Graffiti and Communities

Graffiti and communities are becoming  increasingly more and more synonymous with each other. We are becoming more and more aware of the influence of graffiti in communities on social well being and community engagement in modern cities.

Graffiti has been a part of human society and community since our earliest times. Since the beginning, graffiti in has evolved from cave drawings to the large scale defacement of properties that occurs in most cities today. Although graffiti is illegal in most cities, it has continued to grow exponentially in the past decades. As a result of this growth, graffiti now costs the United States  between 13-15 billion each year. This is without even considering the social impact to communities, residents, businesses, and youth entrenched in the graffiti subculture. The presence of graffiti instills perceptions of danger, lawlessness, criminality and lack of safety. For communities, this causes disengagement by its members who socially retreat from the perceived threat. The consequence of this is a detachment of community members that would otherwise engage in altruistic positive community building activity. 

The visual appearance of our surroundings effects the way in which people behave, act and interact. Typically under recognized in community building, visual aesthetics play a major role in the complexion of community. For communities that are inclusive, engaged and have positive growth, it is vital for  environments to foster perceptions of safety, order and positive social structure. Therefore the presence of visual distress in the form of litter, vandalism, graffiti and street level crime is detrimental to positive communities. It is essential for the building of strong communities where people are invested in contributing to strengthening their neighborhoods.

For more information on how positive visual aesthetics impacts community see Mayor Edi Rama’s transformation of his city through paint. (click here)