Is street art institutionalizable? Challenges to an alternative urban policy in Lisbon

Abstract

Lisbon City Council, in recent years, has promoted a new policy towards graffiti and street art. Not only has it fought to actively control these artistic practices in some central neighborhoods, but it has also, conversely, facilitated and institutionalized its practice in other specific areas of the city. In spite of its multifaceted and inorganic nature, combining a controversial set of public actions conducted by different City Council departments, this policy can be looked upon as an alternative urban development policy. It is characterized by a bottom-up approach to urban problems, which targets local communities, and more significantly, specifically a non-mainstream segment of urban society. In addition, it seeks to establish socio-political (and cultural) regulations in order to limit uneven urban development. The overall aim of this paper is to analyze the implications of this course of action and the challenges it brings forth to the design of public policies in this field. More specifically, it seeks to understand the changes that have come about by this process of “institutionalization” of graffiti, i.e. the immediate socio-economic and cultural impacts on the city, and the effect it has had on artistic expression.