Art can be a tool of transformation for struggling neighbourhoods, restoring areas that have fallen into disrepair and having a positive social impact.  Today we are showing you some examples of urban spaces that have been restored thanks to artistic intervention.

An explosion of colour

Boamistura uses street art as a catalyst for social change, changing how public spaces are perceived.  Their Crossroads project transforms vulnerable communities through colourful, dynamic, and collaborative artworks.

Favela Painting

We all associate the favelas of Rio de Janeiro with danger, drugs, and poverty.  This project from Dutch pair Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn has been trying to change this image since 2005 by using art, strengthening local communities.

Velázquez to the rescue

This list had to include the initiative from Eduardo Hermido that began in 2008.  This project is behind the restoration of the Canido neighbourhood in Ferrol with its Meninas.  It has made the area one of the most desirable to live in in the whole city.

From red light district to art district

Wynwood, the art district in Miami, was a poor neighbourhood until recently.  Similar to what happened in Ferrol, a street art initiative that began in 2009 was the catalyst for what has become an unstoppable process.

Ocupatucalle

People living in Lima have taken it upon themselves to put some low-cost urban initiatives into motion, with a view to recover to pedestrian-only streets and to make the city more human.

 

Okuda in Moscow

 

Urban Morphogenesis is a project that has transformed Odintsovo, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Moscow, into an open-air museum, by making the grey façades of Soviet-era apartment blocks colourful.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B007gKEFivU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Urban art in the rural world

Urban art is leaving the city to help in the fight against the depopulation and abandonment of rural areas.  The Titanes Project converts abandoned silos in Ciudad Real into canvases for mural painters, who are assisted by people living with disabilities.