Hey everyone,
With new members joining our beautiful family and eager to start contributing,
I want to take a moment to clarify why simple graffiti tags aren’t accepted on Street Art Cities, and why this guideline matters for the platform and the community.
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Our mission: documenting street art, not every mark in public space
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Street Art Cities exists to map and celebrate street art, murals, and creative interventions that show intention, skills, and public impact. To keep the map meaningful and inspiring, we maintain a baseline for what counts as an artwork.
What exactly is a tag?
A tag is a stylized signature or symbol used by a graffiti writer, generally made in a single color. Tagging is the most basic and simple form of graffiti writing, and also the most common.
Because tags are quick, minimal, and often repeated everywhere, they don’t align with the platform’s focus on documenting visually developed artworks.
From our guidelines
To make things even clearer, here’s the core idea from our internal guide:
We have nothing against some cool graffiti. Just don’t add those quick ’n dirty tags. If the artist hasn’t put a couple of hours into it, at least some colors and decent outlines, it’s probably not worth the trouble. Also consider that not all these artists want to be linked to their work… And if the vandalism is so obvious, please don’t.
This isn’t about judging graffiti. It’s about keeping the platform focused, respectful, and safe for everyone involved.
Practical reasons
Allowing tags would create a few issues:
- Volume overload: Cities would be flooded with thousands of near-identical entries.
- Quality consistency: It becomes impossible to maintain a curated, inspiring map.
- Artist privacy: Many writers don’t want their tags documented or linked to them.
Respect for all parts of the culture
This guideline isn’t anti-graffiti. It’s simply about keeping Street Art Cities focused on the types of works the platform was built to highlight, pieces that transform public space in a more developed, visual way.