Capitalist and anti-capitalist placemaking through street art.

This article examines the complex role of street art as a tool of placemaking—the process of transforming physical spaces into meaningful places with distinct identities—and its varied relationships with capitalism across different urban neighborhoods. Using three New York City neighborhoods as case studies, it shows how street art functions differently: in The Bowery, it supports capitalist placemarketing and globalized cultural branding; in El Barrio (East Harlem), it preserves and asserts a transnational Puerto Rican place identity resisting gentrification; and in the South Bronx, it creates alternative, affirming place meanings in a marginalized, economically depressed area. The article also discusses the paradox that explicitly anti-capitalist street art is often coopted by capitalist forces for commodification and marketing, complicating efforts to use street art as a form of spatial resistance. Overall, street art is presented as a multifaceted phenomenon that shapes how space is experienced, territorialized, and valued, with its social and economic impacts varying significantly by context.