Participatory Budget of Wrocław as an Element of Smart City 3.0 Concept

Abstract

The hereby article is targeted at the analysis of participatory budget's evolution for the city of Wrocław (WBO) within the context of this process being incorporated in the concept of Smart City. The research encompassed the principles of social consultations realized by Wrocław in the years 2013-2016. Furthermore, the results of voting in the individual conditions of WBO in terms of the number of voters and the structure of the selected projects. The analysis also covered the information concerning WBO and the "Smart City Wrocław" project included on internet websites of the city and within the strategies and programming documents. Key changes observed in the principles of forming WBO concerned the scale of the financed projects, increases of the scope of preparatory works, increase of the role of project leaders, strive for more even distribution of the realized projects within the area of the city, increase of citizen participation in the creation of projects through implementing alternative planning methods (i.e.. Citizen Labs). The conducted analysis revealed that WBO is not just an element of actions in the scope of social participation. It is also a uniquely important area of actions contributing to the formation of Smart City 3.0. Its form is subject to constant improvement thanks to efficient communication of the authorities and the inhabitants by means of a number of information channels (including innovative ones) and the analysis of the obtained through this information. These are essential both at the stage of picking up the ideas and their subsequent selection as well as realization assessment. The budget evolution is directed also at increasing activeness of the inhabitants within the regions which were so far characterized by their relative passivity. The basic determinants of changes are on one hand the postulates of activation of individual groups of inhabitants, while on the other hand, the search for optimum model of selection of projects which considers sustainable growth of the entire city.

Keywords: smart city, participatory budgeting, local government

JEL Classification: H11, H76, O38