Draga LjubljanaSL

Draga
Ljubljana,

since December 2008 we have written to you 59,026 times, about needles and rats, speeding cars, missing shade and sleepless nights.

This is what we wrote about, and how it has changed.

— your citizens

Spoštovani, zahvaljujemo se vam za prejeto pobudo.
— the first line of 14,611 of the city's replies

2008
0 letters
Read the letters
SL

What Ljubljana worries about now

Each line is one issue, measured as letters per 1,000, so the overall rise and fall in volume doesn't distort the trend. The left value is the average for 2016–19, the right for 2024–26. In under a decade, rats have nearly tripled, e-scooters arrived from nowhere, and speeding, school routes and heat have all grown by more than half. Homelessness comes up more often than before; tourists, safety and housing less. Letters about drugs are level with 2016–19 on average, but jumped in 2026 to the second-highest year on record.

Growing

Steady

Fading

Per 1,000 public letters in each period. A letter can count towards several issues. From 16 January 2024 the portal required e‑mail confirmation, which halved volume; rates per 1,000 are less affected than counts, but the mix of writers may have shifted.

Issue by issue

The map follows the story. Each issue lights up where its letters were written, all years combined. Scroll on to move from one issue to the next.

Streets and public space

Drugs & needles

→ ×1.08.4 → 8.3 ‰

Letters about drugs gather in a handful of places: Metelkova (48 letters), Tabor park (31), Kotnikova (28) and the underpasses. They first peaked in 2018 at 13.9 per 1,000, when residents around the methadone clinic on Metelkova and Kotnikova wrote again and again. In 2026 they rose again, to 11.9, the second-highest year on record and well above 2020–25. They have moved into the very centre: the car park under Kongresni trg, the underpasses and Zvezda park. Letters about discarded needles are growing fastest: 2.1 per 1,000 in 2016–19, 5.1 in 2024–26.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
22%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center98.2
Posavje10.8
Jarše7.9
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
39% acted or ordered work32% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Theft, violence & feeling unsafe 30%Homelessness & begging 20%Urine & excrement 19%
From the photos attached

  • Discarded syringes scattered on grassy ground

  • Used syringe discarded on ground among dry leaves and twigs

  • Syringes and blood stains scattered on concrete steps

  • High curb without ramp blocking sidewalk access

  • Trash and used syringes among dry leaves in a narrow outdoor corner

  • Green waste bins with scattered trash and wooden pallets near building

In their words

Trnovo, 29 Jul 2026

Residents' safety

I am proposing that a safe consumption room for drug users be set up urgently, as soon as possible. … they now carry out their 'activity' in residential neighbourhoods too, so children aren't safe even in the courtyard of their own block. … As the mother of a small child, I simply don't feel safe in Ljubljana any more, not even in the daytime …

City of Ljubljana· replied 9 days later

The City of Ljubljana … has backed the Šent association with a letter of intent. Šent … was successful in its application, so work to get a safe consumption room up and running is already under way.

Bežigrad, 24 Aug 2024

Problems with addicts

Personally, I find it unacceptable that needle caps are lying on brand-new play equipment between the blocks and that everything is filthy with ash. Perhaps the playgrounds should be locked, or guarded at night? Personally, I've had more than enough of this.

City of Ljubljana· replied 9 days later

We inspect playgrounds regularly and have not seen any needles. Please let us know the locations where you saw this.

Homelessness & begging

↑ ×1.73.4 → 5.6 ‰

Letters about people sleeping rough or begging reached 7.4 per 1,000 in 2026, the highest since 2011, and their share is two-thirds higher than in 2016–19. Underpasses come up most (54 letters), then Kongresni trg, Metelkova and Tabor. It is an issue of the centre: 70 letters per 10,000 residents there, seven in the next district.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
15%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center69.8
Bežigrad7.0
Posavje4.9
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
42% acted or ordered work27% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Urine & excrement 37%Theft, violence & feeling unsafe 34%Drugs & needles 30%
From the photos attached

  • Trash and litter scattered along a sidewalk curb

  • Overgrown bushes and leafless trees in a grassy urban park area

  • Litter and dirt accumulated in street corner near wall

  • Trash and debris dumped under a bridge with dry leaves

  • Trash and discarded clothes in a pedestrian underpass with graffiti

  • Garbage bags dumped on grass near trees in a park area

In their words

Center, 7 Sep 2026

Homeless encampment on Congress Square

In recent days I've noticed more homeless people on Congress Square, who have now set up what is practically a home on the lawn, with sleeping bags, blankets, other bags and so on. I think this has no place in Ljubljana's central park …

City of Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

… simply being present in a public space, regardless of a person's social status, is not in itself an offence and therefore gives the City Wardens no grounds to act.

Center, 26 May 2023

Homeless people in distress

… Two homeless people have been camping there for about two weeks. This part of the underpass really reeks of faeces, and it is emotionally hard to be there too. Please help them, don't just move them on. And please, no reply about so-called lifestyle choice.

City of Ljubljana· replied 4 days later

Unfortunately there are no quick solutions in such cases: 'help' is often refused, or it simply cannot be delivered because the person does not cooperate or respond.

Theft, violence & feeling unsafe

↓ ×0.89.2 → 6.9 ‰

Crimes are reported to the police, so the portal shows only part of the picture: letters asking the city for a light, a camera or a warden. Letters about theft, violence, harassment and feeling unsafe ran at 9.2 per 1,000 in 2016–19 and 6.9 in 2024–26. They peaked in 2023 (10.7), with the arson attacks on cars in Šiška and Dravlje and letters about a “rise in crime” in the centre. In 2026 the share is rising again, to 9.8, but not because of theft or fights, which stay at earlier levels. What is rising is the feeling of being unsafe, mostly because of drug users in the centre.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
22%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center85.1
Vič15.9
Bežigrad12.4
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
39% acted or ordered work31% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Drugs & needles 25%Homelessness & begging 19%Urine & excrement 10%
From the photos attached

  • Foot on wooden boardwalk with large broken hole

  • Trash and litter scattered along a sidewalk curb

  • Gravel ground covered with many cigarette butts scattered

  • Large truck blocking pedestrian crossing at intersection

  • Traffic sign partially obscured by overgrown vegetation near road

  • Graffiti-covered wall and metal gate in a dim corridor

In their words

Center, 14 Aug 2026

Protecting bicycles in Ljubljana

… I witnessed a bike lock being cut on Slovenska cesta, opposite the fountain. When I asked why they were doing it, the two men calmly replied: 'Because we lost the key.' … Bike thefts happen all the time in Ljubljana … I suggest you take steps to protect bicycles. One solution would be a secure public bike park.

City of Ljubljana· replied 24 days later

… Ljubljana currently has one public bike park, in the Kozolec car park. … A bike park is also planned as part of the Ljubljana Passenger Centre (PCL) …

Center, 29 Apr 2026

Drug users on levels 4 and 5 of the Kongresni trg car park

Hello, as a season-ticket holder on level 4 of the car park, I keep running into drug users lying next to the cars, getting high... There are always at least two. … I'm afraid for myself and for others, because they are unpredictable. Please do something.

City of Ljubljana· replied 5 days later

We understand your concern about people showing signs of drug misuse in the car park and the sense of threat such situations can cause. … it is the police who deal with this kind of behaviour.

Drinking & drunks in the street

↓ ×0.54.4 → 2.3 ‰

Drunk groups, bottles and broken glass around the benches, shouting until morning. There are 204 letters about drinking in the street, and they are becoming rarer: 4.4 per 1,000 in 2016–19, 2.3 in 2024–26. Most come from the centre, above all Kongresni trg, Metelkova and the underpasses, and a third also mention drugs.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
19%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center53.4
Trnovo7.6
Posavje5.9
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
39% acted or ordered work34% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Drugs & needles 33%Urine & excrement 25%Homelessness & begging 23%
From the photos attached

  • Litter on wooden platform near river with stairs and railing

  • Litter on ground and benches in a park area with trees

  • Park bench with litter and fallen autumn leaves around

  • Cracked sidewalk with red arrow marking damage near cemetery wall

  • Graffiti on walls and pillar in a covered walkway with bicycles

  • Concrete wall with peeling paint near water and grassy slope

In their words

Center, 20 Aug 2026

Rowdiness at night

Every night after the bars close, around 2:15, groups of drunk visitors walk through the centre, shouting, making trouble and peeing on our houses, and if they're on motorbikes they honk a bit for good measure. This isn't a one-off; we put up with it every day. Calling 113 in these cases is pointless.

City of Ljubljana· replied 21 days later

… people's inappropriate behaviour at night has a real effect on the quality of life of residents in the inner city. Such behaviour, often linked to alcohol and other psychoactive substances, unfortunately cannot be fully prevented by systemic measures. … we recommend that you report the incident to the police.

Center, 29 Nov 2025

Unbearable noise, uncivilised visitors

We residents of central Ljubljana are suffering. … on Ključavničarska ulica there's constant yelling until three in the morning, loud talking, drinking, smashing of bottles and so on, and the shards decorate the street almost every day. Calling the police gets nowhere either, because they almost always arrive far too late.

