Until 31 October Riga residents are invited to vote on one of 30 different 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.
Voting takes place at website: balso.riga.lv and in person at the Customer Service Centres of the Riga City Neighborhood Residents Centre. This year, you can also vote in person at the Ilguciems Library on 10 and 24 October and at the Imanta Library on 3, 17 and 31 October from 13.00 to 17.00. Each resident can vote only once, so only one project can be supported. Anyone aged 16 or over can vote. This year, voting will close on 31 October at 21.00 instead of midnight as in previous years.
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.
Mayor of Riga Vilnis Ķirsis encourages residents to vote: "For the fifth year in a row, Riga residents have the opportunity to decide what improvements are most needed in their neighbourhoods, both by submitting their ideas in the spring and now by voting in October. I call on every resident of Riga to use their voice and decide which neighbourhood development ideas to implement."
Last year we also had a total of €700 000 available for ideas within the participatory budget competition. 42 852 residents voted in total, supporting implementation of 12 projects.
Riga Municipality has been organising the a participatory budget competition and residents' vote since 2019, and this year – for the fifth time. Since 2019, a total of 175 project applications have been submitted by Riga residents. 36 projects were submitted for implementation in the four years of the competition. Of these, 12 projects have been fully implemented and 24 are currently in various stages of implementation.
Information prepared by: Edīte Matuseviča, Project Coordinator at External Communication Department of the Riga City Council, email: edite.matusevica@riga.lv