Participatory budgeting: current experience, features of implementation and development in the region

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems and achievements of participatory budgeting as a new form of citizen participation in the regulation of the municipal budget. The current experience, features of implementation and prospects of development of participatory budgeting as a tool for solving urgent social problems taking into account the needs of citizens in cities on the example of Dnipropetrovsk region are analyzed. The research was conducted using the cartographic method and methods of geographical interpretation of the results of mathematical and statistical modeling. An attempt to make an assessment classification of the region's cities according to the sets of indicators (the amount of budgeting, project topics, citizen activity and the dynamics of the process and other) was made. The indicators were standardized and based on them, scores were calculated for each city. According to this the cities were combined into five groups that differ in the features, level and effectiveness of participatory budgeting. The dependence of the level of development of this process on the population of cities, transparency and openness of information and level of population involvement in the solution of urgent needs is established. In large cities the activity of citizens and the categories of proposed projects depend on the city districts functional features and there centrality / peripherality. The positive features of the implementation of participatory budgeting in the cities of Dnipropetrovsk region include the following: increasing the number of projects and the amount of their funding; significant positive changes in the level of amenities and infrastructure, the quality of educational services; strengthening the humanitarian policy development; increasing social activity of the population. In the region the most successful cities in participatory budget implementation are the largest cities Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih. The analysis of the participatory budgeting process revealed a number of general, regional and local problems of both methodological and technological nature. It is emphasized that the geographical aspect of the study of such a new social phenomenon as participatory budgeting in the cities of Ukraine is a relevant and promising scientific field.