Territoriality is about how people use spaces to communicate ownership or occupancy of areas and possessions. The sense of owned space creates an environment where "strangers" or "intruders" stand out and are more easily identified. Bringing a sense of ownership to the community is a method that works by encouraging people to preserve and treasure their own environment.
Some experts argue that ensuring communities feel ownership of their environment is a very effective method which in some cases may result in protecting the graffiti itself, such as the Bristol Community protecting their Banksys (BBC, 2014).
Graffiti/street art in public urban places result in territorial formations where in some cases these places become communal hotspots for the residents (Iveson, 2010) leading to gentrification (Young, 2014), as well as reduction of insecurity and fear of crime in public spaces (Gamman et al., 2010).