Pula lets residents choose small local repairs, up to 8,000 euro per neighbourhood
Hook
Adult residents of Pula can propose repairs in their own neighbourhood, with up to EUR 8,000 per district. That is small, but it is real.
Claim
The mayor’s decision of 25 June 2024 sets participatory budgeting for 2025 (Odluka o provedbi projekta Participativnog budzetiranja za Grad Pula - Pola u 2025. godini):
- Residents decide directly on part of the funds from the utility fee (komunalna naknada) meant for maintaining public areas.
- Any adult with residence in Pula can propose, only in the local board (mjesni odbor) of their address; one proposal each. The decision does not say who may vote beyond an online platform.
- Proposals have 30 calendar days and go by email as a signed form. A technical analysis by the communal department checks them. Voting is normally online and open for 15 calendar days; ties get a re-vote of 7 days.
- Eligible areas: unclassified roads, green areas (not forests), public-purpose structures, public lighting, beaches, rainwater drainage, cleaning of public areas (not wild dumps).
- Rules: realisable within the 2025 budget year, not religious or party, no building permit needed, property issues settled.
- Cap: adopted proposals for each local board total up to EUR 8,000.
- Results are published on the city website with a short description, vote count and amount.
Broader picture: Rijeka runs several models, including a local partnership programme with a EUR 5,500 maximum per project in its 2025 budget proposal. Pazin’s participatory budget, begun in 2014, is described as the first in Croatia (Novi list; not opened).
What cannot be shown: how many people voted, or whether the programme changed trust. No 2025 results were found on the city site. The sum is small compared with a city budget, and the sources do not give the share.
Disclosure: Civium works in Pula (Moja Pula). This note describes a published procedure and does not praise any named official.
Story
A resident files a proposal about a broken lamp or drain, the city checks it, and then neighbours vote. The point is that someone can trace an idea from their own street to a budget line.
Sources
- City of Pula, mayor’s decision on participatory budgeting 2025 (PDF): https://pula.hr/media/uploads/content/images/2024/06/25/77odluka-o-provedbi-participativnog-budzetiranja.pdf
- Rijeka budget proposal 2025: https://www.rijeka.hr/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Prijedlog-proračuna-Grada-Rijeke-za-2025.-godinu-i-projekcija-za-2026.-i-2027.-godinu.pdf
- Novi list on Pazin: https://www.novilist.hr/novosti/hrvatska/pazin-hrvatski-porto-alegre-gradani-samo-odlucuju-o-kreiranju-proracuna/
Check before posting
- Results of the 2025 round: proposals, votes and projects chosen (not found), and whether a 2026 round exists.
- Who may vote.
- Whether Pula is a customer or partner of Civium; if so, say so in the post.
Counterargument
EUR 8,000 per local board is a token sum. Critics call this “participation theatre” when residents choose lamp posts while the large budget lines stay untouched.
Post angles
Facebook (Croatian) U Puli svaki punoljetni stanovnik može predložiti popravak u svom mjesnom odboru, a onda se o prijedlozima glasa putem interneta. Za svaki odbor predviđeno je do 8000 eura. To je malo, ali je stvarno: prijedlog, stručna provjera, glasanje i objava rezultata s brojem glasova. Za veće stvari treba više, ali ovo je početak koji se može provjeriti. (Napomena: Civium radi u Puli.)
LinkedIn (English) Pula’s participatory budgeting for 2025: any adult resident can propose a repair in their own neighbourhood board, voting runs online for 15 days, and up to EUR 8,000 per board is allocated. Small, but the process is specific and published. Disclosure: we work in Pula. A fair question is how many people actually voted.
Links
Croatia publishes a decent budget but gives citizens almost no say in making it Fewer people stand in Croatian local elections and the candidates are getting older