Growing On Real Estate Owners, not only in their eyes but also in their pockets!
Street art and murals pave the way for real estate prices to rise. How? Let’s dive in.
By Swedish Street Art Huge - His latest work at Götene Kommun
Street art, graffiti, murals, 3D pavement art, installations, and sculptures have been highlighted as some of the most captivating art decorations in today's society. With the rise in its popularity, street art has changed the economic conditions of real estate.
Before street art became ‘street art’, it was only seen as a sign of urban decay created by the act of illegal vandalism. Despite the negative connotation in the past, graffiti and street art have turned into one of the most popular types of art in the 21st century, which has brought many artists and art admirers to appreciate it. With an ‘edgy’ style, street art has been wider accepted, resulting in it being developed into wall decorations, which push up the property value to its glory.
Street Art and Real Estate
According to the research from the University of Warwick, England, a community consisting of numerous street art tends to gain more attention as it increases the market values. In addition, scholars have studied the change of graffiti art in London. They reviewed the photos of street art uploaded on the Flickr site between 2003 and 2014 and compared the property prices. It showed that the real estate value increased in the neighborhoods with loads of mural art.
With successful growth, street art has increased the demand for many types of real estates such as housings, cafés, restaurants, and other businesses that can attract a lot of visitors.
3D artwork by Chemis - A wise owl in Arboga
Street Art Can Affect The Real Estate Pricing!
Since street art has risen in value, it has also attracted a lot of wealthy tenants. The city has gained a lot of benefits from the murals which have encouraged landlords and property owners to focus on art-invent real estate. Paying artists to create murals and that way adding value to their buildings and neighborhoods.
According to Banksy, one of the world’s most famous street artists, his mural artworks have been appreciated and doubled in value overnight for those properties displaying them.
However, the idea of changing street art into an urban-like culture is not always the best way. It is undeniable that street art is now a part of ‘urban design’. However, rapid development brings a lot of issues to analyze.
After becoming a hit, street art provokes gentrification in many lower-income communities. The sense of ‘trendy’ brings the creative class and the upper-class to move into the neighborhoods where they can build up a business and make a profit in public areas. As the business grows faster, the cost of living increases. With higher property taxes, lower-class residents cannot afford the expenses, resulting in being pushed out of the community.
Also, there has been widely argued on how the ‘creative city’ can ruin traditional culture in each neighborhood. Some artworks created by the muralists do not relate to the historical background of the areas. The influences of city life taking up small communities may wipe away the old traditional neighborhoods, so the artists take responsibility by removing some of their work and trying to create the art that relates more to the community.
Painting down stories on murals has become one of the solutions to property developers as it indeed adds value to their property, generates city economy and development. Nevertheless, to do so, the development needs consideration and agreement in order to maintain the community culture as well as the locals.
By Chongnang Naweewong
