A new street in the neighborhood, the playground around the corner or traffic routing in the city center - many decisions are made locally. More and more local authorities are offering their citizens the opportunity to participate digitally. But how widespread are such online formats really? Researchers at Dresden University of Technology, together with the universities of Leipzig, Düsseldorf and Koblenz, surveyed over 10,000 cities and municipalities in Germany. 2,390 cities and municipalities responded to the survey - that's 22 percent. Over half of Germans - 45 million people - live in these places. The survey is not representative, but allows a systematic comparison of structural differences for the first time.
East German municipalities are ahead in terms of digital citizen participation. Overall, more cities and municipalities there offer digital participation formats than in western Germany. The lead is particularly clear in medium-sized and small cities. While 85 percent of medium-sized cities in eastern Germany offer digital citizen participation, only 70 percent of medium-sized cities in western Germany do. Of the small cities, 62 percent in eastern Germany use such formats, compared to only 43 percent in the west. The picture is reversed in large cities. West German municipalities are ahead there.
Urban-rural divide shapes digital participation
The size of a municipality plays a decisive role. Large cities in the study provide digital citizen participation almost without exception - 96 percent. In smaller cities and municipalities, the offerings are significantly less widespread. There are specific reasons for this. Participation formats are primarily offered by large, populous municipalities with a high tax base and corresponding personnel resources. 63 percent of large cities have their own department or permanent positions for this purpose. Municipalities in rural areas and small towns, on the other hand, tend to organize digital participation flexibly and without permanent positions.
The topics also differ. Large cities focus on traffic development as well as climate and environmental protection. More than 50 percent of large cities offer digital participation in both areas. Smaller cities and municipalities, on the other hand, focus on urban and community development and the management of deficiencies.
Transparency comes first
What do municipalities want to achieve with digital citizen participation? Almost 90 percent of large cities and more than 80 percent of small and medium-sized cities as well as rural municipalities name a common goal. They want to make political decision-making processes more transparent.
"The results of the survey were extremely well received by practitioners from the municipalities," says Prof. Marianne Kneuer from TU Dresden. The Professor of Political Systems and System Comparison is leading the research project. She adds that this knowledge resource has been lacking until now and will undoubtedly close a gap. A dashboard on the project website offers local authorities a central overview. They can compare participation processes and improve their offerings.
Further information can be found on the project website "Success factors for local e-participation".
