Stadtidee

Between September 2020 and February 2021, the "Quartieridee" tested a participatory process for collecting ideas and budgeting hyperlocal projects - specifically in the Wipkingen neighbourhood - for the first time in Zurich. As part of the Quartieridee, 40,000 Swiss francs were distributed to ideas in Wipkingen in a participatory manner. 

The aim of the "Quartieridee" was to gather experience and find out how and under what conditions such a participatory process can work in Zurich. The ZKB anniversary dividend has now given the Zurich city administration the opportunity to extend the "Quartieridee" to all neighbourhoods in the city and to test the city-wide implementation of a participatory budget. This is how the "Stadtidee" came into being. 

How did the Quartieridee come about?

For five years, the association Nextzürich has been promoting the idea of a "participatory budget" at the neighbourhood level in Zurich. Encouraged by the Wipkingen neighbourhood association, Nextzürich published a detailed concept for this idea together with the association Urban Equipe in 2018. This led to a cooperation with Zurich's Office for Urban Development, which in turn is implementing the city's strategic focus "smart participation". Together, they launched the pilot project "Quartieridee Wipkingen".