Name: Take back your city with paint
Uploaded: 2013-02-08T16:10:36Z
Duration: 15 min 25 s
Description: Make a city beautiful, curb corruption. Edi Rama took this deceptively simple path as mayor of Tirana, Albania, where he instilled pride in his citizens by transforming public spaces with colorful designs.

Make a city beautiful, curb corruption. Edi Rama took this deceptively simple path as mayor of Tirana, Albania, where he instilled pride in his citizens by transforming public spaces with colorful designs.

Take back your city with paint

Transforming drab public spaces with vibrant colors can ignite hope and civic engagement. In one city, painting over gray facades and demolishing more than 5,000 illegal buildings led to cleaner streets, safer neighborhoods, and renewed trust. Even a small act, like splashing orange paint on a building, created a stir strong enough to stop traffic. Beauty became a tool for change, inspiring citizens to care for their environment and believe in the power of collective action.