City of Ljubljana· replied 3 days later

… it is the police, not the municipal wardens, who are responsible for acting. If you believe the noise exceeds legal limits, please contact the police directly on 113 …

Urine & excrement

→ ×1.15.9 → 6.5 ‰

The smell of urine and human excrement is a fixture of the underpasses: 76 of the 309 letters on the subject name one. Next come Kongresni trg, Vilharjeva and the area around the stations. The share has been high since 2018, around seven per 1,000, and in 2026 it matched the 2019 peak at 8.1. Almost a third of these letters also mention people sleeping rough.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
17%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center75.0
Bežigrad8.2
Šiška7.1
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
33% acted or ordered work33% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Smells, smoke & dust 32%Homelessness & begging 31%Drugs & needles 23%
From the photos attached

  • Large pile of garbage dumped near parked truck by concrete wall

  • Broken curb stones on a sidewalk next to parked car

  • Temporary wooden barriers and plant on cycle lane and sidewalk

  • Plastic bag and small trash pieces on asphalt near parked car

  • Litter scattered on ground near leafless bushes by sidewalk

  • Litter and dirt accumulated in street corner near wall

In their words

Center, 19 Jun 2026

The Vilharjeva underpass

It's unbearable: rubbish everywhere, an awful stench, human excrement and burnt patches by the ramp and the lifts. Dangerous waste (bottles, used needles) has been piling up on the platform above the underpass for months. … this part of the city is a disgrace to Ljubljana and dangerous for travellers.

City of Ljubljana· replied 41 days later

… the Vilharjeva underpass is part of the regular cleaning programme for underpasses, passages and arcades. … because people with various social and health difficulties stay there, it is unfortunately harder to keep the underpass consistently clean …

Center, 10 Jun 2026

The smell of urine

Zvezda park smells of urine, especially by the underpass. Zvezda park and Kongresni trg used to be where people met; you'd sit on the grass and hang out. Now I avoid it, because I don't feel safe there.

City of Ljubljana· replied 42 days later

… people with various social, health and other difficulties spend time in certain parts of the city. It is a wider social challenge that other cities face too, so in such places it is unfortunately harder to keep up a consistent level of cleanliness, order and sense of safety. …

Noise

↑ ×1.419.4 → 27.2 ‰

Noise is the complaint of the centre: 247 letters per 10,000 residents in Center, eight times any other district. Bars and terraces, amplified music, the Rog factory and the Cankarjevo embankment dominate, and 2025 was the loudest year yet. One noise letter in five is written between 22:00 and 6:00, by people who can't sleep.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
22%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center247.5
Vič31.7
Črnuče30.9
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
16% acted or ordered work43% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Speeding & traffic calming 7%Smells, smoke & dust 5%Drinking & drunks in the street 3%
From the photos attached

  • Wet road with multiple potholes and cracks after rain

  • Fire burning near industrial building at night

  • Bus driving on road with pothole marked by red circle and arrow

  • Uneven road surface with patch repairs near roadside vegetation

  • Two old benches on cracked sidewalk near fence and drain

  • Sound level meter showing 95.3 dB near a cobblestone street

In their words

Sostro, 5 Sep 2025

Night-time peace in the village of Javor

In the village of Javor we've had new church bells for some time, and they now ring every 15 minutes at night too, whereas the old ones rang only during the day. … Could a compromise be found that preserves the beauty and tradition of the bells while also respecting residents' peace and wellbeing?

City of Ljubljana· replied 4 days later

The ringing of church bells is not within the City Inspectorate's remit, nor, as far as we know, within that of any other inspectorate. Legal protection is available to you under Article 75 of the Property Code …

Center, 21 Jun 2025

Madhouse – unbearable noise – Zorica bar

How much longer will we residents around the Zorica bar have to listen to techno concerts that go on all afternoon and late into the night? Just yesterday I spoke to a 93-year-old woman who cries at night because of the unbearable noise and is under enormous stress. Take responsibility – enough evasion.

City of Ljubljana· replied 66 days later

The critical noise limits are set in line with the regulation and may seem high at first glance, but … these values are prescribed for public events that take place occasionally, not regularly.

Traffic

Speeding & traffic calming

↑ ×1.635.2 → 56.4 ‰

The biggest traffic shift: letters asking to slow cars down rose from 35 to 56 per 1,000 and set a record in 2026. A kindergarten is named in 181 of them. After the Centre, Rudnik (with the Ilovški štradon) and Šmarna Gora write the most per resident. The city declines or redirects 39% of these requests.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
17%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center122.4
Rudnik113.1
Šmarna Gora95.1
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
19% acted or ordered work39% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Children & school routes 9%Noise 4%Prams, wheelchairs & ramps 3%
From the photos attached

  • Van parked diagonally across parking spaces in empty lot

  • Two vans driving on a dusty gravel road next to highway

  • Street with bins placed on the sidewalk and road

  • Car parked on narrow sidewalk blocking pedestrian path

  • Street with parked cars and bike lane marked on sidewalk

  • Sidewalk with dry grass and trees next to a busy street

In their words

Rožnik, 31 Aug 2024

Speed limit

We residents of Cesta na Vrhovce are worried about dangerous speeds on this street, where despite the 30 km/h limit some drivers do over 100 km/h every day! The road leads to a school and a nursery, but there are no checks, so offenders go unpunished. … We urgently propose installing a fixed speed camera …

City of Ljubljana· replied 3 days later

We will take your proposal into account when choosing sites for fixed speed cameras as part of upgrading the network of speed camera housings in the City of Ljubljana.

Posavje, 16 Jan 2024

Speeding

I live in Savlje on the main street … in a 30 km/h zone. … The road has become a second Celovška: in the evenings and at night cars do 60 km/h or more. I understand, the road is nice and straight, but people still live here, sleep here and have children here.

City of Ljubljana· replied 6 days later

As for speed bumps, they cause additional traffic noise, and irritated residents living next to them often report extra vibrations … So in many cases, right after bumps are installed, we receive requests to remove them.

Children & school routes

↑ ×1.714.8 → 25.7 ‰

Children's safety on the way to school has become a major theme: from 15 to 26 per 1,000. Letters ask for crossings, wardens, slower cars and pavements without parked vans. Per resident, Šmarna Gora, Vič and Šiška lead.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
14%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Šmarna Gora52.2
Vič51.7
Šiška51.1
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
31% acted or ordered work29% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Speeding & traffic calming 22%Prams, wheelchairs & ramps 5%E-scooters 2%
From the photos attached

  • Sunken manhole cover with surrounding pavement damage

  • Open drainage hole on sidewalk near graffiti-covered wall

  • Broken water pipe leaking water behind metal fence

  • Van parked blocking intersection, pedestrians nearby

  • Cracked pavement and weeds growing near a street drain

  • Crosswalk with faded white and red road markings on asphalt

In their words

Šiška, 3 Oct 2024

SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL

Please urgently make the route to school safe, e.g. by putting up warning signs and a speed display … A child less than 120 cm tall can't be seen from behind the cars parked everywhere, and can't safely watch the traffic either, as cars come from all directions.

City of Ljubljana· replied 25 days later

We carry out periodic parking checks on Derčeva ulica, on the basis of which we have brought several misdemeanour proceedings for traffic violations.

Center, 20 Feb 2023

Drivers stopping in front of the school

Every morning and afternoon there's chaos in front of the school. Cars are parked on the pavements, on the cycle lane, in the middle of the road, as parents drop their children off. And the children walk on what, exactly? Bollards or flower beds on the pavement would be welcome, so that stopping there isn't possible …

City of Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

The existing road markings and signs are adequate and comply with the regulations in force. Unfortunately we have no influence over drivers' carelessness in disregarding traffic rules.

E-scooters

↑ ×3.32.7 → 8.9 ‰

E-scooters took off in 2019 and peaked in 2022 at 16 per 1,000: scooters left across pavements, ridden among pedestrians, parked in front of doors. The rental operator Bolt is named in 24 letters.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
15%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center42.2
Šiška12.3
Rudnik12.0
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
32% acted or ordered work29% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Speeding & traffic calming 14%Prams, wheelchairs & ramps 12%Children & school routes 5%
From the photos attached

  • Traffic light pole obstructing pedestrian sidewalk access

  • Cobblestone pavement with some missing and uneven stones

  • Metal barriers blocking a narrow paved path in a park area

  • Damaged road surface near parked cars and residential building

  • Hole in sidewalk pavement near traffic light and buildings

  • Car parked on pedestrian crossing near intersection

In their words

Jarše, 20 Aug 2026

Children at risk from scooters, motorbikes…

In Nove Jarše we feel unsafe. People on e-scooters, mopeds, motorbikes and e-bikes ride too fast and carelessly along the footpaths between the blocks. At times there's a dangerous rider every 30 seconds. … You have to hold your child's hand the whole time and keep dodging reckless riders.

City of Ljubljana· replied 21 days later

We wish to inform you that we are not currently planning any additional physical barriers or closures on footpaths in this area.

Bežigrad, 5 Sep 2023

Policing e-scooters

I notice there are more and more e-scooters in the city with their speed limiter removed, doing up to 70 km/h, some on the road and others on the pavement or the cycle lane! It's deadly dangerous and a real threat to all road users. Please step up enforcement.

City of Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

It should be borne in mind that these offences are hard to police, as scooters have no registration plates, and so, as a result, they ignore … lawful orders from authorised officers.

