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Participatory Budgeting Comes to Atlanta
“I’ve always been struck by the positive outcomes that result when government invites residents and citizens to be part of the decision-making process. Participatory budgeting is a really compelling way to do that,” he says. “I represent roughly 50,000 people, and I hear from the same 250 people all the time. So there’s all these people you never hear from.”
A section of Atlanta where Downtown Decides! could have an infrastructural impact. Jonathan Phillips, Curbed Atlanta
Atlantans speak up in ‘participatory budgeting’ process, call for safer streets
Suggestions for unspent cash leaned toward bike projects, street fixes, and even Atlanta Streetcar expansion.
The notion of developing a vehicle-free area in the Fairlie-Poplar District of Downtown Atlanta was strongly endorsed by voters in Atlanta's first experiment with participatory budgeting. Atlanta will provide funds to promote the concept. Credit: Kelly Jordan
Atlanta’s experiment in participatory budgeting: Nearly 3,500 votes cast, 17 projects chosen
Atlanta City Councilmember Amir Farokhi’s experiment with participatory budgeting garnered almost 3,500 online votes. That means nearly 3,500 individuals responded to an offer to play a direct role in deciding how to spend $1 million in public funds for transportation.
Participatory Budgeting in the news
Paris’s last remaining vespasienne urinal. Photograph: Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images
Pissoirs and public votes: how Paris embraced the participatory budget
Residents of France’s capital can propose ideas for and vote on what 5% of the city’s budget will be spent on every year – and their suggestions range from the quixotic to the ambitious