Residents in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar have voted on what public amenities they’d like using a mobile app, a new method that authorities may extend to other areas to improve transparency and efficiency, a government official said.

Nearly half of the city’s eligible voters picked their favored facilities – ranging from children’s playgrounds to streetlights – through a mobile app even as they remained in their homes in recent months because of coronavirus lockdowns. The process saw more women, young people and the elderly participate than in a previous paper-based system that only allowed heads of households to vote, said N.Otgonbayar, head of policy and planning in the Municipality of Ulaanbaatar (MUB).

“The traditional approach was expensive and time consuming, and did not give us an accurate picture because not everyone could participate,” he said on Thursday. “Digital voting is a more democratic process, and we can disaggregate the data at the city, district, and even the street level, and prioritize and plan for the short term and long term,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

As authorities around the world sought to contain the coronavirus pandemic with lockdowns and restrictions on movement, businesses, government agencies and support groups went digital.

Smartphone penetration in Ulaanbaatar is about 90%, so digital voting is a feasible and inclusive option, N.Otgonbayar said. Nearly half of Ulaanbaatar’s 800,000 eligible residents voted on projects under the Local Development Fund (LDF) using the mobile application this year, with women making up about 54% of those who took part, according to MUB.

While those living in apartment buildings voted for green spaces and security cameras, those living in informal settlements picked streetlights and better amenities. The LDF, which allocates federal money for local projects, is the only exercise in participatory budgeting in the central Asian country.

MUB’s digital platform is backed by The Asia Foundation, a non-profit, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, a government body.

Residents can track the votes and the progress of the selected projects on the app, said G.Khaliungoo, manager of the urban governance project at The Asia Foundation.