“Guess I’m Next to be Erased”: street art, heritage and gentrification in George Town, Malaysia

Abstract

<p>This paper builds on emerging literature documenting how street art intersects with urban heritage and processes of gentrification in rapidly urbanizing and worlding cities. In particular, it focuses on the UNESCO World Heritage City of George Town, Penang, and examines controversies over the in/formal blossoming of street art in quotidian spaces of the city (such as back lanes, alleys, and car parks) since 2012. Not only have these works brought more life to these (formerly) secluded spaces, but they have also, (un)intentionally contributed to processes of gentrification and urban renewal. In particular, the paper uses Chang’s (<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02723638.2025.2524635#">Citation2016</a>) concept of gentrification aesthetics in examining the emergence of street art in George Town and its role in government efforts to revitalize the city and boost tourism revenues. The findings suggest that street art has indeed shaped processes of gentrification in George Town, attracting middle-class tourists while sidelining traditional uses of space. It also stresses that the challenges in using street art to estheticize a city, given its divergent meanings to different people, particularly in multicultural historic centers like George Town, and thus needs to be carefully cultivated and regulated to have the desired outcomes.<br></p>