SA+P Students Help Incubate City’s New Participatory Budgeting Program for $1.5 Million for our Community.
April 18, 2025
Have you seen the announcements about Albuquerque’s first ever Participatory Budgeting (PB) process? PB is a democratic process where the community decides where public money will be spent. And it was incubated at the School of Architecture and Planning. Students in Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker’s classes, “Foundations of Community Development and Policing the City,” started researching PB with a community group and organizing community conversations in 2023. They helped launch a new community organization, PBABQ, which partnered with District 6 city councilor Nichole Rogers in 2024. Rogers invested 1.5 million dollars for a PB pilot.
Through grassroots organizing and in collaboration with city officials, community members developed 9 projects – everything from bike infrastructure to public toilets to school infrastructure upgrades.
And it is finally voting time! And PB is very inclusive – everyone over age 11 who lives, works or studies in Roger’s district 6 can vote. UNM Main Campus is in district 6, so all SAAP students, staff and faculty can vote.
Voting ends 4/19 – tomorrow. You can vote here.
