In October 2022, the council members of Józsefváros decided to allocate HUF 150 million in the municipality’s 2023 budget for the implementation of a participatory budget. This year, on July 13, the members of the council made a decision about the results of the six-month process.
During the campaign, which started in February, 233 ideas were submitted by residents of Józsefváros. With the help of the district’s residents, a total of 40 ideas were put on the ballot paper. By mid-June, more than 6,600 votes cast by nearly 1,500 residents of Józsefváros had decided which ideas should be implemented.
On July 13, 2023, the members of the council approved the implementation of 16 ideas worth a total of HUF 150 million.
In Zone I (Palotanegyed, Csarnok negyed, and Corvin negyed, the following ideas will be implemented for a total of HUF 39.5 million:
- Establishing drinking fountains in Józsefváros;
- Accessibility of the Szent Kozma Józsefváros Health Centre;
- Greening of Pál utca;
- Dog friendly green lane in József utca.
In Zone II (Népszínház negyed, Magdolna negyed, Kerepesdűlő), the following ideas were voted for a total of HUF 37.3 million:
- Greening of the Karácsony Sándor utca
- Design of the reconstruction of the public space of the tram-train pair in Baross utca and the green lane;
- Greening of Magdolna utca between Dankó utca and Dobozi utca;
- Seating areas on Népszínház utca and the Jenő Setét memorial bench;
- Reconstruction of the Szerdahelyi utca public space.
Two ideas in Zone III (Losonci negyed, Orczy negyed, Ganz negyed, Tisztviselőtelep) fit into the budget:
- Making Orczy tér more liveable;
- Community garden in Zone III.
The planned costs of the first two (35 million HUF) were not covered by the budget of the district, therefore an additional 5 million HUF will be allocated to the planned costs of the improvement of Orczy tér, so that the two ideas can be implemented in the district with a total budget of 40 million HUF.
We have set aside HUF 30 million for non-place-specific, district-wide projects. Here are the winning ideas:
- Public toilet campaign;
- Spaying and neutering stray animals and setting up a stray animal support organisation in Józsefváros;
- Street urinal;
- Bird Friendly Józsefváros;
- Fund for accessibility.
These five projects will be implemented in the district with a total of HUF 33.2 million.
You can find out more about the ideas here. Now that the official decision is made, the departments responsible for implementing each idea can start the preparatory work.
What do the numbers say?
This year, 98 more ideas were submitted than in 2022, and twice as many people voted as last year. The number of people voting in person has nearly quadrupled compared to 2022.
| 2022 | 2023 |
| 135 ideas | 233 ideas |
| 685 voters | 1465 voters |
| 2595 votes | 6627 votes |
| 167 in-person voters | 549 in-person voters |
| 4 votes / person | 5 votes / person |
| 120 million HUF | 150 million HUF |
| 3 zones | 3 zones and ideas for the entire district |
During the 2023 process, 3 brainstorming workshops, 4 working group meetings, 1 open day, 3 picnics were organized by the municipality and 4 problem-solving walks were organized by district civil society. A new feature this year was the possibility to submit ideas and votes at 15 Participation Points, some of which were linked to the institutions of the municipality and the park guards, others to district communities and businesses. In addition to our staff, 25 volunteers and trainees played an essential role and were intensively involved in the implementation.
On July 21, 2023, at the final party of the participatory budgeting, we will celebrate the local residents involved in the process: those who submitted ideas, the participants of the working groups and the volunteers of the participatory budgeting process. We look forward to welcoming you all on Friday July 21, from 6pm at A Grund (30 Nagy Templom utca)!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the participatory budgeting process and helped us decide how to spend HUF 150 million of our collective money!
You can follow the implementation of the ideas at http://reszvetel.jozsefvaros.hu and http://jozsefvaros.hu/otthon/varosfejlesztes.
Throughout the participatory budgeting process, we are counting on the participation of the people of Józsefváros, not only in submitting ideas and voting. Although implementation is the responsibility of the municipality, where possible, we would like to involve those who submitted ideas and the residents impacted by the ideas. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Community Participation at reszvetel@jozsefvaros.hu.