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The Problem with Graffitti

Almost all major cities around the world have to deal with the urban issue of graffiti. Urban artists run around and spray paint their work onto whatever surface they want to. This can be stores, buildings, bridges, and overpasses. Venice also has to deal with a graffiti problem. Many of the city's famous and historic buildings have had urban art painted on them. The city of Venice is asking for people to please stop spraying on the buildings as it is an eye-sore as well as costly to remove. The rising price for keeping a clean and well-maintained Venice is becoming more and more difficult, to a point where Council official Augusto Salvadori announced the council could no longer put up with costs required for clean-up operations. However, many individual citizens and the city council are making efforts to step in and address this issue.

Methods of Removal

There have been some efforts to clean up the city of its tagged facade. According to ItalyMag, a two-woman team of restorers, using brushes, steam cleaners, and ecologically friendly solvents, began removing graffiti from the 14 columns of the Procuratie Nuove flanking the south side of Piazza San Marco, a top tourist attraction for over 100 years. Once the columns are cleaned, a protective wax film would be applied so as to prevent any change in color of the columns and will not be felt by human contact, but will ease the process of graffiti removal, by making it faster and more cost-effective.

Keeping the City Clean and Tag-free

The city council of Venice is taking the initiative to ensure a clean city and keep Venice looking charming for its 20 million visitors each year. "Guardian Angels" volunteer patrols wander the city to prevent "indecorous behaviour" among the tourists, which include sitting on the pavement, eating sandwiches there, or being bare-chested. Other initiatives included the following:

• the cracking down on Venetian street artists
• preventing the feeding of pidgeons so as to reduce the amount of droppings
• working on laws to stop the sale of fast-food so as to reduce the amount of rubbish produced.
• Planning to fine beggars up to 500 euros and their daily takings should they be begging in tourist areas.

Resources

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/veneto/venice-asks-graffiti-stop