AI Is Watching the Suburbs—and Cleaning Them Up

In Moscow’s tech-forward suburbs, artificial intelligence isn’t just for startups and sci-fi. It’s now embedded in the very fabric of daily life—one surveillance feed at a time

More than 79,000 smart cameras across the Moscow region are now powered by AI as part of the expanding “Safe Region” initiative, according to the Ministry of Public Administration.

A major push under the “Clean Territory” project has already wired 66,000 of those cameras into 7,700 residential courtyards. The system has flagged over 294,000 violations—from potholes and garbage pileups to broken lights and rogue snowdrifts—automatically routing alerts to municipal services. The result? Resident complaints are down by 28%, and fixes arrive faster than ever.

But it’s not just infrastructure. AI modules are also helping spot stray animals (nearly 300 captured incidents) and monitor retail compliance, with over 6,500 units focused on detecting rule-breaking vendors. This isn’t surveillance for surveillance’s sake—it’s algorithmic oversight as a civic utility. And it’s redefining what it means to manage a modern city block.