Barcelona City Council has launched the second edition of the Pressupostos Participatius, an initiative that will allow citizens to decide how to invest 30 million euros of the municipal budget in investment projects for the districts between 2024 and 2027. This process, which has been consolidated as a pillar of participatory democracy in the city, will run until April 2025 through the digital platform decidim.barcelona.
An exercise in citizen participation
An exercise in citizen participationWith the Pressupostos Participatius, the residents of Barcelona can propose, prioritize and vote on investment projects to be carried out in their districts. This initiative aims to strengthen citizen participation and ensure that decisions on public spending reflect the real needs of the community. In this edition, debates and the collection of proposals will take place during the months of October and November 2024, both in person in the districts and online through the decidim.barcelona platform. In addition, the City Council will carry out a technical evaluation of the projects to guarantee their viability and ensure that they can be executed within the established timeframe.
Viable and sustainable investment projects
To participate, proposals must meet certain requirements. The projects must be viable, of municipal competence and of general interest, and must have a direct impact on the districts. In addition, priority will be given to those projects that promote the sustainability and do not contradict already approved urban plans. The categories of projects that may be submitted include:
- Improving public spacesuch as the creation or improvement of green areas, urban furniture or sports facilities.
- Improvement of municipal facilities, including accessibility projects, energy efficiency or installation of shaded areas.
- Acquisition and rehabilitation of assets, such as building rehabilitation projects or acquisition of land for public use.
Each district will receive between 2 and 3.6 million euros, distributed equally according to criteria such as income, number of inhabitants or area of the district.
A six-phase process
The development of the Pressupostos Participatius will be carried out in six phases:
- Debate and collection of projects (October – November 2024): Citizens will be able to submit proposals in face-to-face or online discussions.
- Technical assessment (December 2024 – January 2025): Municipal technical teams will evaluate the feasibility of the proposals.
- Prioritization (February 2025): Neighbors will be able to give their support to the most relevant proposals, and only the 25 with the most support will move on to the next phase.
- Project finalization (February – March 2025): Work will be carried out on the technical details of the selected projects.
- Final voting (April 2025): Citizens will vote on the finalist proposals, and the winners will be the ones to be implemented between 2024 and 2027.
- Monitoring (April 2025 – May 2027): Citizen participation and transparency will be ensured during the implementation of selected projects.
A commitment to inclusion and universal participation
One of the key objectives of this second edition is to ensure that participation is universal and inclusive. Specific sessions have been organized for groups with special needsand for children and young people, ensuring that the proposals reflect the diversity of Barcelona’s population. This inclusive perspective guarantees that the projects chosen will benefit all citizens, regardless of their situation.
A digital tool that boosts participation
The participatory process will be developed mainly through decidim.barcelona, a free software digital platform used in more than 30 countries. With more than 3.5 million participants worldwide, of which 115,000 are from Barcelona, this platform allows citizens to propose, discuss and vote on the projects they consider most important for their community. With this new edition of the Pressupostos Participatius, the City Council reaffirms its commitment to open, transparent and participatory public management. The experience gained in the first edition in 2020, in which 2,000 proposals were submitted and 72 selected projects were implemented, has allowed to improve the mechanisms to encourage the participation of all citizens.
A legacy of citizen participation
This participatory process kicks off coinciding with the end of Barcelona’s period as the first European Capital of Democracy, a recognition that the city received thanks to its participatory model. Since the fall of 2023, more than 100 participatory events and processes have been held, consolidating Barcelona as an international reference in participatory democracy. With the Pressupostos Participatius, citizens have a unique opportunity to be protagonists in making decisions that directly affect their daily lives and the future of the city. The City Council invites all Barcelonans to actively participate in this process, which will not only improve the city, but also strengthen the bonds of local democracy.
