Participatory Budgeting in Santo André: The Challenge of Linking Short-term Problem Solving with Long-term Strategic Planning in a Brazilian Municipality

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IS an increasingly common phenomenon in Brazil, as in other Latin American countries and Europe as well. This collaborative process for decision-making on public investments can take a number of forms, as Yves Cabannes explained in a recent issue of Environment and Urbanization (Vol 16, No 1, April 2004). This book, which is the outcome of research by the Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies in the Netherlands together with the SINPA/Bolivia Project, describes the variant that was developed in Santo André, Brazil, the only Brazilian case study selected by UNCHS to be presented at the Habitat II+5 conference.

Against a background of the municipal budgeting process in Brazil and the relevant regulatory framework, the book discusses the evolution of participatory budgeting in Santo André. Initially introduced as a consultative mechanism by Mayor Daniel Celso during his first term of office (1989–92), it only developed as a decision-making forum after his re-election in 1997. (During the interim period of conservative government, there was no citizen participation in the budgeting process.) The description of the current process includes an account of its organizational structure and of the roles of all key stakeholders, including lay citizens and neighbourhood organizations, the elected representatives who serve as participatory budgeting councillors, and local government staff. It also provides an explanation of the procedure by which local representatives are chosen and then prepared for their role as decision makers.

The core of the book is a presentation of the findings of a survey of participants in the participatory budgeting process, and an analysis of a range of stakeholders. The survey found, among other things, that the process attracts the poorest groups, with more limited participation from middle-class and affluent sectors. Most of the lay participants in plenary sessions are not affiliated with any associations or unions, and for the most part they are politically independent. The elected representatives, on the other hand, tend to be highly active politically. Active participants were found to be investing large amounts of time in being part of the process – a commitment that they found enriching, but one that was also a drain on their personal lives. The book also examines Santo André’s Cidade Futuro (CF) Project, a long-term strategic planning tool which serves as an important complement to the essentially short-term objectives of the participatory budgeting process, and it discusses the difficulties and opportunities involved in coordinating these complementary but very different processes. Although the authors conclude that participatory budgeting in Santo André has been a significant achievement, promoting active citizenship and transparency in the management of public funds, they make it clear that the greatest challenge to urban management in the city is the full integration of these short- and long-term tools.