Most rightly so. Nevertheless, you should definitely reserve half a day for hunting for street art, no matter what you call the hunting grounds. Over the last few years, I have put together many posts about street art in many different countries and often rather unexpected places: from painted walls all over Berlin to an abandoned hotel ruin on the island of Naxos. The globe seems to be covered with breathtaking murals by renowned artists.
Due to the abundance, street art has lost much of its subversive swag in many places. In London, the former cradle of punk, groups of tourists push their way through the gentrified and therefore tragically hip districts of Camden and Shoreditch. On the other hand, districts such as the 13th arrondissement in Paris, the Copenhagen Nordvest neighborhood, or the satellite town of San Pablo in the northeast of Seville are visually enhanced through murals in the first step and thereby made more livable in the long term.
Boulevard Gambetta lies north of the proper city center like a social demarcation line. The districts of Gambetta and Richelieu are close to the center and yet worlds away.
Many of the long-established businesses have to close because no younger successor can be found. Development programs are intended to give the district the necessary boost. One of the measures is a broader social mix. But that will take time. The other measure can be implemented more quickly: making the district more attractive on the outside. As a result, the first houses have already been renovated.
In principle, this is of course a great idea. Nevertheless, such gentrification measures should only be carried out with care and sensitivity. The end goal should be support for the long-established residents and not the neighborhood being handed over to hip bohemians. As in other cities, the initial impetus for visually improving the run-down neighborhoods through street art came from an art festival.
