-developed city, and it is also the capital city of a developing country. This duality allows us to build a dialogue with the developing world,” he said in conclusion.
