PB Around the World: A Brief History of International Participatory Budgeting Processes

For five years, residents of District 39 have known what is now known by residents of 27 districts citywide, several cities in both the United States and Canada, across Latin America, Africa, and Australia: Participatory budgeting is an unrivaled method of empowering communities, giving residents the opportunity to collectively decide how to spend public funds.

In 2005, a coalition of PB activists and researchers from the US and Canada began to organize and hold conference sessions and workshops, publish informational writing on the PB process, and spread the word about PB.  In 2009, the group established the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), a non-profit organization whose goal has been to encourage small communities and cities to try their hands at PB.  Their goal was first realized that year when Chicago Alderman Joe Moore became the nation’s first elected official to use PB, designating over $1 million of his ward’s discretionary funds for the cause. Soon afterwards, the PB process was implemented in Toronto, and in 2011, was implemented in New York City. Since then, districts of San Francisco and St. Louis as well as the entire cities of Boston and Vallejo, California, have allocated money for PB:

City	Chicago, U.S.	Boston, U.S.	Vallejo, U.S.	Toronto, Canada
Amount ($) Allocated	$5 Million	$1 Million	$3.28 Million	$200,000
Past Projects	-sidewalk bump-outs to improve pedestrian safety -turf fields and playgrounds at local elementary schools -repaved streets -replanting over 110 streets	-20 surveillance cameras in a local park to increase security and protection -designated wall space for local graffiti artists to showcase their work -laptops for local schools	-community gardens developed offering nutritional education to kids -repaired lighting, flooring, and windows at a local senior center -low cost spaying and neutering procedures for pets	-adequate lighting for natural ice skating in local parks -painting of a mural on a bridge over a local highway -refurbishment of a bocce court in a local park

Other major cities participating in the PB process include:

Seville, Spain:

·         Seville is the largest European city with PB, having 20,000 participants and a $19 million annual allocation. Residents make decisions on nearly 50% of local spending in their city districts.

Durham, UK:

·         In Durham, the City Council has allocated £500,000 for its fourteen local engagement structures and held conferences regarding local priorities and the Council’s budget.

Porto Alegre, Brazil:

·         Porto Alegre became the first full city to institute a PB process in 1989. Today, around 50,000 vote annually in its PB process, deciding how to spend as much as 20% of the city’s entire budget.  

La Plata, Argentina:

·         In this city, up to 51,000 citizens gather in neighborhood assemblies to discuss their various needs and propose projects for the public to fund. Since 2008, over $10 million has been spent annually on the La Plata’s PB projects.

This map from PBP shows the locations of PB processes around the world.

With 51,000 voters and $32 million allocated in 2015, New York City has taken a leading role in advancing the progressive movement in discretionary funding.  In recent years, District 39 has become a PB trailblazer promoting equity and civic engagement throughout the city.