Prams, wheelchairs & ramps

↑ ×1.327.4 → 36.8 ‰

Ramps, kerbs, prams and wheelchairs: from 27 to 37 per 1,000. Kindergartens come up most, then underpasses and station areas, places where a step or a broken lift decides whether someone gets through.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
17%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center165.4
Šiška83.3
Bežigrad63.8
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
29% acted or ordered work26% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Speeding & traffic calming 4%Children & school routes 3%E-scooters 2%
From the photos attached

  • Snow and ice covering a sidewalk next to a road in a residential area

  • Damaged and uneven cycling path with bumps near road and trees

  • Traffic light pole obstructing pedestrian sidewalk access

  • Sidewalk with uneven drainage cover causing a tripping hazard

  • Large truck parked on narrow street blocking pedestrian path

  • Pickup truck partially submerged in river near stone embankment

In their words

Šiška, 28 Sep 2026

Wheelchair accessibility

Tivoli, Rožnik, Mostec, Šišenski hrib, the PST trail, the plaza in front of Koseze Pond, half the path around the pond, the cycle path to the zoo. Out of reach for wheelchairs: gravel, roots, … Wheelchairs can't cope with it. Disabled people are shut out of the finest green public spaces. Suggestion: some kind of narrow, smooth track?

Moste, 6 Apr 2025

No ramp for disabled people

Today I saw an elderly woman in a wheelchair struggling to cross at a pedestrian crossing with no ramp. I helped her down off the kerb and up onto the next one. … Could ramps be built … so that people in wheelchairs don't have to struggle so much?

City of Ljubljana· replied 10 days later

We regret this incident. In Moste, and more widely in Ljubljana's older streets, quite a few such spots needing this kind of work have been identified. Partizanska ulica is due to be renovated …

A changing city

Tourists

↓ ×0.84.9 → 3.9 ‰

Tourists are a rarer subject on the portal than you might expect. 213 letters are about visitors, short-term rentals or stag parties, around four per 1,000, fewer than in 2016–19. They peaked in 2012 and again just before the pandemic, in 2019. When visitors come up, it is almost always in the centre: along the Ljubljanica embankments and in Tivoli.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
14%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center65.7
Posavje3.9
Šiška2.5
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
18% acted or ordered work28% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Noise 13%Housing & rents 6%Urine & excrement 6%
From the photos attached

  • Overflowing trash bin with litter scattered on ground near sidewalk

  • Graffiti covering building corner and wall along cobblestone sidewalk

  • Five cars parked on a narrow riverside path

  • Cars parked on the side of a narrow road surrounded by dense vegetation

  • Several vans parked along a street with a cyclist passing by

  • Colorful awnings on a rooftop terrace with city buildings in background

In their words

Center, 19 Aug 2025

Tour guides using loudspeakers

Despite the City adopting an ethics code, tour guides still use amplification, so they can be heard all around. When will the City start enforcing the code? Guides should go without amplification or give tourists headphones, rather than all of us having to put up with this needless noise …

City of Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

The City Inspectorate does not monitor noise, and the adopted code is not a binding regulation under which any particular conduct could be penalised.

Center, 17 Apr 2024

Tourism in Ljubljana

Yesterday at a press conference the mayor said he wants even more hotels in Ljubljana, because a record 2.4 million overnight stays isn't enough. … Given what the centre looks like, with nothing left but bars, souvenir shops and overly loud events, I'd like to know: when will there be enough tourists?

City of Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

… in Ljubljana we aim to lengthen visitors' stays and increase their spending, not to increase the number of arrivals. We also try to steer tourist flows away from the inner city centre …

Foreigners, migrants & workers' hostels

↑ ×1.71.3 → 2.3 ‰

Foreigners, migrants and workers' hostels are among the rarest subjects on the portal: 94 letters in seventeen years. There have been a few more since 2023, 2.3 per 1,000 in 2024–26 against 1.3 in 2016–19, but that means seven to nine letters a year. The place named most is the asylum home in Vič.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
19%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center14.6
Vič14.5
Golovec5.0
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
29% acted or ordered work37% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Theft, violence & feeling unsafe 22%Homelessness & begging 7%Tourists 6%
From the photos attached

  • Pile of construction debris dumped in natural area near trees

  • Trash including cans and plastic bottles dumped on bare soil near pavement

  • Open gate to a yard with parked car and scattered items at night

  • Van with raised roof parked on street beside sidewalk and trees

In their words

Črnuče, 30 Jun 2026

Roma occupying land

Questions for the mayor. Why do you tolerate the Roma (Podgorica 113) occupying municipal land, Podgorica plot 266? Why does the inspectorate do nothing about the trees being cut down, the land being filled in and asphalted? For more than half a year. Why did you tell the inspectorate not to act? Why doesn't the parking of vans and forklifts bother you? Why do you allow building equipment to be stored there (scaffolding steel, buckets of paint, pipes, containers for used batteries, tanks of unknown liquid)? Is everything allowed for friends?

Center, 14 May 2026

Remove the Romanian beggar

For a year or more a Romanian beggar who fakes disability, or being crippled, has been roaming the centre and pestering people. It casts the city in an even worse light, because it looks as if we had a war here and he were the result. Please sort it out if you can, because he is extremely unpleasant and on top of that swears at people when he goes a long time without money. Also, on Čopova (by Müller) a younger lad begs, lying stretched out on the ground most of the time, and I recently nearly ran him over with my bike.

City of Ljubljana· replied the next day

… under Article 11 of the Protection of Public Order Act, anyone who harasses others by begging for money or goods in an intrusive or offensive way commits an offence. Where the behaviour is aggressive, offensive or particularly intrusive, the competent authorities can act within their powers. …

Housing & rents

↓ ×0.73.5 → 2.5 ‰

Housing barely registers: 156 letters about rents, non-profit flats, short-term letting or living conditions, about three per 1,000. Whatever Ljubljana feels about housing, it says it somewhere else. The portal is for streets.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
19%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center25.4
Polje8.5
Rožnik7.6
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
10% acted or ordered work31% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Tourists 8%Noise 4%
From the photos attached

  • Large pile of mixed waste dumped next to trash bins on sidewalk

  • Street with many cars parked on both sides, some blocking the road

  • Overgrown vegetation along roadside near residential houses

  • Mattress and cardboard placed in stairwell near door with graffiti

  • Bare trees and patchy ground near residential building

  • Overgrown vegetation and discarded metal sheets near roadside sign

In their words

Center, 7 Oct 2025

An award

I propose an award for the city administration, because owing to the City's deafness to residents, especially over excessive noise and unbearable tourism, two families have already moved out of the old town this autumn (one of them, together with its ancestors, had lived in the centre for over 200 years).

City of Ljubljana· replied 16 days later

Evidently these individuals chose of their own accord to sell their properties; nobody forced them to. As for short-term letting, the City of Ljubljana intends … to restrict such letting … to July and August …

Center, 7 Sep 2023

Airbnb 'hotel-keeping'

I propose tackling the housing problem by using regulation to restrict Airbnb 'hotel-keeping'. Flats in Ljubljana should primarily remain for people living in the city long term. … That way rents would also be lower.

City of Ljubljana· replied 26 days later

At the City we are pressing for local authorities to be given greater powers to regulate short-term rentals. Under our proposals, local authorities would gain the power to issue consents …

New construction & densification

↑ ×1.52.1 → 3.1 ‰

Complaints about new blocks, densification and building sites are rare but rising, from 2.1 to 3.1 per 1,000. Dunajska cesta, lined with new developments, is named most.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
16%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Posavje10.8
Center8.2
Rožnik8.1
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
23% acted or ordered work31% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Prams, wheelchairs & ramps 3%
From the photos attached

  • Flooded residential street with water covering road and yards

  • Flooded residential area with water covering yards and streets

  • Pile of construction debris dumped in natural area near trees

  • Damaged cycling lane with uneven surface and weeds growing

  • Concrete mixer truck and cars on a street with construction barriers

  • Overgrown vegetation obstructing sidewalk and road area near trees

In their words

Bežigrad, 21 Feb 2024

Building site

… I'm writing from Ulica bratov Židan, where they've started building apartment blocks. The situation on the street is chaotic. … They wash the concrete trucks right there in the street. Not to mention children's safety – the street is only 3.5 m wide. … Where is the inspectorate?

Šiška, 13 Dec 2023

NO to an overly tall tower

At the junction of Celovška cesta and Gospodinjska ulica in Šiška, on what is now a gravel car park, a tower some 60 m tall is to be built. I appeal … for the tower not to rise to almost twice the height of the surrounding buildings … The two 'golden' towers by Aleja already stick out in an ugly way and spoil the city's skyline.

City of Ljubljana· replied 84 days later

The permitted height for a building at the junction of Gospodinjska ulica and Celovška cesta is 17 storeys, approx. 50 m. The existing towers in the immediate vicinity … are approx. 45 m high.

Heat, trees and air

Heat, shade & drinking fountains

↑ ×1.710.4 → 17.2 ‰

Hotter summers show up in the mail. Requests for shade, trees and above all drinking fountains (236 letters mention a pitnik) reached 21 per 1,000 in 2026, double the 2016–19 level.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
15%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center90.0
Posavje29.4
Bežigrad28.7
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
18% acted or ordered work35% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Noise 3%Felled trees 3%Smells, smoke & dust 2%
From the photos attached

  • Flooded road with cars and street lamps near forest

  • Overflowing garbage bin with trash spilling out on street

  • Tree with exposed roots near pedestrian paths and a bench

  • Worn footpath through grassy park area with trees and tennis court

  • Tree with broken and damaged branches near residential building

  • Vandalized sports island rules sign with graffiti

In their words

Center, 4 Aug 2026

Heatwave – cooled spaces

I'd like to propose that access to air-conditioned spaces be made available in some way. During the week there are at least libraries and reading rooms, but they're closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays … and in flats without air conditioning temperatures easily climb to 30 degrees.

