This is a CTP of initiative: Participatory Budgeting Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
The PB is closely linked to issues of territory in the city, precisely because the city is made up of territories that often have different needs.
In this sense, irregular neighborhoods, villages and slums that were not considered part of the city`s territory have been incorporated into the PB process and for this to happen, the city underwent a political makeover.
This is extremely important because the people in these neighbourhoods previously received no care through public policy, precisely because they did not legally count as part of the municipality of Belo Horizonte.
From 2011, a joint effort began between the PB organization and other actors in the city that started to map these irregular neighborhoods, indicating vulnerabilities and areas of social interest.
With this data, they redesigned the PB methodology, changing its structure to be able to include these populations in the city’s PB process.
In the 2012 round this inclusion appeared timidly and in a test format.
By 2014 the inclusion had been strengthened and these communities were now served by the OP process in the city of Belo Horizonte.
There were different instances in the City Hall that were related to the viability of this CTP.
Secretariat of Urban Planning: responsible for conducting all studies to develop the city’s plan.
URBEL (Urbanization and Housing Company of Belo Horizonte Housing): a group within the city hall that works directly with the “informal city” and promotes the urbanization of shantytowns and slums. It builds the specific overall plans, makes deals with communities and closely designs inclusion processes.
Secretariat of Shared management: is responsible for the methodology of the PB process and for convening the secretariats for pertinent discussions regarding the process.
Secretariat for Urban regulatory: also had a strong presence at this time because their superficial participation in the PB was replaced by the mandatory participation of the urban regulatory office in evaluating demands to validate the possibility of continuity of construction works in certain places. They are responsible for judging the legal viability of any demand.
2009 – New territory delimitation - Law No. 9691 was enacted, which formalized the Belo Horizonte district map. This map identifies a total of 487 districts, and for the purposes of the law, every village in the city identified by URBEL was recognized as an independent neighborhood.
2011 - Process review of the PB methodology became official - The design of the Regional Participatory Budgeting process included the participation of the various departments and agencies involved in the planning and execution of Participatory Budgeting in the city.
2011 – Recognition of new areas of social interest - The Assistant Municipal Secretary for Urban Planning modified the characterization of informal neighborhoods which allowed the classification of settlements as areas of social interest and included the possibility of their regularization. From this study the illegal and irregular settlements in Belo Horizonte, if considered areas of social interest, now have an obligation to request the Regularization and Urbanization Plan (PRU) as a first step in order to conquer other interventions in the PB process.
2011 – Formalization of the Secretariat of Shared Management - In 2011 a redesign of the structure took place and the Secretariat of Shared Management was created. In the beginning it was not responsible for the whole PB process, just its organization (assemblies, voters, etc). Nowadays this Secretariat is responsible for the entire PB process and is where the PB’s projects and regional monitoring manager are located.
2012 – Update to the Urban Life Quality Rate - The new information collected by IBGE with the 2010 Census allowed for an update in the Urban Life Quality Rate and the population information that is used to calculate the distribution of resources by sub-region. Because of this update, for some sub-regions the amount of resources received changed due to some improvements that had been made over the past decade.
2014 - Priority Areas map for Participatory Budgeting updated - The Priority Areas map for Participatory Budgeting interventions was updated by including irregular allotments indicated in the Local Plan for Social Housing (PLHIS), areas occupied by families with incomes that totaled up to three (3) minimum wages and were in need of urban interventions
In the internal environment of the city hall, there was no opposition to the proposed changes in the PB methodology.
However, before these changes were made, questions arose that caused some internal discussions.In order to include informal neighborhoods in the OP process, it was necessary to conduct a study on these neighborhoods and carry out minimal planning to identify key needs and priority actions.
Within the city there was nobody whose responsibility was related directly to the job. The two structures that did the operational works in the city, URBEL (working with the informal city - shantytowns and slums) and SUDECAP (working with the formal urban territory) did not feel capable of coordinating the project demands for the informal neighborhoods. It is important to note that informal settlements are different in structure, demands and legal problems (in relation to the villages and slums served by URBEL), therefore therefore this CTP concerns coordinating a study with informal settlements in order to facilitate a better understanding of the settlements and their entry into the OP process.
The decision to change the methodology of the PB was the consequence of a detailed study, which has already resulted in some actions.
When the first change occurred (it was the inclusion of the secretariats for regulation and supervision in urban decision-making concerning the demands of the PB), other problems were noted: “We had completed a study, had included the endorsement of the secretariats. But we often got stuck on legal issues, or when they were going to carry out a detailed technical study, it was not possible to carry out the work (...) Many consequences arise in relation to any change that occurs to the operation of PB, which is why we try to qualify the process for each new cycle. But there will always be something unpredictable and we will always have to change what is not working".
Aligning each of the allocated responsibilities within the city hall was a learning experience, in the opinion of the interviewee: "The process is complex: it is good to know who can solve things and who responds to specific responsibilities".
The PB is an organic process, as stated by the interviewee “It is and always will be constantly changing. During all cycles we learn to deal with an unexpected situation and every solution we give to each situation is a new thing for us”.
Learning is, in this case, to know how to be resilient and how to understand the flexibility and legitimacy of the process throughout its inevitable changes.
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