Cities That Decide: How Barcelona Put Budget Power in Citizens’ Hands
Target 16.7 – Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making
In Barcelona, like in many global cities, residents often felt distant from the decisions that shaped their streets, parks, and public services. City budgets were debated behind closed doors. Community consultations were limited. People wanted a say but didn’t know where to begin.
That changed in 2015 with the arrival of Barcelona en Comú, a citizen-led movement that swept into city government. At its centre was former housing activist Ada Colau, who became mayor. One of her team’s first priorities was to build a better form of local democracy, one that didn’t just ask residents what they wanted but gave them tools to decide.
The result was Decidim, a digital platform for participatory democracy, launched in 2016. The name means “we decide” in Catalan. And that’s exactly what it enabled people to do.
The process was straightforward, but powerful. Every two years, the city allocated a share of its budget, tens of millions of euros, for direct citizen input. Through Decidim, residents could propose projects, comment on others, debate priorities and vote on what should receive funding. The platform was open-source, transparent and legally binding. If a project got enough votes and met basic feasibility criteria, it had to be funded.
But what made it work wasn’t just the software. It was the outreach. The city trained volunteers to host offline assemblies in neighbourhoods, especially in underrepresented areas. Paper ballots were offered alongside the app. Libraries, community centres and schools became voting points. And the city made a special effort to include migrants, young people, seniors and low-income families, groups often left out of traditional planning.
In the first round, more than 45,000 people participated, selecting projects like green schoolyards, safer intersections, upgraded sports facilities and youth arts spaces. One neighbourhood chose to convert an abandoned lot into a community garden. Another used funds to improve accessibility at a metro station. These were not symbolic gestures, they were real improvements, driven by local votes.
Over time, participation grew. By 2023, over 120,000 citizens had taken part in one or more rounds of participatory budgeting. The city had funded hundreds of projects this way, small, medium and large. And each one came with a public record of where the money went and how the decision was made.
The success of Decidim sparked global interest. Cities across Spain, including Madrid and Pamplona, began using versions of the platform. Internationally, Helsinki, Bologna, and Mexico City adopted or adapted the tool. What began as a local experiment became an international model for tech-enabled, citizen-driven governance.
The platform has since been used for more than just budgeting. Citizens have contributed to municipal regulations, climate plans, housing policy and youth programmes. Some schools now use it for student councils. Trade unions and NGOs use it to run internal decision-making. The code is freely available, and new cities join each year.
But the real value lies in the culture shift it created. In Barcelona, local government is no longer seen as distant. It’s something people feel part of. Residents know they have the right, and the means, to shape their city. That sense of agency is what SDG 16.7 is all about.
This story isn’t about an app. It’s about access. When you give people the power to make decisions, and trust them to use it, democracy doesn’t weaken. It deepens.
Your Voice. Your Target. Your Legacy.
If your community, school or council wants to build inclusive governance, don’t wait for a top-down mandate. Start small. Share power. Open your process. Let people vote on real money, not just give opinions. And commit to follow through.
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