A 29-page concept, developed by the Senate Department for Finance and the Senate Chancellery, was adopted shortly before the election in autumn 2021. It said that the Finance Senator and the Senate Chancellery should create the conditions so that citizens can be promised “a concrete budget for the implementation of the investment projects they have proposed”. Because nothing happened for a long time after that, there were many doubts that the Senate was serious about the implementation.
Concrete implementation is scheduled to start in spring 2023. A project company, which is still to be found, is to make the concept known to the city community, set up a website and organize events. A steering committee made up of MPs and administrative representatives is to accompany the rough concept in detail. “I’m fighting to get things started as soon as possible,” says Hendrikje Klein. In autumn 2023, Berliners should then be able to submit suggestions and ideas for city-wide projects. The imagination knows no limits. “People can use it to make investment decisions that are relevant for Berlin themselves and thus help shape the reality of their lives,” says the concept: “This process can promote their self-efficacy, motivate them to participate more and strengthen the population’s identification with their city.” a limit of 25,000 euros should apply to the existing district participatory budgets in Lichtenberg, Treptow-Köpenick, Marzahn-Hellersdorf and Neukölln. However, according to Klein, the citizen does not have to decide whether the state or the district is responsible for implementing his or her proposal. Mainly, however, it will probably be about investment projects in the public sector. Participatory budgeting is considered an important and internationally tried and tested instrument for promoting participation. With their suggestions, people can show what is important to them when it comes to improving public infrastructure. In Paris, a total of 500 million euros were made available for city-wide projects and investments from 2014 to 2020. So far, more than 140,000 Parisians have participated in the distribution of the funds with several thousand suggestions. In the French capital, cycle paths have been laid out, pavilions in parks have been renovated, school gardens have been set up and lockable lockers have been set up for the homeless’ belongings.
