Caring for the 'good' city in ethical terms: Graffiti removal in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand

In this article we analyse graffiti removal in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand, as a practice of caring for the 'good' city in ethical terms. Drawing on ethnographic methods, we use an example from a suburb in the southern part of Auckland to contextualise graffiti removal within both ongoing neoliberal governance and community responsibilisation, and thus link this practice to current city politics. We point to the ambiguities of removing graffiti, which necessarily excludes non-conformist expressions from the urban landscape. Further, we argue that removing graffiti contributes to the reduction of urban diversity, ultimately fostering hegemonic power relations by reproducing and normalising middle-class aesthetics.