Fostering community engagement through crowdsourcing: Case study on participatory budgeting

Abstract

Crowdsourcing in urban governments is defined as the use of new technologies in order to take advantage of citizen knowledge to find solutions to municipal problems. Driven by the constant technological advances and ubiquitous Internet connection, the crowdsourcing platforms are proving to be valuable tools for triggering and engaging the public towards active participation. In this article, we present the emerging role of crowdsourcing in urban administration and illustrate an example of a case study on how crowdsourcing fosters citizen engagement. The case study shows that crowdsourcing leads not only to deeper civic engagement but also to better public decisions. © 2018, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services,cademy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania. All rights reserved.