City of Ljubljana· replied 25 days later

… no changes to the opening hours of city libraries and reading rooms are currently planned. During spells of very high temperatures we advise residents to stay in the coolest and shadiest places possible …

Dravlje, 19 Jul 2024

Reducing heat stress

At this location I'm asking you once again to plant trees along the road … There used to be a large forest here, Draveljska gmajna; today, sadly, there's just a big expanse of concrete. Every day this week the temperature display here went above 35 °C, even above 36 °C …

City of Ljubljana· replied 7 days later

We are not currently considering any new works on this section.

Felled trees

↑ ×1.83.9 → 7.1 ‰

Letters protesting felled trees rose from 3.9 to 7.1 per 1,000. Only 2012 saw more.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
15%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center24.3
Vič15.2
Bežigrad14.6
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
25% acted or ordered work34% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Heat, shade & drinking fountains 6%
From the photos attached

  • Tree leaning dangerously close to a building

  • Overgrown vegetation encroaching on a roadside area with trees

  • Street light partially obscured by overgrown tree branches at night

  • Broken tree branch fallen on grass near building and sidewalk

  • Sidewalk overgrown with dense vegetation blocking pedestrian path

  • Overgrown vegetation blocking a small paved area near buildings

In their words

Trnovo, 18 Aug 2026

Felling of an oak

I'm writing to you once again. Why was it necessary to fell the oak on Pod hrasti street in Murgle? Why didn't the responsible service just prune it? Until it was felled, the oak shaded parked cars. Now there's a bare patch. Why? Oaks are hardy, long-lived trees.

City of Ljubljana· replied 22 days later

… as a rule, trees are removed only when they are dead, diseased, damaged or, because of their condition, pose a danger to people and property. … we will look into the case further …

Bežigrad, 10 Nov 2025

Tree felling at Parmova 53

On 10 November 2025 the felling began of all the trees on a large private plot belonging to the office building at Parmova 53 … The healthy trees were not included in the plan for the new landscaping. … does the City plan a new ordinance to protect healthy mature trees on private land?

City of Ljubljana· replied 21 days later

The contractor is permitted to fell the trees on the private plot under the building permit issued. At the same time, it is obliged to replace the felled trees with new planting.

Smells, smoke & dust

→ ×1.012.9 → 12.4 ‰

Smells, smoke and dust have stayed level at about 12 per 1,000. The single worst place is the underpass: 63 letters describe the smell of one.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
18%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center105.3
Šiška21.9
Jarše21.2
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
28% acted or ordered work35% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Urine & excrement 14%Noise 8%Homelessness & begging 6%
From the photos attached

  • Smoke rising from a fire in a wooded area near buildings

  • Overflowing garbage bin with trash spilling out on street

  • Fire burning in a small structure in a rural area with fields

  • Smoke and fire near a grassy path with a traffic cone

  • Damaged gravel road with deep ruts and erosion

  • Broken concrete ceiling with fallen debris on the ground

In their words

Bežigrad, 3 Feb 2026

Polluted air outside our tower block

In our quiet neighbourhood the air is so polluted by smoke from a chimney on Peričeva … that we residents of the neighbouring tower block can't air our flats … We'd like to know when central heating will be brought to these smaller blocks and houses that still burn wood.

City of Ljubljana· replied the next day

Correct burning and the supervision of individual heating appliances are the responsibility of state authorities … For the further expansion of the district heating network, please contact the public utility Energetika Ljubljana.

Moste, 18 Sep 2024

Severe pollution from wind-blown coal

Right next to the heating plant, we residents have suffered for years from severe pollution coming from enormous heaps of coal stored in the open. It's fine coal dust, which … settles on gardens, cars, laundry … when the wind is strong, every room in the house has to be sealed shut …

City of Ljubljana· replied 5 days later

… on the road to climate neutrality. The key challenge along this road is decarbonising all existing heat sources, above all district heating and natural gas distribution.

Pests

Rats & pests

↑ ×2.73.6 → 9.8 ‰

Rats have nearly tripled: 3.6 per 1,000 in 2016–19, 9.8 in 2024–26, peaking in 2025. Miklošičev park, the river embankments and Tabor are the hotspots. Here the city acts more often than for any other issue: 42% of replies report pest control done or ordered.

Where they wrote about

Letters per 1,000, by quarter

061218
14%
written between 22:00 and 6:00
Most per resident
Center53.0
Bežigrad16.9
Dravlje8.3
per 10,000 residents
How the city replied
42% acted or ordered work27% declined or redirected
Often in the same letter as
Smells, smoke & dust 9%Urine & excrement 3%Drugs & needles 3%
From the photos attached

  • Open manhole with construction barriers and pallets on street

  • Overflowing waste bins with garbage bags and litter on sidewalk at night

  • Overflowing garbage bins with trash bags piled around them

  • Overgrown vegetation obstructing sidewalk and cycling path

  • Green waste bins with scattered trash and wooden pallets near building

  • Gravel ground covered with many cigarette butts scattered

In their words

Center, 3 Mar 2026

Urgent rodent control

In the mini park on Miklošičeva cesta … it's crawling with rats. … Naturally, I was quiet and still, and after half a minute everything around me started swarming. The rats are so 'tame' that they strolled past me less than a metre away.

City of Ljubljana· replied 21 days later

We are aware of the problem in this area and have carried out rodent control here in the past. … food waste is being disposed of improperly, which attracts even more rodents …

Center, 23 Nov 2025

Rats

Around the underground bins for residual waste, people who don't have a bin card leave bags of rubbish. Rats get into them. … Have you ever considered making the residual-waste bins accessible to everyone, as is already the case for paper and packaging?

City of Ljubljana· replied 25 days later

We are not currently planning any changes to the underground waste collection points. The underground bins were introduced to ensure proper waste separation and to prevent disorderly dumping …

Worries that come together

Many letters raise more than one issue. A line joins two issues that appear in the same letters; the thicker the line, the more letters they share. Speeding and school routes share 214 letters: most requests to slow cars down are made on behalf of children. Drugs and homelessness share 77, and both connect to safety, to drinking in the street and to urine in the underpasses. Noise ties to traffic and to tourists.

  • Streets and public space
  • Traffic
  • A changing city
  • Heat, trees and air
  • Pests

The pairs raised together most often

Point at or tap an issue or a line to see what it comes with, how many letters they share and the latest one.

Each district's worry profile
DrugsHomelessnessSafetyDrinkingUrineNoiseSpeedingSchool routesE-scootersAccessibilityTouristsForeignersHousingConstructionHeat & shadeFelled treesSmells & dustRats
Center
Bežigrad
Šiška
Vič
Rudnik
Trnovo
Moste
Rožnik
Jarše
Polje
Dravlje
Posavje
Črnuče
Šentvid
Golovec
Sostro
Šmarna Gora
less than the citymore

Point at a cell to read it.

Share of a district's letters about each issue, compared with the city-wide share. Red means more than the city average, blue means less. Cells with fewer than three letters are left blank.

Worries with no category

The portal has categories for roads, rubbish, trees and parking, but none for loose dogs, firecrackers or an accordion under the window. People write about them anyway.

  1. Loose & aggressive dogs

    „Spuščeni psi“

    Dogs let loose

    The steadiest of them: about ten letters every year.

    130
    letters
    2008–26

  2. Firecrackers & fireworks

    „Prepoved pirotehnike v Ljubljani“

    Ban fireworks in Ljubljana

    The 2023 peak followed the Green Dragons fans' fireworks over the centre on 2 October.

    66
    letters
    2008–26

  3. Burning rubbish

    „Sežiganje odpadkov v naravi“

    Burning rubbish out in nature

    Mostly from Rudnik, Polje and Črnuče; only four from the centre.

    63
    letters
    2008–26

  4. Street musicians

    „Slab harmonikar na Prešercu“

    A bad accordionist on Prešernov trg

    39
    letters
    2008–26

  5. Illegal building & occupied land

    „Romska okupacija zemljišča“

    Roma occupying land

    25
    letters
    2008–26

  6. Wild camping

    „Nezakonito kampiranje Miklošičev park“

    Illegal camping in Miklošičev park

    20
    letters
    2008–26

  7. Squats

    „Rog: naredite že kaj, mimo sodnih poti“

    Rog: do something, without the courts

    Almost all about Rog, before it was cleared in January 2021.

