Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities

The urban linguistic landscape is a dynamically developing object of study in linguistics, sociology, economics and marketing. Its texts are able not only to transmit information, but also to serve a decorative - or symbolic - function. The article examines five creative projects that place texts with symbolic meanings in urban space. The author analyses the texts, identifying their possible functions and the reasons for the high social demand for such projects. Three functions are proposed for the texts in question: psychotherapeutic, marketing, and educational, while the marketing one is often implemented covertly. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of each project and concludes that their popularity among urban residents is linked to the high level of stress in the current socio-economic context and feeling of loneliness in large cities.