The cities and the drawings. Street art projects as shared practices for the revitalization of urban areas

In recent years we have been witnessing a reversal regarding the phenomenon of urban graffiti: from vandalism and naive expression of youth problems it has gradually acquired the status of art. The attention of the world has officially declared this grassroots form of language as an artistic expression finally worthy of appearing in exhibitions and museums. Artists, previously accustomed to work clandestinely in the streets, have seen their work exposed in art galleries. What interests us in this essay is to emphasize the important social role played by the most advanced forms of street art as a catalyst of collective attention towards the public space revitalization. Murals allow citizens to become active part of a community; they can trigger processes of revitalization in neighbourhoods, towns and whole cities; they work to strengthen the identity of a social context; intensify existing ties, create new economic dynamics, in a joint project involving citizens belonging to all ages. The examples, of which the essay offers a study of the most significant, are numerous and growing, a sign of a growing interest in grassroots artistic movements that can change the face and the prospective to improve degraded urban areas through the conscious, and often provocative, use of drawing.