    17
    letters
    2008–26

  8. Shack settlements

    „Barakarsko naselje in parking z verigo“

    A shack settlement and a car park closed with a chain

    17
    letters
    2008–26

  9. Unlicensed street selling

    „Krošnjarji na Tromostovju“

    Hawkers on Tromostovje

    16
    letters
    2008–26

  10. Feeding pigeons

    „Ekscesno hranjenje golobov“

    Excessive pigeon feeding

    14
    letters
    2008–26

  11. Prostitution

    „Bordel“

    A brothel

    13
    letters
    2008–26

  12. Unlicensed taxis

    „Taxiji na črno“

    Unlicensed taxis

    10
    letters
    2008–26

Rarer worries

  • Noise from the shooting range

    „Ukinite oz. preselite strelišče“

    Close the shooting range or move it

    7
    letters
  • Breaking covid rules

    „Kršenje ukrepov na ljubljanski tržnici“

    Rules being broken at the Ljubljana market

    6
    letters
  • Hate & extremists

    „Neonacistične skupine v Kosezah“

    Neo-Nazi groups in Koseze

    6
    letters
  • Attacking crows & geese

    „Prijava napada svih vran: 18.05.2023“

    Reporting a crow attack: 18.05.2023

    6
    letters
  • Corruption & fraud

    „Evropska komisija - raziskava LJ“

    European Commission – an inquiry into Ljubljana

    5
    letters
  • Illegal motocross

    „Motokros ob Savi“

    Motocross by the Sava

    4
    letters
  • Cruelty to animals

    „Labodji par Tivoli“

    The swan pair in Tivoli

    4
    letters
  • Protests

    „Avtobusi LPP v času protestov“

    LPP buses during the protests

    4
    letters
  • Drones

    „Turisti in droni“

    Tourists and drones

    3
    letters
  • Church bells & the mosque

    „Nočni mir v vasi Javor“

    Peace at night in the village of Javor

    3
    letters
  • Nudity & sex in public

    „Nudizem ob Savi“

    Nudism by the Sava

    3
    letters
  • Illegal fishing

    „Ribolov v ribniku“

    Fishing in the pond

    3
    letters
  • Skateboarders

    „Rolkarji, skejterji na Nazorjevi“

    Skaters on Nazorjeva

    3
    letters
  • Filming

    „Snemanje“

    Filming

    3
    letters

Examples are the letters' own titles.

The hardest streets and areas

Since 2020, 4,303 letters have described one of thirteen street troubles, from needles, urine and rats to noise, graffiti and speeding. Each is pinned to the street or square where the writer marked the problem, 792 in all. The hardest streets come in two kinds. In the old town, on Mestni trg and Kongresni trg and along the Ljubljanica, noise, urine, drugs and homelessness pile up. On the long radial roads, Celovška, Dunajska, Zaloška and Šmartinska, it is speeding cars, graffiti and dumped rubbish.

59
letters about noise from Mestni trg, the most from any one street or square
56
letters about speeding on Ilovški štradon, a narrow road across the Barje marshes
4
troubles where Kongresni trg comes first: drugs, homelessness, safety and drinking in the street
  • Life on the street
  • Traffic
  • Rubbish, graffiti & air

Thicker line, more letters

1 / 15
1
Celovška cestaŠiška · Graffiti 33 · Dumped rubbish 26 · Speeding 24125
  • Graffiti33
  • Dumped rubbish26
  • Speeding24
  • Smells & smoke16
  • Noise10
  • E-scooters10
  • Safety8
  • Building sites4
  • Homelessness3
  • Urine & excrement2
  • Drinking in the street1
  • Rats1
2020–26

Latest letter · 17 Sep 2026

„Smeti na AP“

Rubbish at the bus stop

2
Dunajska cestaBežigrad · Graffiti 23 · Speeding 22 · E-scooters 1694
  • Graffiti23
  • Speeding22
  • E-scooters16
  • Dumped rubbish15
  • Noise10
  • Smells & smoke7
  • Building sites4
  • Rats3
2020–26

Latest letter · 16 Sep 2026

„Postavitev radarja“

Put up a speed camera

3
Mestni trgCenter · Noise 59 · Graffiti 12 · Urine & excrement 586
  • Noise59
  • Graffiti12
  • Urine & excrement5
  • Drinking in the street4
  • Safety3
  • Smells & smoke3
  • E-scooters3
  • Drugs & needles2
  • Homelessness2
  • Rats2
  • Speeding2
2020–26

Latest letter · 12 Sep 2026

„Glasne in moteče javne prireditve“

Loud and disruptive public events

4
Trubarjeva cestaCenter · Noise 20 · Graffiti 18 · Homelessness 768
  • Noise20
  • Graffiti18
  • Homelessness7
  • Smells & smoke7
  • Safety6
  • Speeding6
  • Urine & excrement5
  • Rats5
  • E-scooters5
  • Drugs & needles4
  • Drinking in the street1
  • Dumped rubbish1
2020–26

Latest letter · 17 Jun 2026

„Kršitve nočnega miru v Parku Izbrisanih“

Night-time disturbances in the Park of the Erased

5
Slovenska cestaCenter · Graffiti 22 · Noise 13 · E-scooters 966
  • Graffiti22
  • Noise13
  • E-scooters9
  • Speeding7
  • Urine & excrement5
  • Smells & smoke5
  • Homelessness4
  • Safety4
  • Drugs & needles3
  • Rats2
  • Dumped rubbish1
  • Building sites1
2020–26

Latest letter · 7 Sep 2026

„Inekcije in igle po celem pločniku“

Injections and needles all over the pavement

6
Zaloška cestaMoste · Speeding 26 · Graffiti 12 · Noise 1164
  • Speeding26
  • Graffiti12
  • Noise11
  • Dumped rubbish9
  • Smells & smoke6
  • Safety2
  • Drugs & needles1
  • Homelessness1
  • Building sites1
  • E-scooters1
2020–26

Latest letter · 28 Sep 2026

„Samovolja, kolesarski lobij“

Doing as they please, the cycling lobby

7
Ilovški štradonRudnik · Speeding 56 · Dumped rubbish 5 · Noise 163
  • Speeding56
  • Dumped rubbish5
  • Noise1
  • Smells & smoke1
  • E-scooters1
2020–26

Latest letter · 29 Sep 2026

„Divjanje na Ilovškem štradonu ZADNJIČ!!“

Speeding on Ilovški štradon, FOR THE LAST TIME!!

8
Kongresni trgCenter · Noise 24 · Homelessness 17 · Urine & excrement 1358
  • Noise24
  • Homelessness17
  • Urine & excrement13
  • Drugs & needles11
  • Safety10
  • Drinking in the street7
  • Graffiti5
  • Smells & smoke3
  • Speeding1
  • E-scooters1
2020–26

Latest letter · 18 Sep 2026

„Narkomani Gh Kongresni trg“

Junkies at Kongresni trg

9
Cankarjevo nabrežjeCenter · Noise 44 · Graffiti 5 · Drinking in the street 456
  • Noise44
  • Graffiti5
  • Drinking in the street4
  • Drugs & needles2
  • Urine & excrement2
  • Homelessness1
  • Safety1
  • Smells & smoke1
  • Dumped rubbish1
2020–26

Latest letter · 14 May 2026

„Odstranitev romunskega berača“

Removing a Romanian beggar

10
Poljanski nasipCenter · Rats 13 · Drugs & needles 10 · Graffiti 848
  • Rats13
  • Drugs & needles10
  • Graffiti8
  • Dumped rubbish7
  • Drinking in the street6
  • E-scooters4
  • Speeding3
  • Homelessness2
  • Safety2
  • Urine & excrement2
  • Noise2
  • Smells & smoke2
2020–26

Latest letter · 4 Aug 2026

„Talna označba za pešce“

Road markings for pedestrians

11
Pot spominov in tovarištvaŠiška · Dumped rubbish 16 · Speeding 6 · Smells & smoke 545
  • Dumped rubbish16
  • Speeding6
  • Smells & smoke5
  • E-scooters5
  • Safety4
  • Building sites3
  • Urine & excrement2
  • Rats2
  • Graffiti2
  • Drugs & needles1
  • Noise1
2020–26

Latest letter · 20 Aug 2026

„Ogroženost otrok zaradi skirojev, motorj“

Children in danger from scooters, motorbi[kes]

12
Šmartinska cestaJarše · Speeding 21 · Noise 8 · Smells & smoke 644
  • Speeding21
  • Noise8
  • Smells & smoke6
  • Graffiti4
  • Drugs & needles3
  • Dumped rubbish2
  • Building sites2
  • Safety1
  • Rats1
  • E-scooters1
2020–26

Latest letter · 30 Sep 2026

„Radar na križišče Šmartinska in Kajuhova“

A speed camera at the Šmartinska–Kajuhova junction

13
Podutiška cestaŠiška · Speeding 25 · E-scooters 4 · Homelessness 339
  • Speeding25
  • E-scooters4
  • Homelessness3
  • Smells & smoke3
  • Urine & excrement2
  • Noise2
  • Dumped rubbish2
  • Building sites2
  • Drugs & needles1
  • Graffiti1
2020–26

Latest letter · 21 May 2026

„Omejitev hitrosti-cona30“

Speed limit – a 30 zone

14
Petkovškovo nabrežjeCenter · Graffiti 10 · Noise 9 · Drugs & needles 738
  • Graffiti10
  • Noise9
  • Drugs & needles7
  • Rats7
  • Dumped rubbish3
  • Drinking in the street2
  • Safety1
  • Urine & excrement1
  • E-scooters1
2020–26

Latest letter · 8 Sep 2026

„Preglasna ziva glasba vsak vecer“

Live music too loud every evening

15
Tržaška cestaVič · Dumped rubbish 13 · Speeding 9 · Graffiti 738
  • Dumped rubbish13
  • Speeding9
  • Graffiti7
  • E-scooters4
  • Noise3
  • Rats3
  • Safety2
2020–26

Latest letter · 27 Sep 2026

„Deratizacija“

Pest control

Where each trouble is worst

For each trouble, the three streets or squares with the most letters since 2020. Click a street to see it on the map.

