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Visual pollution
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<h2 id="sources">Sources</h2> <p>Local managers of urban areas sometimes lack control over what is built and assembled in public places. As businesses look for ways to increase the profits, cleanliness, architecture, logic and use of space in urban areas are suffering from visual clutter.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> Variations in the <a href="/facts/Built_environment/BdyKv5bK">built environment</a> are determined by the location of <a href="/facts/Street_furniture/IMefrpBY">street furniture</a> such as public transport stations, garbage cans, large panels and stalls. Insensitivity of local administration is another cause for visual pollution. For example, poorly planned buildings and transportation systems create visual pollution. High-rise buildings, if not planned properly or sufficiently, can bring adverse change to the visual and physical characteristics of a city, which may reduce said city's <a href="/facts/Readability/4UHGydpM">readability</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> </p><p>A frequent <a href="/facts/Criticism_of_advertising/XzFBpMUS">criticism of advertising</a> is that there is too much of it.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Billboard/tkTbxlwC">Billboards</a>, for example, have been alleged to distract drivers, corrupt public taste, promote meaningless and wasteful <a href="/facts/Consumerism/H6eTfoeJ">consumerism</a> and clutter the land.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> See <a href="/facts/Highway_beautification/CLn8epld">highway beautification</a>. Vandalism, in the form of <a href="/facts/Graffiti/xE9oqKsk">graffiti</a>, is defined as street markings, offensive, inappropriate, and tasteless messages made without the owner's consent.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> Graffiti adds to visual clutter as it disturbs the view. </p> <h2 id="visual-pollution-assessment">Visual Pollution Assessment</h2> <p>The process of measuring, quantifying or assessing the level of visual pollution at any place is called a visual pollution assessment (VPA).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> In past few years,[<i>as of?</i>] the demand for methods to assess visual pollution in communities has increased. Recently, a tool was introduced for visual pollution measurement which can be used to measure the presence of various visual pollution objects (VPOs) and the resultant level of visual pollution. A detailed analysis of visual pollution, its context, case studies and analysis using the tool is discussed in <i>Visual Pollution: Concepts, Practices and Management Framework</i> by Nawaz et al.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="prevention">Prevention</h2> <h3>United States</h3> <p>In the United States, there are several initiatives gradually taking place to prevent visual pollution. The Federal <a href="/facts/Highway_Beautification_Act/UI9AMkzG">Highway Beautification Act</a> of 1965 limits placement of billboards on Interstate highways and federally aided roads. It has dramatically reduced the amount of billboards placed on these roads.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25"><sup>25</sup></a> Another highway bill, the <a href="/facts/Intermodal_Surface_Transportation_Efficiency_Act/NF30mSAw">Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act</a> (ISTEA) of 1991 has made transportation facilities sync with the needs of communities. This bill created a system of state and national <a href="/facts/Scenic_byway/Qm7IPzeC">scenic byways</a> and provided funds for biking trails, historic preservation and scenic conservation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26"><sup>26</sup></a> </p><p>Businesses situated near an interstate can create problems of advertising through large billboards; however, now an alternative solution for advertisers is gradually eliminating the problem. For example, logo signs that provide directional information for travelers without disfiguring the landscape are increasing and are a step toward decreasing visual pollution on highways in America.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27"><sup>27</sup></a> </p> <h3>Brazil</h3> <p>In September 2006, <a href="/facts/S%25C3%25A3o_Paulo/pPqRTTR0">São Paulo</a> passed the <a href="/facts/Cidade_Limpa/6GhSF0vg">Cidade Limpa</a> (Clean City Law), outlawing the use of all outdoor advertisements, including on billboards, transit, and in front of stores.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28"><sup>28</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Clutter_(marketing)/1lceGt2D">Clutter (marketing)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Eyesore/IwK7MCbu">Eyesore</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Light_pollution/AD03VyzX">Light pollution</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Noise_pollution/dVwYwHMM">Noise pollution</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cidade_Limpa/6GhSF0vg">Cidade Limpa</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://albuqhistsoc.org/aes/s5vp.html">"Visual Pollution - Albuquerque's Environmental Story"</a>. <i>Friends of Albuquerque's Environmental Story</i>.</li> <li><a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2007/10/11/visual-pollution">"Visual pollution"</a>. <i>The Economist</i>. 11 October 2007.</li> <li><a href="https://www.scenic.org/about-us/mission/seven-principles-scenic-conservation/">"Seven Principles of Scenic Conservation"</a>. <i>Scenic America</i>. 18 September 2019.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Nawaz, Raheel; Wakil, Khydija (13 October 2022). Visual Pollution: Concepts, Practices and Management Framework. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80382-041-520221006. ISBN 978-1-80382-042-2. <a href="978-1-80382-042-2" target="_blank">978-1-80382-042-2</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Borowiak, Klaudia; Budka, Anna; Lisiak-Zielińska, Marta; Robaszkiewicz, Kinga; Cakaj, Arlinda; Agaj, Tropikë (2024-03-13). "Urban visual pollution: comparison of two ways of evaluation—a case study from Europe". Scientific Reports. 