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Smartphone app will clean Paris
Users will be able to photograph rubbish or graffiti and get council to clear it
PARIS is to launch a smartphone app next month that will let residents highlight abandoned rubbish and other local problems and get them fixed.
The DansMaRue app will be available for iPhone and Android smartphones and users can take a photo of rubbish, graffiti or other problems and it will be tagged with the exact location and the mairie notified. Council workers will take the information and pass it to cleaning crews who will move in to clear the site.
Paris has already launched two publicity campaigns this year to persuade people to stop dropping litter and city employees have been testing out the DansMaRue app since last October. Now the tests have been extended to council staff and councillors in 20 arrondissements.
Assistant mayor Philippe Ducloux said the publicity campaigns had alerted people to the need to keep the city clean but the new app would allow them to take an active role in doing so.
• Three students have launched a mobile phone app that “geolocalises” dog dirt on Paris streets. The Poople Maps were invented by Sarcelles students to show people the poopiest areas to avoid, to let them flag other areas – and also to shame dog-owners into cleaning up. To see the Poople Map app, go to www.pooplemaps.com