WE ARE THE MAYOR!

August 04, 2019

How can we make our city car-free? Which ideas make our neighbourhood a better place to live in? What can we do to allocate resources more fairly throughout the city? In many places, citizens are beginning to work together with local administrations to shape the future of their city. Around the globe, more than half of the world’s population already lives in cities – in Germany it’s as many as three out of four people. And by 2050, it’s estimated that two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. [1] But what will the urban life of tomorrow look like? And, when it comes down to it, who actually decides? Taking as our examples cities in Germany, South Korea and Brazil, we want to show how city administrations working hand in hand with residents can successfully forge plans for the future and allocate city budgets.

Photo: Michael Kretschmar

DRESDEN: THE CITY AS A LABORATORY OF THE FUTURE

Implementing a car-free week, transforming former car parks, processing discarded food into delicious dishes, and donating spare cardboard and wood to schools and daycare centres – these are just some of the many ideas and concrete projects generated by the City of the Future initiative ‘ Zukunftsstadt Dresden’ that aims to make the city more sustainable and liveable.

Since 2015, Dresdeners have been participating in the initiative, which is part of Germany’s National Platform City of the Future and was launched by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. A budget of more than one million euros is available to enable projects to be implemented.

The question of whether with the help of this project the metropolis on the River Elbe can be successfully transformed into a sustainable city of the future is currently being assessed by scrutinising eight selected projects. Since 2019, the capital city of Saxony has been turned as a result into a test laboratory: researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR) and Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) are investigating in practice how ordinary citizens, the local administration, and players from business and science can best work together in a way that enables cities to develop sustainably.

"SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT CANNOT BE PLANNED TOP-DOWN, WITHOUT TAKING THE INHABITANTS INTO ACCOUNT. THEIR PROFESSIONAL, SOCIAL AND LOCAL EXPERTISE IS ESSENTIAL FOR PLACING THE CONCEPTS ON A BROAD FOOTING [...] AND FOR ANCHORING THEM IN THE URBAN COMMUNITY IN THE LONG TERM."
Rico Schwibs, Project Manager of ‘Zukunftsstadt Dresden‘ since 2019

Addressing problems “bottom-up”

For one thing, according to project manager Rico Schwibs, researchers have identified a reactivation and strengthening of neighbourhoods, and this, in its turn, is promoting a tolerant and dynamic coexistence among residents. Improving the city and adapting it to climate change was another concern shared by many citizens, Schwibs added.

By means of the ‘Zukunftsstadt Dresden’ project, the city administration and political representatives have placed into the hands of Dresden’s residents the implementation of sustainability concepts, while supporting the resulting citizens’ projects both structurally and financially.

SEOUL: PARTICIPATION FOR EVERYONE

Around ten million people are currently living in Seoul [2], and for years the metropolis has been considered a grim monster of cars and exhaust fumes. As a result, more greenery and less traffic was what urban planners came to demand. The expansion of bus routes and the metro system enabled lots of people to switch to public transport.[3] But not all of the problems facing this megalopolis have been solved. In order to provide the people of Seoul with a better quality of life, the city administration has started consulting its citizens. After all, they’re the ones who know best what needs to be done “on the ground”.

Please wait, the image is currently loading and will be there shortly.

In order to improve the quality of life in Seoul, the city’s administrators want citizens to tell them what they actually need in the areas where they live.

Photo: Pixabay

At the Citizens’ Hall, policy-makers listen to them. Located in the basement of the town hall, the Citizens’ Hall serves not only as a venue where visitors view exhibitions or listen to concerts and lectures: this is where Seoul’s inhabitants come together to discuss, argue and vote on the future of their city. For instance, they’ve put forward proposals for such things as promoting more young companies, launching a 24-hour market in the city and improving sanitary facilities in schools. In the meantime, several of these proposals have even been accepted and implemented. On the days when it’s open, the Citizens’ Hall attracts more than 5,000 visitors a day.

“In Seoul, the citizens are the mayor”

The fact that the citizens of Seoul have become urban policy-makers is not least thanks to Park Won-Soon. The long-time lawyer and human rights activist was elected mayor of the city in 2011. Since then, he’s been pushing ideas for more participation. For example, his administration even launched a mobile office: Park Won-Soon regularly visits disadvantaged neighbourhoods to hear what the local residents have to say and to find solutions to their problems. He says: “In Seoul, the citizens are the mayor”.[4] His policies are generally well received. In 2018, he was re-elected as mayor for the third time.

BELO HORIZONTE: CITIZEN PARTICIPATION AT THE CLICK OF A MOUSE

Helping to decide what your city’s budget is used for? In some cities around the globe, citizens are allowed to make proposals for where public money should be spent and are even given a fixed budget for selected projects. The idea for such participatory budgets originated in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre in the 1980s. Originally, the aim was to combat corruption through greater public transparency. As part of the concept, the city’s inhabitants take part in neighbourhood and council meetings to decide on future investments.

Please wait, the image is currently loading and will be there shortly.

In the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte, citizens can to some extent decide for themselves which projects they wish to see funded.

Photo: fredcardoso / Fotolia

Online voting

The Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte was another city that in the early 1990s gave its citizens the opportunity to participate in budgeting decisions; in 2006, for the first time, it even became possible for citizens to vote on projects at the click of a mouse. For people without Internet access, the city set up voting terminals and arranged for buses to bring people there. A total of 173,000 people cast their votes – almost ten percent of those eligible to vote in Belo Horizonte.[5] A success, but one clouded by the fact that multiple voting falsified the results. Nevertheless, according to experts, by including the Internet, Belo Horizonte’s participatory budgeting has become an internationally recognised example of good practice and an inspiration to other municipalities.[6]

Participatory budgeting has become increasingly popular in Germany too. In 2017 alone, around 100 German municipalities involved their inhabitants in the budget planning.[7]

Sabiner Wagner (2014): Erfolgreicher Bürgerhaushalt? Evaluation und Benchmarking von Bürgerhaushaltsverfahren. Diplomica Verlag

Angelika Vetter / Uwe Remer-Bollow (2017): Bürger und Beteiligung in der Demokratie. Eine Einführung, Wiesbaden. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften