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Incentivizing Facade Renovation in Tel Aviv-Yafo
The Challenge
Life in the city blurs the boundaries of private and public space in many cases, and the same applies to the facades of residential buildings, which are, of course, private property, but are also the scenery that surrounds the people in the public space. The problem arises in cases where the facades of buildings deteriorate over time, until users of the public space around them feel the vibe of a dirty and neglected public space. The Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality sought to address the challenge. But how do you convince private individuals to invest resources for the visibility of public space?
Our Role
Before educating the market and advocacy, we formulated, together with municipal officials, a detailed policy document for the renovation of house facades in the city, entitled “Visual Transformation in Tel Aviv-Jaffa”. In addition, as part of the policy, a mechanism of incentives and fines has been developed, which will encourage property owners to renovate the facades of buildings, and will be strict with those who abandon properties and/or cause damage in the public space.
Next, we took a very broad approach, designed to make the mechanism, rights, and obligations accessible in as many ways as possible, to suit the broad target audience. As part of a multi-year public relations campaign, we developed the idea of “Making a Big Deal Out of the Building” – a campaign slogan that accompanies the 360-degree PR campaign. The various campaigns were launched in the national, municipal and digital media, and the Center’s website was established, which makes all the information accessible to residents and apartment owners. In addition, informational conferences are held monthly, and materials are even distributed in mailboxes in areas with low digital literacy.
The Impact
• The PR campaign was very successful. A survey showed that the awareness and importance attributed to the concept of renovating the facades increased significantly.
• Exposure to municipal incentives increased significantly, and, respectively, their percentage of realization.
• About a year into the project launch, there was a spike of hundreds of percent in requests from apartment owners for information, and an increase of about 20% in the number of buildings that began renovations on their facades.
