Participatory Budgeting - San Pedro Garza García

The Participatory Budget of San Pedro Garza Garcia is an instrument through which funds are distributed to urban development projects proposed by citizens of the municipality. Each year, 100 million Mexican pesos are distributed among the 6 sectors and 177 neighborhoods into which the municipality is divided. The Participatory Budget program also provides workshops to help citizens propose viable projects. Projects related to the BDS have been financed through the program. Examples of such initiatives include: creating and renovating neighborhood parks, pocket parks, widening and tree-lining sidewalks, and creating green corridors. The chosen projects are implemented by experts, who have focused on planting the city with native and slow-growing tree species to improve the municipality's biodiversity and resilience to climate change.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Agreement-based or cooperative instrument›Public-community agreement

Challenges addressed

Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Heat stress and heat island effect
Air quality
Social cohesion
Social equity
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Human health, comfort and well-being

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

San Pedro Garza Garcia's Participatory Budgeting program has funded projects related to Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), specifically creating and renovating neighborhood parks (Pájaro Carpintero Park, Jardines del Valle Park, El Capitan Park), pocket parks (Entrada Colonia Vasconcelos), widening and tree-lining sidewalks and creating green corridors (Chipinquito). These projects address problems such as the lack of community spaces, through the creation and renovation of public spaces. They also support biodiversity in the city by planting a variety of native tree species, create more absorption spaces, and reduce the heat island effect.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Innovative

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Municipal Government of San Pedro Garza Carcía

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The Participatory Budget instrument was initiated from the top down by local authorities at the municipal level. This research did not identify more specific information about the design of the instrument.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Decide San Pedro is the platform through which the citizens of the municipality can propose projects that can be financed by the participatory budget, and vote for the ones they want to see implemented in their sector and/or neighborhood. Decide San Pedro was recognized by the Guide for Municipalities and Mayors of the National Institute of Transparency for being an innovative participatory practice. On the website, the citizens of San Pedro are kept abreast of the project's progress. They have access to information on progress, budgets, contractor assignments, among others. Each citizen of legal age can propose a single project for his or her sector and/or neighborhood and vote only once. The projects are reviewed by experts, and those that are determined to be viable are put to a vote. The project with the most votes wins the participatory budget and is implemented. After the vote, a workshop is organized to learn the priorities of the neighbors during the implementation of the selected projects ( website: https://decide.sanpedro.gob.mx/).

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen councils or consultation for co-planning (e.g. workshops, surveys)

Targeted actors:

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs, NGOs, etc.

Financing

Budget:

1 000 000€ - 5 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

Each year the budget of 100,000,000 pesos (4.68 Million Euros) is divided among 6 sectors and 177 neighborhoods, every two years. The budgets are defined based on variables such as property tax compliance, number of properties and number of neighborhood councils (barrios) in each sector. The neighborhoods can pool their budgets to finance larger projects.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The municipal government shares follow-up information about selected projects on a website called "Decide San Pedro." They mainly share information about how the budget has been being used (e.g. cost of replacing decayed trees with new trees). The goal of this is to prevent corruption in the municipality.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

Woodpecker Park: renovation and expansion of a colonia park. Twenty-six trees that had not been maintained were replaced and 15 new trees were added, including a 12-meter tall white oak. All trees planted are native to the region (sycamore, evergreen oak, oak oak, and colt grass) which are resilient to the city's cold winters and hot, dry summers. Rehabilitation of Jardines del Valle Park: for this rehabilitation, 31 trees in poor condition were removed and replaced with native and regional trees, according to the corresponding report made by environmental experts. Morones Prieto Avenue Arborization: the sidewalks were expanded along a section of the avenue, and 35 trees from the region were planted. Chipinquito Park: a ravine was protected and turned into a park for cycling. The pre-existing trees were maintained. El Capitan Park: 250 trees were recovered and the park was renovated, creating a green corridor.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Proposing projects can be challenging for people who do not have access to electronic devices. To try to reduce barriers to entry, the municipality of San Pedro organizes an event where neighbors can come to propose projects in person, or receive assistance in proposing projects online. The municipal government of Monterrey, a municipality that borders San Pedro Garza Garcia, is considering implementing a similar system to allocate its participatory budget, demonstrating that San Pedro's Participatory Budget system can be recreated in other municipalities.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Practical Guide https://decide.sanpedro.gob.mx/ Project Follow-up Blog https://blog.sanpedro.gob.mx/tag/presupuesto-participativo/ Woodpecker Park Report https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RnautAWYxLQtW_GOQpDX4-3J4Ydwtx4l/view https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc792.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1655721265126160&usg=AOvVaw1PlsuB_H2giRIwClfknzt_