Until 31 October Riga residents are invited to vote on neighbourhood development ideas. Riga will implement the ones that get the most votes.
Until the end of October, you can vote for one of the 30 ideas submitted to the Participatory Budgeting Competition by Riga residents and neighbourhood associations. This year the ideas submitted by residents include the creation of new children's playgrounds, skate parks, dog walking areas, sports and recreation areas, the installation of lighting and the improvement of traffic safety in various parts of Riga.
The municipality will implement the ideas that receive the most support from Riga residents. This year's supported projects will be implemented by the Riga City Council Territorial Improvement Department.
Voting takes place at website: balso.riga.lv and in person at Riga City Neighbourhood Residents Centre Customer Service Centres. Each resident can vote only once, so only one project can be supported. Anyone aged 16 or over can vote.
The Participatory Budget is an opportunity for citizens to directly decide how part of the city budget is spent, both by submitting neighbourhood development ideas themselves and by voting on which ones the municipality should implement. This year the funding of the Participatory Budget is € 700 000, with a maximum of € 70 000 per project. This means that at least 10 of the 30 ideas put to the vote will be implemented.
Inviting residents to vote, Riga Mayor Mārtiņš Staķis said: “The Participatory Budget is an opportunity for Riga's citizens to shape Riga themselves. I encourage you to be active voters, because this is a competition after all. Every vote counts and can determine the outcome of this competition – which neighbourhood development projects will be implemented.”
In the previous Participatory Budget Call for 2021, a total of € 500 000 was available and 12 projects were supported by the residents of Riga. A total of 19 011 people voted.
Riga Municipality has been organising a Participatory Budget competition and residents' vote since 2019, and this year – for the fourth time. Since 2019, a total of 127 project applications have been submitted by Riga residents. 24 projects were submitted for implementation in the first three years of the call. Of these, 7 projects have been fully implemented and 17 are currently in various stages of implementation.
Author: Edīte Matuseviča, Project Coordinator at External Communication Division of Riga City Council Communication Department, e-mail: edite.matusevica@riga.lv.
