Towards Sustainability? Analysis of Participatory Budgeting in the City of Katowice

Cities are essential for implementing sustainable development. Nevertheless, the goal of making cities sustainable is a complex process that includes many social, economic and environmental aspects. The aim of this article is to identify connections between civic participation in local policy making and actions towards sustainability at the city level. It is well established that with the help of governance and the collaborative approach the process of local development is conducted with a better recognition of the needs of the community. This results in a higher quality of life. Moving towards sustainability is therefore the outcome of local management, the governance mechanism and the capacity of citizens to self-organize. This requires awareness and the willingness to cooperate on both sides i.e. on the part of the local authorities and the local community. The author explains how different benefits derived from citizens’ engagement affect sustainable development of cities. The analysis is based on a case study of participatory budgeting in the city of Katowice. As it is a learning process, the author evaluates consecutive editions of the participatory budgets in Katowice to determine if this process helps Katowice make a step towards sustainability.