Environmental Aspects of City Participatory Budgeting in Poland

Abstract

Participatory budgets are an increasingly common form of co-decision of residents about the quality of life and development directions of urban space. In Poland, participatory budgets have been realized for a decade, and projects submitted to these budgets respond to needs such as e.g. leisure infrastructure, environmental conditions, recreation, health, and education. The study aims to analyze the phenomenon of civic participation and the use of participatory budgets as a tool of co-governance in the context of environmental issues and urban development. A desk research analysis of national and foreign literature data was performed, and the existing statistical data on participatory budgets in Poland were analyzed. In addition, the websites of selected cities in Poland were analyzed in the context of implemented projects and citizen’s activity within the framework of participatory budgets. The results indicate that the initial enthusiasm of the citizen’s implementation has decreased, but the COVID-19 pandemic has aroused renewed interest in the topic. The study’s implication is recommendations, e.g.: creating a civic budget database featuring uniform categories or creating Green Civic Budgets in every city.