In the second round of the City of Helsinki’s participatory budgeting OmaStadi, almost 500 proposals for the development of the city have been honed during the spring, together with city residents and city experts. Voting on the proposals will be held in autumn 2021. Most suggestions were made on the themes of exercise and outdoor activities, as well as parks and nature.
Close to 500 reform proposals are at both regional and city level and can be found on the OmaStadi website.
In January – May, hundreds of proposals were jointly developed on OmaStadi’s website and in 15 online workshops organized by the city. Around 500 city residents and more than a hundred city experts took part in the workshops.
Helsinki resident Iiri Heinilä told about what it was like to participate in the second round of OmaStadi.
“When I was swimming in Uunisaari, I began to think about improving the small things related to swimming. OmaStadi’s ideation hit a point. The ideas were later joined by another idea of unobstructed passage in the area. I met new people in the Alueraksa workshop. I was absolutely excited as the proposal worked out of the ideas progressed to the Teemaraksa workshop. I also wanted to be involved there. I am hopeful, because I strongly believe in our joint proposal.”
“During the summer, residents’ suggestions can be found on OmaStadi’s website. The proposals show that the residents are really committed to developing their city. Overall, the participation of Helsinki residents is natural and lively. It has been a pleasure to be involved in bringing new dimensions to the dialogue between residents and the City of Helsinki”, describes Johanna Seppälä, Head of the City of Helsinki’s Participation and Citizen Information Unit.
The Helsinki of dreams is created together
Every Helsinki resident has the right to feel that they belong to Helsinki and to carry out impressive deeds for the benefit of his or her own community. The residents of Helsinki make city and local pride part of the city’s identity. It is easy to work for the benefit of others in Helsinki. The goal of OmaStadi is to strengthen the opportunities for citizens to have an influence, to promote equality and to increase the understanding of the city’s operations.
The activities promote an open and transparent planning and decision-making culture and enable the direct participation of residents in city development and economic planning.
The City of Helsinki’s Deputy Mayor Anni Sinnemäki describes the way that Helsinki implements participatory budgeting.
“Interaction, such as with OmaStadi, has strengthened our understanding of what is important to residents. With the help of OmaStadi, many interesting trials have taken place, with which Helsinki has become a more functional and pleasant city.”
OmaStadi is the City of Helsinki’s way of implementing participatory budgeting. In the autumn of 2020, the second round of OmaStadi was launched, for which the city will spend 8.8 million euros. Of the 1463 ideas of the city residents, 1150 ideas met the criteria set by OmaStadi. The most popular themes were exercise and outdoor activities, parks and nature, the built environment, and community. Residents have refined and combined proposal ideas with experts on the OmaStadi website and in workshops. In May, the modification of almost 500 proposals will be completed and cost estimates started. Next autumn, the proposals that the city will implement will be voted on.
Read more:
Monitoring the implementation of the first round of proposals
The Most Functional City in the World – Helsinki City Strategy 2017–2021
Image: KMG Turku.