Noise

Speeding

Graffiti

Dumped rubbish

Homelessness

Smells & smoke

E-scooters

Urine & excrement

Rats

Drugs & needles

Safety

Drinking in the street

Building sites

Streets and squares: OpenStreetMap. Long radial roads collect more letters partly because they are long.

Areas: the hardest and the surprisingly quiet

Streets show where letters pile up, not how many people live there. So the letters about the same thirteen troubles are also counted per resident, to within fifty metres. Red marks places where the letters describe more trouble per resident than the city average, blue where they describe less. The four hardest areas are in the centre: the old town with Kongresni trg describes more than four times the city's trouble per resident, on twelve of the thirteen counts. At the other end are the big housing estates, Fužine, Rožna dolina, Moste and Bežigrad, home to thousands, whose letters are about pigeons, playgrounds and abandoned cars.

Street trouble per resident, against the city

0.5×city2×4×
1 / 6
1
Old town and Kongresni trgCenter · 3,898 residents4.4×

Mestni trg · Slovenska cesta · Kongresni trg

12 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Noise28.7×
  • Graffiti9.8×
  • Urine & excrement6.9×
  • Homelessness6.3×
  • Smells & smoke5.8×
  • Safety5.8×
  • Drinking in the street5.5×
  • Drugs & needles4.6×
  • E-scooters4.2×
  • Speeding2.1×
  • Dumped rubbish1.6×
  • Rats1.6×
  • Building sites1.1×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Površina metalka“The square by the Metalka building
  • „Narkomani Gh Kongresni trg“Junkies at Kongresni trg
  • „Povečanje številka narkomanov v centru“More and more junkies in the centre
  • „Ploščad Ajdovščina“Ajdovščina square
2
Trubarjeva and the Ljubljanica embankmentsCenter · 4,853 residents2.4×

Trubarjeva cesta · Poljanski nasip · Petkovškovo nabrežje

10 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Graffiti6.3×
  • Drugs & needles4.2×
  • Rats3.8×
  • Homelessness3.1×
  • Noise3.0×
  • Drinking in the street3.0×
  • Safety2.5×
  • Smells & smoke2.5×
  • Urine & excrement2.4×
  • Speeding1.5×
  • E-scooters1.5×
  • Dumped rubbish1.2×
  • Building sites0.89×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Odstranitev klopi“Removing the benches
  • „Poskodovana igrala - otrosko igrisce“Broken equipment – children's playground
  • „Varna soba za uživanje trdih drog“A safe room for using hard drugs
  • „Ukrepanje glede dima-vonja iz Baščaršije“Do something about the smoke and smell from Baščaršija
3
Ajdovščina and MiklošičevaCenter · 2,680 residents2.3×

Slovenska cesta · Dunajska cesta · Tivolska cesta

12 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Noise5.7×
  • Graffiti3.5×
  • Smells & smoke3.4×
  • Urine & excrement3.3×
  • Homelessness3.2×
  • Rats3.1×
  • Drinking in the street1.9×
  • Drugs & needles1.9×
  • Dumped rubbish1.8×
  • E-scooters1.7×
  • Safety1.5×
  • Speeding1.5×
  • Building sites0.99×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Površina metalka“The square by the Metalka building
  • „Zapora Miklošičeve ceste“Closing Miklošičeva cesta
  • „Umazan pločnik in smrad“A dirty pavement and a stench
  • „Ozelenitev, zmanjšanje hrupa in emisij“Greenery, less noise and fewer emissions
4
Behind the railway stationCenter · 3,928 residents1.7×

Vilharjeva cesta · Masarykova cesta · Metelkova ulica

7 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Drugs & needles5.4×
  • Urine & excrement3.4×
  • Homelessness3.2×
  • Safety3.1×
  • Smells & smoke2.6×
  • Drinking in the street1.7×
  • Rats1.5×
  • Noise1.4×
  • Graffiti1.2×
  • Building sites0.92×
  • E-scooters0.90×
  • Speeding0.86×
  • Dumped rubbish0.83×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Deratizacija“Pest control
  • „Obrez grmovja“Cutting back the bushes
  • „Čimprejšnja selitev začasne avtobusne“Move the temporary bus station as soon as possible
  • „Varna soba za uživanje trdih drog“A safe room for using hard drugs
5
Celovška in ŠiškaŠiška · 3,570 residents1.4×

Celovška cesta · Rakuševa ulica · Ulica Ane Ziherlove

4 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Urine & excrement2.8×
  • Homelessness2.2×
  • Smells & smoke1.9×
  • Graffiti1.7×
  • Safety1.4×
  • E-scooters1.4×
  • Drugs & needles1.4×
  • Speeding1.4×
  • Building sites1.1×
  • Rats0.99×
  • Drinking in the street0.93×
  • Noise0.88×
  • Dumped rubbish0.88×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Radar“Speed camera
  • „LPP 621“LPP 621
  • „Ostanki embalaže ognjemetov - 20 dni“Leftover firework packaging – 20 days on
  • „Ureditev prometa na območju“Sorting out traffic in the area
6
Moste, around ProletarskaMoste · 3,629 residents1.3×

Društvena ulica · Proletarska cesta · Zaloška cesta

5 of 13 troubles are at least 1.5 times the city average.

  • Speeding2.3×
  • Dumped rubbish2.1×
  • Drugs & needles2.0×
  • Safety2.0×
  • E-scooters1.8×
  • Smells & smoke1.4×
  • Urine & excrement1.1×
  • Rats1.1×
  • Graffiti1.1×
  • Drinking in the street0.94×
  • Building sites0.94×
  • Homelessness0.91×
  • Noise0.71×

city = 1×

Latest letters

  • „Nelegalno odlaganje odpadkov in gradnje“Illegal dumping of waste and building rubble
  • „Ogledalo Društvena in Partizanska“A mirror at Društvena and Partizanska
  • „Prometne nesreče“Traffic accidents
  • „Postavitev ogledala“Putting up a mirror

A circle of 400 m with at least 1,000 residents, 2020–2026.

Letters show what people notice and think worth reporting, not what a place is really like; the centre also gets letters from visitors. Places with few residents, such as parks, fields and industrial zones, are left blank. Residents: GHS-POP 2025 (European Commission, JRC), fitted to the Census 2021 grid (Eurostat / SURS) and the 2025 district counts.

Drugs, fear and crime, up close

Averages blur what happened in the last year. In 2026 there were far more letters about drugs and needles than you would expect, and they come from different places than a decade ago. Letters about theft and violence are no more common than before. What is growing is fear.

34
letters about drugs up to 4 Oct 2026; at the 2020–25 rate you would expect 20
5.1
letters about discarded needles per 1,000 in 2024–26, against 2.1 in 2016–19
24
of this year's 34 letters about drugs come from the Center district
Letters about drugs and needles per 1,000 letters. The shading is the range you would expect if they had stayed at the 2020–25 rate.

Drugs

Discarded needles

The chance of this many drug letters this year arising by chance is 0.3%. 2026 runs to 4 Oct 2026.

Where letters about drugs point: share of letters naming each place
2016–19 (126 letters) 2024–26 (84 letters)
  • Underpasses
  • Vilharjeva
  • Kongresni trg
  • Metelkova
  • Zvezda park
  • Kotnikova
  • Tabor park
  • Ljubljanica embankments
  • Rog

A decade ago the letters about drugs came from neighbours of the methadone clinic on Metelkova and Kotnikova and from around Tabor park. Now they come from the underpasses, from Vilharjeva behind the railway station, from Kongresni trg and Zvezda park: the very centre, where everyone walks.

Fear is rising, theft and violence are not. Letters per 1,000, same scale in all four.

  • Theft & burglary

    2.5
    per 1,000 letters

  • Violence & threats

    1.1
    per 1,000 letters

  • Harassment

    2.5
    per 1,000 letters

  • Feeling unsafe

    5.6
    per 1,000 letters

In 2026, 10 of the 16 letters about feeling unsafe are about drug users. Crimes are reported to the police, so a letter to the city more often describes fear than an offence.

Noise is written at night

Each clock shows when letters on one issue were written, against the grey outline of all letters. Most of Ljubljana writes at lunchtime. Letters about noise, drugs and safety bulge after dark.

  • 061218

    All letters

    17% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Noise

    22% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Drugs & needles

    22% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Theft, violence & feeling unsafe

    22% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Homelessness & begging

    15% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Drinking & drunks in the street

    19% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Foreigners, migrants & workers' hostels

    19% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Speeding & traffic calming

    17% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Children & school routes

    14% between 22:00 and 6:00

  • 061218

    Praise

    16% between 22:00 and 6:00

Letters by weekday and hour, 2008–2026
FewerMore letters in that hour

Local time, from the portal's submission timestamp.

The busiest hour of the week is Monday between 12:00 and 13:00, with 1,029 letters over seventeen years. Weekends account for only 14% of letters. More letters are written between 22:00 and midnight (5,238) than between 8:00 and 10:00 (3,324).

983
letters written between 2 and 6 in the morning
81
written on Christmas Eve. Another 46 arrived on Christmas Day
35
on New Year's Day, from too few portable toilets on New Year's Eve to “rockets into the block of flats”
89
on 8 February, Prešeren Day, a public holiday for culture

17 Sep 2020, 03:12

Green roofs on bus shelters

I read that, together with the university’s Botanic Garden, you are greening the roofs of bus shelters. I must praise this excellent idea. A great idea for a greener Ljubljana.

