The Sofia Municipality continues the systematic removal of unregulated inscriptions and graffiti from facades, underpasses, stops and other public spaces in Sofia. The next cleaned inscription is from the facade of the building at the intersection of ul. „G. S. Rakovski“ and ul. „Graf Ignatiev“, on which the name „Boris“ was written in large letters.
„The difference between urban art and vandalism is visible and felt. I want Sofia to give more space to good urban art. But a foreign facade is not a canvas. The monument is not a canvas. The stop and the underpass are not someone's personal territory. This is our common city“, said Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev.
The cleaning of graffiti is part of the consistent efforts of the Sofia Municipality to restore and maintain the urban environment. During the current mandate, the activities were expanded to include facades, underpasses, public transport stops and other key public spaces.
Among the places on which the municipality is concentrating its efforts is the area around the National Palace of Culture, where walls, columns, underpasses and other elements of the urban environment were gradually cleaned. The goal is not simply to remove individual inscriptions, but to gradually restore the clean and maintained appearance of entire urban spaces.
„The municipality has its job and we are doing it. We are cleaning more than anyone has ever cleaned before, we are restoring places that we had almost forgotten how they looked without scribbles, and we are already imposing serious sanctions where until recently we were convinced that this was practically impossible“, said Terziev.
This summer, for the first time, three violators were sanctioned with 1,000 euros each for such violations. However, identifying and sanctioning the perpetrators remains complicated under the current regulations. Therefore, the Sofia Municipality is working on changes to the rules that will provide more effective tools for responding to and sanctioning violations of the urban environment.
In parallel with cleaning and control, the administration is developing a policy to support urban art. The municipality supports artists and initiatives that transform urban spaces, and is working for more regulated places where such artistic interventions can be implemented legally. The goal is a clear line between urban art that adds value to the environment and unregulated graffiti on other people's or public property.
According to the mayor, however, even better cleaning, control and sanctions cannot solve the problem on their own.
“The city looks the way we all treat it. Every action we take in the common space leaves a mark – not only on the wall, but also on what kind of people we are and what kind of city we want to leave behind. Caring for Sofia starts with the simple things – not to destroy what has been done, to protect what is common and not to pass by when someone else is destroying it“, said Vasil Terziev.
The Sofia Municipality calls on citizens who witness unregulated graffiti on facades or public spaces to promptly report it by calling 112. Reporting the violation at the time it occurs gives the law enforcement agencies the best opportunity to identify the perpetrator on the spot.
“We will continue to do our job. From everyone else, I ask one thing - to protect our city“, said the mayor.