September 27, 2023 – The problem of illegal graffiti in Zagreb has been present for years. There are more than 3,500 such graffiti in the city center. The City of Zagreb has now adopted three measures to solve or at least alleviate the problem.
The first measure implies that the City will provide 100 percent funding to remove existing illegal graffiti in Zagreb. “The second measure refers to the application of an anti-graffiti coating, which will facilitate the removal of repeated graffiti in the future, and it is also 100 percent financed by the City,” said Irena Matković, the deputy head of the office for strategic planning, for HRT / reports Poslovni.
“The third measure refers to the installation of video surveillance, and it will be 80 percent or up to 750 euros financed for street facades,” she added. Owners who apply the public call for the mentioned measures can choose which they want. By the end of this year, 400,000 euros have been set aside for the costs of implementing the measures.
Graffiti in Zagreb: “There is a fine line between vandalism and art”
“The committee will sort of work out a list of priorities, and priority will be given to the historical-urban part of the City, zones A and B, because it is the part most affected by graffiti. Each building can apply once to use these measures,” said Matković.
Street art artist Boris Bare also supports cleaning Zagreb and installing cameras. However, he notes that there is a fine line between vandalism and art. “Derogatory words and swastikas and things like that, for me, that has no place on buildings in a city like Zagreb,” he stressed.
“That spray can, if it gets into the wrong hands, can do a lot of damage, and if it gets into the right hands, it takes a lot more to do something nice,” warned Bare.
There is no deadline for the public call; next year, funds will be provided again, higher than this year.