Every worry has its month: letters by month of the year

  • Heat, shade & drinking fountains

    Peaks in July · 706 letters

  • Rats & pests

    Peaks in September · 313 letters

  • Noise

    Peaks in August · 1,227 letters

  • E-scooters

    Peaks in September · 348 letters

  • Children & school routes

    Peaks in September · 988 letters

  • Felled trees

    Peaks in August · 327 letters

  • Snow clearing & sweeping

    Peaks in January · 1,430 letters

  • Street lights

    Peaks in January · 1,332 letters

The evidence

…

A city that answers its mail

Ljubljana's Pobude meščanov portal has collected public letters since December 2008. Anyone can pin a problem to the map, and the city publishes its reply. The archive holds 59,026 letters, and all but 265 have been answered.

Rožnik, 29 Aug 2009

Praise for the “Citizens' initiatives” service

Praise for this web service. I’ve noticed that quite a few suggestions have already been carried out. I hope you don’t mind too much that we’re sometimes a bit grumpy. People are like that: we’d rather voice criticism than praise. Best regards, and keep it up. And good nerves!

Mestna občina Ljubljana· replied 2 days later

Sincere thanks for the encouraging words. It commits all of us who work at the City of Ljubljana to be even more effective, for the good of our citizens.

3.2 million
words written to the city
3.7 million
words written back by the city
14,591
photos attached as evidence
Letters per month, December 2008 – October 2026
  1. 9 Dec 2008: the portal opens. 41 letters in its first three weeks.
  2. 13 Jun 2016: 23 letters in one day asking the city to save the Rog factory.
  3. 16 Mar – 18 May 2020: silence. The portal goes dark in the first lockdown.
  4. 2023: the record year, 6,945 letters.
  5. 16 Jan 2024: letters now need a confirmed e‑mail address. Daily volume halves.

Public letters only. The portal's own counter shows about 80,889 submissions; the rest were never published.

Volume grew almost every year until 2023. Then, on 16 January 2024, the portal began asking every writer to confirm an e‑mail address, and the daily average fell from 19.1 to 10.2. From 16 March to 18 May 2020, during the first lockdown, not a single public letter was filed.

Center, 13 Jun 2016

Keep the autonomous Rog factory

Keep Rog as it is, because it is important, unique and irreplaceable. Help with the renovation and let the Rog community keep growing. Build new spaces elsewhere.

Mestna uprava · the same reply went to 21 of the 23 Rog letters that day· replied the same day

Dear Sir or Madam, thank you for your message. Kind regards.

Forty things Ljubljana writes about

Every letter was turned into an embedding, a list of numbers that captures its meaning. Letters close in meaning were grouped into 40 topics, each named by hand after reading its letters. Select a topic to see when it peaks, where it gathers and how the city answers it.

Roads & traffic

13,669 letters · 23%

Parking & cars

7,208 letters · 12%

Walking & cycling

7,039 letters · 12%

Buses & bike share

3,307 letters · 6%

Trees, parks & play

7,305 letters · 12%

Waste & cleanliness

6,831 letters · 12%

Drains, lights & repairs

5,923 letters · 10%

Neighbours & civic life

7,744 letters · 13%

Each theme's share of all letters, by year

  • Roads & traffic

    26%
    2026

  • Parking & cars

    13%
    2026

  • Walking & cycling

    12%
    2026

  • Buses & bike share

    5%
    2026

  • Trees, parks & play

    15%
    2026

  • Waste & cleanliness

    13%
    2026

  • Drains, lights & repairs

    8%
    2026

  • Neighbours & civic life

    9%
    2026

2026 runs to early October.

A map of meaning

Here every letter is placed by what it says, not where it was written. Parking forms a continent of its own, with abandoned cars as a peninsula. Street lights and traffic mirrors are islands. Trees and greenery gather at one end, roads at the other. Hover to read a title, or pick a theme.

Layout: OpenAI text-embedding-3-large embeddings of each letter (1,024 dimensions), projected to two dimensions with UMAP. Distances within an island mean something; the positions of islands relative to each other mean less.

Every district has its own complaint

The centre draws by far the most letters, 617 per 1,000 residents, though many come from people who only visit. Each district also has a signature, the topic it raises far more than the rest of the city: rattling manhole covers in Polje, traffic mirrors in Sostro, abandoned cars in Dravlje, speeding on Šmarna Gora.

Every letter in ink. Pick a theme to colour its letters.

Years 2008–20260 letters shown

Letters per 1,000 residents, 2008–2026

Residents on 1 January 2025. The signature topic is the one most over-represented compared with the whole city.

  • CenterThe city at large617
  • BežigradDead & fallen trees206
  • VičAsphalt & resurfacing205
  • ŠiškaLPP bus service200
  • PosavjeIllegal dumping193
  • RudnikSewers & local plans184
  • TrnovoSewers & local plans153
  • JaršeAbandoned cars153
  • DravljeAbandoned cars141
  • ČrnučeIllegal dumping137
  • RožnikRoutes, timetables & displays127
  • MosteAbandoned cars119
  • ŠentvidTraffic mirrors112
  • PoljeRattling manhole covers106
  • GolovecCars on pavements104
  • SostroTraffic mirrors94
  • Šmarna GoraSpeeding & traffic calming79

The same letter, year after year

14% of letters closely match an earlier letter written within 80 metres: the same problem, reported again. Linked together they form 4,724 recurring places. A few have been written about for more than a decade.

Circle area shows the number of related letters.

  1. 149

    Igriška & Gregorčičeva

    Parking and café terraces · Center · 2010–2025

    „Gostinski vrt“ „Parkiranje Igriška in Gregorčičeva ulica“ „Mize gostinskih lokalov na Igriški“

  2. 90

    The riverside bars

    Late-night music and noise · Center · 2011–2025

    „Glasba in hrup iz ulice po 22 uri“ „Hrupni lokali“ „Hrup gostinskih lokalov“

  3. 57

    Trubarjeva cesta

    Cyclists among pedestrians · Center · 2014–2025

    „Zarisanje kolesarske steze“ „Ukrepanje zoper kolesarje“ „Norenje kolesarjev Trubarjeva“

  4. 50

    A car park in Jarše

    Wrecks and cars without plates · Jarše · 2018–2026

    „Zapuščena vozila“ „Razbita vozila in vozila brez tablic“ „Vozila brez tablic“

  5. 41

    Around the Rog factory

    Night-time noise · Center · 2016–2021

    „Ustavite nasilje in hrup Rogovcev“ „Nočni hrup v Rogu“ „Rog ali mučenje okoliških stanovalcev“

  6. 36

    Celovška 83–89

    Cars on the pavement · Šiška · 2015–2024

    „Parkiranje po domače“ „Parkiranje na ploščadi Celovška 89“ „Vožnja po pločniku_Celovška“

  7. 32

    Dunajska × Livarska

    A junction cyclists keep reporting · Bežigrad · 2013–2026

    „Semafor za pešce pri razstavišču“ „Nevarno križišče“ „Kolesarjem neprijazno novo križišče“

  8. 30

    Outside Hotel Slon

    Cars in the drop-off zone · Center · 2012–2025

    „Parkiranje hotel Slon“ „Zablokiran drop-off zone pri hotelu Slon“ „Parkirišče pred Slonom“

  9. 27

    The Ilovica flood gates

    “When, exactly?” · Rudnik · 2016–2020

    „Protipoplavna zapornica namesto DARSa“ „Protipoplavni zapornici kdaj točno“ „Protipoplavni zapornici kdaj zares ?“

  10. 27

    Na jami, Šiška

    Parking chaos and vans · Šiška · 2018–2026

    „Parkiranje avtomobilov“ „Zaparkiran uvoz navkljub znaku prepovedi“ „Parkirni kaos Na jami in ob Celovški 2“

  11. 26

    Zaloška cesta

    Renovation and rattling covers · Polje · 2017–2023

    „Zaloška“ „Sanacija“ „Prenova Zaloške“

  12. 26

    Outside Študentski servis

    One writer, part 1 to part 5 · Center · 2018–2020

    „Parkiranje pred Študentskim servisom“ „Nedovoljeno parkiranje pred Študentom“ „Nedovoljena parkiranja pred Študentom“

  13. 26

    Ižanska, Rudnik

    Pavements used as car parks · Rudnik · 2019–2023

    „Parkiranje na pločnikih 2“ „Parkiranje na pločniku“ „Parkiranje ma pločnikih“

  14. 23

    Vrhovnikova ulica

    Thirteen years asking for a pavement · Vič · 2013–2026

    „Pločnik“ „Ureditev plocnika“ „Pločnik na Vrhovnikovi ulici“

  15. 22

    A street in Dravlje

    Abandoned cars since 2009 · Dravlje · 2009–2025

    „Nič se ni zgodilo - neregistrirani avti“ „Zapuščen avto“ „Zapuščena bela Opel Astra Karavan“

  16. 22

    A Bežigrad cycle lane

    Flower troughs in the way · Bežigrad · 2010–2025

    „Odstranitev cvetličnega korita“ „Cvetlično korito“ „Cvetlična korita na kolesarski stezi“

A letter counts as a repeat when an earlier letter lies within 80 m and their embeddings have cosine similarity of at least 0.78. Similar letters are not always the same incident.

Center, 16 Nov 2012

Railing repairs by Zlata ladjica, second letter

WHEN will you put back the wrought-iron dragons that decorated the railing from Šuštarski most towards the new steps on Breg? No work is going on, the workers have cleared the site, and the dragons are not in their places. Where are the little dragons?

