Chris ~

2660 days ago

Their big idea was to allow the citizens rather than the politicians to allocate a significant proportion of the city's budget. In other words, they made Porto Alegre into a much bigger version of an Occupy camp.

To this day, each neighbourhood gets together every week to analyse the previous year's budget, and discuss what they want to build in to the next. Anyone can speak, and together they elect representatives who – with delegates from other areas – put their proposals to a citywide assembly, which makes a final decision on what gets funded.

Participatory democracy in Porto Alegre

theguardian.com

Last year, I reported on the Occupy movement, spending a few nights at the Occupy London camp outside St Paul's. By the time I arrived, there was a fire-safe kitchen with several qualified chefs. There was a recycling centre, a lecture theatre, and a library.