More than 1 in 2 buildings in municipalities of the Thessaloniki urban complex have been vandalized. Specifically, the rate of vandalism in Evosmos exceeds 56%, in Kalamaria it reaches 52% and in the center of Thessaloniki it reaches almost 47%.

Public spaces and public property are more targeted by people who commit vandalism – public buildings, monuments, signs and signals, garbage cans, free spaces – while in terms of apartment buildings and single-family houses more “vulnerable” to vandalism are buildings of a certain age.

Business areas do not “escape” from the general picture, but the phenomenon there is more limited, which is also related to the security measures that many businesses take.

Spray-painting and graffiti are the most common means of vandalism, while the majority of messages are fan-based. It is characteristic that the rate of vandalism on a street in Evosmos, where there was a club of supporters nearby, was measured at 95%!

“Element of degradation of the quality of life in cities”

Researchers-students of the Department of Production and Management Engineering of the International University of Greece walked in central and peripheral streets -selected based on the representativeness of the sample- of central, eastern and western Thessaloniki, as well as Larissa, Rethymnon and Komotini. They recorded and photographed vandalism in a total length of five kilometers in each area.

“The stimulus for the research was personal observation. Anyone who travels to Greek cities, to the largest urban centers but also to the periphery, as well as to cities abroad, notices the differences. The phenomenon of public space vandalism is a key criterion of the quality of life in a modern, urban environment”, while “in addition, it is an indicator that reveals to us the quality of the administration, the culture and mentality of the community members, the level of security and policing , maybe it is an early indicator of low crime” said to APE-MPE the head of the research Dr. Christos Andras.

“We chose central as well as side streets. In the first phase, the point is to have variety in the data to make the comparison. By the end of the year, corresponding investigations will have been completed in Athens, Preveza, Corfu, Veria and Serres. We want to cover the Greek area in the first phase, although at the same time students have started corresponding research abroad, e.g. in Chicago. We will definitely expand to Balkan cities that are relatively easy to reach. By the end of next year, the goal is to have comparable data from 20-25 cities,” explained Mr. Andras.

The results of the survey

bandal

To date, data has been collected and processed from 7 regions during the 1st semester of 2023.

Specifically:

–In Komotini (January 2023) out of 708 buildings vandalized, 63 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 8.90%.

– In Rethymnon (February 2023) out of 514 buildings vandalized, 79 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 15.37%.

-In Larissa (April 2023) out of 962 buildings vandalized, 329 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 34.2%.

-In the center of Thessaloniki (February 2023), out of a total of 437 buildings, 204 were recorded vandalized, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 46.68%.

-In the Grape Gardens of Thessaloniki (February 2023), out of a total of 654 buildings vandalized, 178 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 27.22%.

-In Evosmos, Thessaloniki (May 2023), out of a total of 473 buildings vandalized, 265 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 56.03%.

-In Kalamaria, Thessaloniki (June 2023), out of 433 buildings vandalized, 222 were recorded, which corresponds to a vandalism rate of 51.67%.

Overall, the phenomenon is very intense, as there are areas where more than half of the buildings have suffered some kind of vandalism.

The “vulnerable” targets of vandalism

As far as the quality data is concerned, it was recorded that in the buildings that are more recently built, there is no high degree of vandalism, while on the contrary, in the older buildings, the phenomenon is more intense. Moreover, among the oldest buildings, those that are better preserved have a lower degree of vandalism.

Most vandalism concerns public spaces and less private spaces, which can be attributed to the following factors:

-Public spaces are usually more easily accessible, without surveillance and offer a sense of anonymity and “free” intervention.

-Public spaces often host landmarks, such as statues, monuments or buildings with historical or cultural significance, which is an attraction for anti-systemic actions.

-The lowest rate of vandalism occurs in business premises, mainly because they often have security measures and recording cameras, permanent presence of staff and in the event of vandalism there is a quick recovery due to the same benefit.

In general, the most common type of intervention is spray, followed by graffiti. Ads are a very small percentage. This is probably because the spray is an easy and quick intervention that does not require much skill or equipment and reduces the chances of exposure of the person who commits the vandalism.

Spray painting and graffiti are often used as a means of communication and an art form by writing texts, slogans or paintings on walls. They are usually difficult for the average citizen to understand and decipher. There are also cases where very beautiful efforts are observed, inspired by the field of art.

Vandalism as an element of fan culture

The majority of the messages are of fan or unspecified content. A significant correlation was observed between the intensity of the phenomenon and the presence of teams’ fan links on adjacent streets. More specifically, in Evosmos on a street (Papagou Street) where there is a fan club, a vandalism rate of 95% was measured, while in the surrounding streets the corresponding percentages were (18%, 38%, 74%)!

Team fanatics often express their loyalty, their pride, through acts of vandalism. They leave their footprint and presence literally everywhere (walls, signs, bins) as a message of dominance in each area. Vandalism of public space is part of fan culture and behavior, perhaps the early stage of disrespect and aggression, which at a later stage reaches and has reached multiple incidents and dates of death in extreme acts of violence.

The messages of unspecified content they are either deliberately illegible with the intention of simply provoking a reaction. For example, they may use misspellings and random characters to create confusion and attract attention. Either, there may be no meaning because the protagonist is simply disrespectful or bored or has nothing to say and the meaning of the act is simply in the act of vandalism (reaction) and not in the message.

An important part concerns messages of political content, mainly from the anti-authoritarian space. There are very few commercials, especially in pre-election periods.

A notable feature of the content of vandalism messages is their level of offensiveness, ranging from mild to highly offensive. Messages containing derogatory terms, racial slurs, sexist comments or any form of harassment are observed. This is an obvious manifestation of violence and aggression, which can perhaps be measured by this method on a larger scale.