City of Ljubljana· replied 4 days later

The little dragons will be installed by the end of this year.

Center, 10 Nov 2014

The wrought-iron dragons are back

Great. You finally managed to return all the little wrought-iron dragons. The only question is why they are not in the same places as before. Now they’re a bit scattered along Breg and Novi trg?

City of Ljubljana· replied the same day

Dear Sir or Madam, they are placed according to the project.

The wrought-iron dragons on the Breg railing were promised “by the end of this year” in November 2012. They came back in November 2014.

Šiška, 4 Jan 2022

Slippery footbridge by the pond (correction)

I’ve just noticed a later message in which you wrote: “we inspected the bridge on site and ordered its repair.” That was three years ago. You haven’t fixed anything. The wood is starting to rot. Why do you promise to do something if you have no intention of doing anything?

City of Ljubljana· replied 8 days later

We are aware of the problem and will try to resolve it as soon as possible. Unfortunately the temporary fixes did not solve it and the footbridge will need renovating. We are coordinating possible solutions with the designers. Thank you for your understanding.

The city's other residents

Dogs, or rather their owners, appear in 1,082 letters. Rats peak in September. Crows and mosquitoes peak in June, when the crows are nesting. Nutrias and swans along the Ljubljanica get fed too much. Bears never made it into the city's mail.

  • Dogs

    1,082

    psi

    Most letters in March

    „Park za pse“

  • Rats

    272

    podgane

    Most letters in September

    „Povečano število podgan“

  • Crows

    198

    vrane

    Most letters in June

    „Smeti, igle, podgane, vrane“

  • Pigeons

    118

    golobi

    Most letters in September

    „Gojenje golobov v strnjenem naselju“

  • Mosquitoes

    106

    komarji

    Most letters in June

    „Komarji in zatiranje“

  • Bees

    68

    čebele

    Most letters in May

    „Ozeljevanje streh za čebele in hlajenje“

  • Cats

    67

    mačke

    Most letters in August

    „Mački“

  • Horses

    67

    konji

    Most letters in August

    „KONJSKI IZTREBKI NA RASICI“

  • Swans & ducks

    43

    labodi in race

    Most letters in May

    „Zaščita okoli labodjega gnezda“

  • Beavers & nutrias

    31

    bobri in nutrije

    Most letters in March

    „Odstranitev nutrij - pomor“

  • Foxes & martens

    15

    lisice in kune

    Most letters in January

    „Lisica na grajski planoti II“

  • Bears

    0

    Not one letter about a bear. The word turns up only in passing: in letters about a cycling barrier, a dragon mascot and the zoo.

Posavje, 7 May 2017

Make riders clean up after their horses

On the wonderful path along the Sava, we dog owners diligently pick up after our dogs, while riders from the equestrian club calmly leave horse droppings behind, a single load of which exceeds a dog’s about a hundredfold.

Inšpektorat· replied 4 days later

We will check on site, and if this breaches Article 18 of the ordinance on cleaning roads and green spaces, the Inspectorate will act accordingly.

Moste, 22 Jan 2013

Feeding nutrias and swans

The population of nutrias and swans on the Ljubljanica is booming. By the bridge at Fužine alone, the number of non-native nutrias has doubled this year: there are about twenty there now. There is so much food that it just lies around.

Oddelek za varstvo okolja· replied 10 days later

You are right that non-native species multiply partly because people feed them. We commit to putting up warning signs at the spot you propose, though such signs are often vandalised.

Words of their time

Some words tell you the year. E-scooters went from almost none to 16 per 1,000 in 2022. Parking meters peaked in 2012 and faded. Tiger mosquitoes and requests for shade rose with hotter summers. In 2026 a new phrase, “poses a risk”, appears in one letter in a hundred: the language of risk assessments, perhaps with some help from chatbots.

  • E-scooters

    skiro

    11
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 16 in 2022

  • Tiger mosquitoes

    komar

    2.8
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 4.1 in 2021

  • EV chargers

    polnilnica

    2.8
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 6.0 in 2021

  • Shade

    senca

    13
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 13 in 2026

  • Rats

    podgana

    7.4
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 12 in 2025

  • Drug users

    narkomani

    9.8
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 9.8 in 2026

  • Tourists

    turisti

    12
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 28 in 2012

  • BicikeLJ

    BicikeLJ

    6.0
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 21 in 2017

  • Urbana card

    Urbana

    3.2
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 11 in 2009

  • Parking meters

    parkomat

    3.5
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 22 in 2012

  • The mayor

    Janković

    32
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 34 in 2011

  • “Poses a risk”

    tveganje

    9.8
    per 1,000 letters

    Peak 9.8 in 2026

Letters per 1,000 containing the word or its Slovenian inflections. Each panel has its own scale; compare shapes, and read magnitudes from the numbers. Mentions of the mayor include both “župan” and his surname; 2026 is a local election year.

Fewer exclamation marks, more “please”

Letters have grown calmer and more polite. In 2009 nearly one letter in four used an exclamation mark; in 2026 one in ten does. “Please” has doubled. Meanwhile the vocabulary of formal reports keeps growing: “safety” now appears in one letter in ten.

2009 2026
  • Says “please”
    prosim, prosimo
  • Uses an exclamation mark
    !
  • Mentions safety
    varnost
  • Says thank you
    hvala, zahvaljujem
  • Calls it urgent
    nujno, takoj, čimprej
  • Says it's happening again
    spet, ponovno, že leta
  • Title in ALL CAPS
    VELIKE ČRKE
  • Offers praise
    pohvala, bravo, čestitke
  • Triple punctuation
    !!! ???
  • “Poses a risk”
    predstavlja tveganje

And sometimes, simply: thank you

341 letters put praise or thanks right in the title. They thank street cleaners and snow-plough drivers, bus drivers and wardens.

Center, 24 Jun 2015

Praise for the street cleaners

Today at 6:30, at the Trubarjeva–Resljeva crossing, a street cleaner also looked over the edge of the pavement in case some careless pedestrian had dropped litter there. It would never have occurred to me to look over the edge. You take good care of Ljubljana!

City of Ljubljana· replied the same day

Thank you for the praise, which we have already passed on to the public company Snaga. Kind regards.

Sostro, 27 Feb 2023

Praise for the village road crew

Please pass our praise to the man who keeps the village roads in Volavlje clear in winter. Even on Sunday at five in the morning, when most people are at home, he ploughed and gritted the road, so those of us who work Sundays could get to work and back safely.

City of Ljubljana· replied 9 days later

Thank you for the praise. All the best!

Center, 22 Feb 2023

Praise for a bus driver

Please praise the bus driver who today at 16:48 drove through the shared space by Nama extremely carefully and slowly, giving way to every pedestrian and cyclist crossing Slovenska cesta.

LPP· replied 2 days later

Using the vehicle tracking system we have already traced the driver. Both the head of LPP and the driver will hear of your praise. We wish you a pleasant day.

P.S. How the city answers

A postscript about the replies. For a decade the city answered within about four days; letters written in 2026 waited a median of 21 days, and 77% of replies arrived after the city's own internal deadline. Since August 2025 most replies open with “We forward you the Mayor's reply”.

Median days from letter to reply
Replies after the city's own deadline
Replies opening with “the Mayor's reply”, by month
Letters waiting at the end of each month
  • Jan 2024: from 406 open letters to 102 in a month
  • 31 Mar 2025: 282 replies sent in one day
What replies committed to
  • Acted or dispatched
  • Promised to look
  • Explained
  • Declined or redirected

Estimated by a classifier trained on 720 hand-labelled replies; 71% agreement on held-out replies.

Replies with a near-identical twin

Share of replies whose closest reply that year has cosine similarity ≥ 0.97: the same template with a different street name.

The city's most-used sentences

  1. Zahvaljujemo se vam za prejeto pobudo.

    Thank you for your suggestion.

    14,611
    2010–24

  2. Zahvaljujemo se vam za posredovano sporočilo.

    Thank you for your message.

    4,229
    2013–26

  3. Posredujemo vam odgovor gospoda župana.

    We forward you the Mayor’s reply.

    2,771
    2025–26

  4. Inšpektor/inšpektorica bo ukrepal v skladu z zakonskimi pooblastili.

    The inspector will act within their legal powers.

    1,249
    2020–26

  5. Preverili bomo in ukrepali skladno s pristojnostmi.

    We will check and act in line with our competences.

    1,147
    2021–25

  6. Preveritev na terenu in ukrepanje skladno z ugotovitvami je bilo naročeno pristojni službi.

    An on-site check, and action based on its findings, has been ordered from the responsible service.

    997
    2021–23

One citizen asked the obvious question.

Center, 1 Apr 2025

The universal reply

Lately you have answered many suggestions with: “Dear Sir or Madam! We regret the late handling of your message. We will check and act in line with our competences.” When and how will you answer them one by one? We citizens feel you have simply got rid of us this way. Will we have to submit the suggestion again to get an answer?

Oddelek za gospodarske dejavnosti in promet· replied 2 days later

Every time we write “we will check and act in line with our competences”, we carry out checks and, depending on the findings, take measures. We will not report on the checks, decisions and measures carried out. The measures taken are ultimately visible on the ground.

How the city signs off
Lep pozdrav (best regards) Prijazen pozdrav (kind regards)