Participatory budget in Wieden: Your ideas shape the future!

Participatory budget in Wieden: Your ideas shape the future!

Wiener Wieden invites its citizens to take an active part in shaping their district. With the so-called participation budget, Wiedners can contribute ideas and suggestions to enrich public life. Last year, over 50 ideas were submitted, primarily on topics such as playgrounds, cultural events for children and seating in public spaces. This participation is central to the district politics agenda and is strongly encouraged by the district leader Lea Halbwidl.

Participation and participation are the focus

In the current third round of the participatory budget, citizens have the opportunity to submit their suggestions until October 8, 2025. Discussions are offered at several locations in the district, including St.-Elisabeth-Platz, Mozartplatz and Alois-Drasche-Park. The opportunity to participate online is also available on the website wieden.wien.gv.at given.

The enthusiasm of the people of Wied is reflected in the number of suggestions submitted. In 2023 there were almost 70 ideas, including some that will be incorporated into the redesign of Argentinierstrasse and Wiedner Hauptstrasse. Particular emphasis is placed on requests for more children's events in Wiedner's parks - an indication of the residents' lively commitment to a child-friendly environment.

From the idea to implementation

As the MyDistrict reported, the suggestions are not just collected ideas, but they are also actively checked for their feasibility. Of the 48 concrete suggestions received, 14 measures, such as new seating at Südtiroler Platz, have already been implemented. Special events such as children's concerts and a parent-child gymnastics course in collaboration with the adult education center are also planned for 2023.

In order to implement the suggestions effectively, an exchange will take place with various municipal departments and affected companies in order to create the necessary cost estimates. Some suggestions, such as opening one-way lanes for cyclists, are still being examined and have been forwarded to the city of Vienna.

A look beyond the borders

The participatory budget process is part of the concept of “structured participation”, which is found in many cities. These approaches aim to integrate citizens not only in individual projects, but also in local decision-making. Guidelines for citizen participation are intended to promote the flow of information and transparency, as described on the Difu website difu.de.

These initiatives make it clear that Wieden is not only a place to live, but also an invitation to help shape it. Wieden is well on the way to becoming a bit more livable through active citizen participation.