The posturban paradigm and where street art and graffiti are not (going to be)

Abstract

Over the past decade, we faced a great outcome and success of urban creativity because cities started to adopt it for image branding within a global competition. This output is tied to the possibility of diverse aesthetic experiences in the urban space. But is this development also meant to last in the future? What can be said about the urban imaginary, planned by global investors or the military complex? The aim of this working paper is to shed light on the desired future urban space, already realized in ambitious projects around the globe. By adopting the post-contemporary critique on the discourse of the urban, it appears that the future is already present in ‘ghost-cities’ that do not embrace urban creativity anymore, but overtly try to avoid or even fight it.