Participatory Budgeting: Communities Take the Wheel
Residents are directing public spending and reshaping local priorities with transparency, trust, and shared decision-making.
Why it matters
Democracy isn’t just about elections — it’s about who decides what gets built, funded, or ignored.
Participatory budgeting (PB) flips the script: everyday people directly propose, debate, and vote on how public dollars are spent.
It turns governance from a spectator sport into a shared responsibility.
The big picture
Participatory budgeting started in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989.
Today, more than 7,000 cities, schools, and counties use PB to:
- Rebuild trust in public institutions
- Bring marginalized communities into decision-making
- Increase transparency in public spending
- Fund solutions that actually match community needs
The result: Democracy that’s hands-on, not hands-off.
How it works
1. Communities propose ideas.
Residents identify local needs: safer streets, school upgrades, parks, climate resilience, transit access.
2. Committees shape proposals.
Volunteers work with city staff to turn ideas into feasible, costed projects.
3. The community votes.
Anyone in the area—often including youth and non-citizens—casts ballots.
4. The government funds the winning projects.
Budgets get allocated. Progress is tracked publicly.
Transparency replaces guesswork. Shared governance replaces top-down power.
Real-world examples
New York City: Youth Steering the Future
NYC’s “The People’s Money” gives residents — including 11- to 18-year-olds — the power to steer $5 million to mental health programs, housing support, and violence prevention.
Result: Highest youth turnout in the program’s history, with dozens of projects led by students and neighborhood groups.
Paris: Europe’s Largest Participatory Budget
Paris allocates 5% of its entire city budget — roughly €100 million per year — to citizen-designed projects.
Funded ideas include rooftop gardens, bike corridors, micro-libraries, and urban cooling zones.
Seoul: Digital Democracy in Action
Seoul’s online PB platform allows millions to propose and discuss ideas.
Popular projects: community solar, senior care centers, and neighborhood “pocket parks.”
Mexico City: Reclaiming Public Space
Residents vote on local reinvestment funds for street lighting, water access, local markets, and women’s safety corridors — directly influencing basic infrastructure in underserved neighborhoods.
Lisbon Schools: Kids as Co-Designers
Students aged 6–18 decide how to spend school improvement funds.
Winning ideas: science labs, inclusive playgrounds, anti-bullying design, mental-health rooms.
What’s new
PB is evolving from one-off projects to systemic governance tools:
- Climate PB: Funding resilience hubs, community cooling centers, local food systems
- Health PB: Residents co-design mental health and prevention programs
- Youth PB: Students designing school safety and digital learning upgrades
- Digital PB: Open-source platforms like Decidim making participation accessible and transparent
PB is no longer an experiment — it’s a new operating system.
The shift
Communities are moving from “advocacy” to agency.
From “please fix this” to “we’ll lead the fix — partner with us.”
Participation becomes a right, not a request.
What’s next
Expect PB to expand into:
- Green infrastructure & climate resilience
- Smart mobility & safer streets
- Food sovereignty & community kitchens
- Public safety through prevention, not policing
- Hybrid digital–in-person participation models
- Cultural and media projects that strengthen civic imagination
As communities take the wheel, democracy stops being a crisis to manage and becomes a practice we all share.
