A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development of the 21st Century

Shanghai Manual – A Guide for Sustainable Urban Development in the 21 st Centurymeasures solved the revenue crisis, so the city could have resources for infrastructureimprovements and enabled the introduction of participatory budgeting.The Administration divided the city into communities and allowed existing communityassociations to represent their constituents. City officials decided that community associationsthemselves would decide how the city should be divided into representative areas. It alsopromised to include the newly formed City Council in local decision making processes.In launching the preparations for participatory budgeting, two conditions should be mentioned.First, the decision to integrate community associations into the municipal decision makingstructure went smoothly because many of the new municipal leaders had been community leadersthemselves. The people involved in the dialogue already knew each other and were familiar withlocal conditions. Second, the community associations sought and received full autonomy for theparticipatory budgeting process. The City Council and the Mayor could review and makesuggestions, but had no authority over the participatory budgeting decisions. This was alandmark decision, and one that was in agreement with the new administration’s political views.Participatory Budget Process - On an annual basis, two main roundtable meetings coordinatedby the municipality are preceded by several smaller meetings organized by the communitiesthemselves. Thematic meetings are also held to attract groups like trade unions and professionalorganizations.At the first roundtable meeting, photos of public works are presented to demonstrate the status ofthe previous year’s investments. City officials can submit proposals for discussion, which canthen be accepted by a simple majority vote. Direct, continuous relations between high-levelgovernment personnel and the community have a profound impact on educating officials aboutcitizens’ wishes and on educating citizens about government programmes.At the second roundtable, participants choose the investment priorities for their regions, make alist of demands, and elect the Council representatives. The Council then considers variousdemands for services, and discusses criteria and priorities for budget allocations. It develops thebudget proposal and submits it to the Mayor and the City Council for review. The City Council31