Case Study: City of Reykjavik Department of Public Works achieves 62% reduction in graffiti with Trimble GPS handhelds

Reykjavik City Graffiti Tracking and Cleaning Project with GPS Mapping

Reykjavik’s Department of Public Works faced a growing graffiti problem across the city and began a GIS pilot in 2007 to map marks precisely. Using Trimble Recon handhelds with ESRI ArcPad, the team captured initial pilot data (about 3,300 marks at 2–5 m accuracy) to quantify the issue and inform a city-wide strategy.

The city expanded into Project Clean City, acquiring Trimble Nomad handhelds and hiring GIS students to collect nearly 25,000 graffiti points and ~8,000 photos. Shared GIS data enabled police investigations and a more systematic cleaning program; in the city-centre sample area graffiti fell 62% in six months (from 445 to 168 marks).

City of Reykjavik Department of Public Works

Hermann Hermannsson

GI specialist