The MyStreet app is designed to encourage the public to report violations of seating limits by restaurants, bars and cafes on sidewalks and squares. Citizens have embraced the initiative, but critics point out that little will change unless enforcement is stepped up. [InTime News]

If you believe the hype about the number of complaints submitted by citizens to the different applications launched by the government to encourage public tracking of public space violations and other infringements, you could almost believe that we’ve finally solved all of our problems – so long as we have the right app installed on our phones and the inclination to report encroachments on public space at beaches and city sidewalks by bars, cafes and other businesses, or plots and gardens that have not been cleared of dry brush and other wildfire tinder by their owners. Is this the case, though?

Who will follow up on the thousands of complaints, how long will it take, and who will ensure that violators actually comply?

Let’s start with beaches. This summer, as was the case last year when it was launched, thousands of complaints poured in through the MyCoast app. In fact, more than 11,000 reports were made about the excessive sprawl of umbrellas, loungers and dining sets, about interventions altering the natural landscape, about the absence of lifeguards, problems with cleanliness, subpar facilities, illegal constructions and all manner of obstacles hindering public access. 

This is all well and good. Where the problems start is after a complaint is made. What happens then is not what the vast majority of citizens who have embraced the new system expect. And the proof is the report by the Court of Audit in July for 2024. The data it presents bears no resemblance to the digital record of the app’s operation and reveals that nothing much can change when the services responsible for following up on these complaints cannot or do not. More specifically, the MyCoast app received 41,737 complaints last year, 28,940 of which concerned the beach bar spiral and 5,665 impediments to public access. Of the total, less than a third, or 12,517, were followed up.

Just a few days ago, the government published the first batch of figures for another much-touted app, MyStreet, which encourages citizens to report cafes, bars and restaurants exceeding the space they’re allowed to occupy on public sidewalks and squares. A month into its launch, the app is on fire, receiving nearly 1,000 complaints in the Municipality of Athens alone. The total number of complaints came to 4,960 by September 16 for the 104 municipalities that have given out 6,674 permits for the use of public spaces.

MyStreet may be a useful app, but I’m not very optimistic that it will manage to bring the change Athens needs and rein in the thousands of tables and chairs – many of them unauthorized – clogging its sidewalks. Who will follow up on the thousands of complaints, how long will it take, and who will ensure that violators actually comply, given the challenges of the process?

For the time being, citizens seem to have embraced the role of inspector with enthusiasm and energy, and complaints are coming in nonstop. If real results are not seen soon, though, I’m afraid they’ll quickly lose interest. They’ll have an app for every problem, but nothing will actually be solved.