The urban planning cadastre, according to Sergei Melnichenko, differs from the usual land cadastre in that, in addition to information on land plots, it includes very diverse data on the development of the city. The Urban Cadastre Service collects this data from various authorities, checks, systematizes and organizes it into an information system. Sergey Melnichenko described the system as another step of the country towards a democratic society - everyone can get information from the database, from the government of Moscow and the Russian Federation, investors who assess the prospects for construction, and ending with ordinary citizens - city residents.
Access to the system is paid, but it is much cheaper and faster than searching for information "the old fashioned way" by authorities. It is estimated that about 50-60 thousand dollars are spent on obtaining several types of data in each individual instance, while a request in the Urban Cadastre will cost 12-15 thousand rubles, depending on its complexity. A response to a request comes within five days, urgent requests are processed within a day. Information can also be obtained online by paying for access by credit card. True, such information can be used only for preliminary analysis, but for official needs it is required to order an official document - a cadastral certificate or a passport of a town-planning object. These are documents on paper with state signs, signature and seal. According to Sergei Melnichenko, "for the provision of false information, the cadastre employees are liable" ruble "up to criminal liability."
The inventory information system is diverse. In particular, the database contains all the design documentation for all buildings and structures designed and built in Moscow since September 1, 2003. And also - plans for the layouts of all buildings in Moscow, a map with "legally clean" boundaries of administrations, which is found in print media rarely, data on the modes of use of urban natural complexes, boundaries and statuses of protected areas of monuments, data on geology, underground communications and detailed information on the value of land.
The latter is especially true in recent years, as Moscow prices are steadily growing, approaching New York and Tokyo. The cadastre, according to Sergei Melnichenko, allows you to avoid unjustified overstatement of land prices - it contains methods for calculating the cost of land plots, taking into account the various coefficients in force today. The database is constantly updated in real time.
According to Sergei Melnichenko, the Moscow Urban Cadastre is “the only system of this kind in the world” that allows you to monitor the development of a modern city in real time and store data about it in the past and simulate the future, as well as issue (“update”) information on the request of interested parties quickly and inexpensively.
The head of the urban planning cadastre service is sure that this system also serves to "discipline" the authorities, making their decisions transparent and open to criticism of city residents. Sergey Melnichenko is convinced that the existence of such a system in Moscow “characterizes from a certain point of view” the mayor of the city, since in many other Russian cities - Yakutsk, Gelendzhik, Surgut, Sochi - attempts to introduce such a system were unsuccessful. It has its own urban planning base, but it is not used as it is in Moscow, because "many officials simply cannot afford that transparency of the authorities' actions in relation to land plots and real estate."
Sergey Porfirevich Melnichenko - Head of the Moscow Urban Cadastre Service, Vice President of the Union of Architects of Russia and UN expert on real estate.