14 (1): 6138. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-56403-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 10937664. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56403-9" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56403-9</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Portella, Adriana (2016). Visual pollution: advertising, signage and environmental quality. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-27376-4. OCLC 1010680073. <a href="978-1-138-27376-4" target="_blank">978-1-138-27376-4</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Flad, Harvey K. (1997). "Country Clutter: Visual Pollution and the Rural Roadscape". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 553 (1): 117–129. doi:10.1177/0002716297553001011. ISSN 0002-7162. S2CID 60447315. <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716297553001011" target="_blank">http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716297553001011</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Nawaz, Raheel; Wakil, Khydija (13 October 2022). Visual Pollution: Concepts, Practices and Management Framework. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80382-041-520221006. ISBN 978-1-80382-042-2. <a href="978-1-80382-042-2" target="_blank">978-1-80382-042-2</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Chmielewski, Szymon (2020-12-12). "Chaos in Motion: Measuring Visual Pollution with Tangential View Landscape Metrics". Land. 9 (12): 515. doi:10.3390/land9120515. ISSN 2073-445X. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fland9120515" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fland9120515</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Da Silva, Marina. "Visual Pollution". designwithme.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-04. <a href="https://designwithme.co.uk/visual-pollution" target="_blank">https://designwithme.co.uk/visual-pollution</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Chmielewski, Szymon; Lee, Danbi J.; Tompalski, Piotr; Chmielewski, Tadeusz J.; Wężyk, Piotr (2016-04-02). "Measuring visual pollution by outdoor advertisements in an urban street using intervisibilty analysis and public surveys". International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 30 (4): 801–818. doi:10.1080/13658816.2015.1104316. ISSN 1365-8816. S2CID 425572. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13658816.2015.1104316" target="_blank">http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13658816.2015.1104316</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Yilmaz, Demet; Sagsoz, Ayse (28 April 2011). "In the Context of Visual Pollution: Effects to Trabzon City Center Silhoutte". Asian Social Science. 7 (5). doi:10.5539/ass.v7n5p98. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Wakil, Khydija; Naeem, Malik Asghar; Anjum, Ghulam Abbas; Waheed, Abdul; Thaheem, Muhammad Jamaluddin; Hussnain, Muhammad Qadeer ul; Nawaz, Raheel (January 2019). "A Hybrid Tool for Visual Pollution Assessment in Urban Environments". Sustainability. 11 (8): 2211. doi:10.3390/su11082211. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30123294. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fsu11082211" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fsu11082211</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Chmielewski, Szymon; Lee, Danbi J.; Tompalski, Piotr; Chmielewski, Tadeusz J.; Wężyk, Piotr (4 November 2015). "Measuring visual pollution by outdoor advertisements in an urban street using intervisibility analysis and public surveys". International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 30 (4): 801–818. doi:10.1080/13658816.2015.1104316. S2CID 425572. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Chmielewski, Szymon (November 2020). "Chaos in motion: Measuring Visual Pollution with Tangential View Landscape Metrics". Land. 9(12), 515 (12): 515. doi:10.3390/land9120515. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fland9120515" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fland9120515</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Yilmaz, Demet; Sagsoz, Ayse (28 April 2011). "In the Context of Visual Pollution: Effects to Trabzon City Center Silhoutte". Asian Social Science. 7 (5). doi:10.5539/ass.v7n5p98. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Nagle, John (1 January 2012). "Cell Phone Towers as Visual Pollution". Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. 23 (2): 537. SSRN 1463592. <a href="https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Nawaz, Raheel; Wakil, Khydija (13 October 2022). Visual Pollution: Concepts, Practices and Management Framework. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80382-041-520221006. ISBN 978-1-80382-042-2. <a href="978-1-80382-042-2" target="_blank">978-1-80382-042-2</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Yilmaz, Demet; Sagsoz, Ayse (28 April 2011). "In the Context of Visual Pollution: Effects to Trabzon City Center Silhoutte". Asian Social Science. 7 (5). doi:10.5539/ass.v7n5p98. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Wibble, Tobias; Södergård, Ulrika; Träisk, Frank; Pansell, Tony (3 January 2020). "Intensified visual clutter induces increased sympathetic signalling, poorer postural control, and faster torsional eye movements during visual rotation". PLOS ONE. 15 (1): e0227370. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227370. PMC 6941927. PMID 31900468. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6941927" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6941927</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Morozan, Cristian; Enache, Elena; Purice, Suzan (December 2012). "Visual Pollution: A New Axiological Dimension Of Marketing?" (PDF). Annals of the University of Oradea: 820–826. S2CID 151162637. <a href="http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf" target="_blank">http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Yilmaz, Demet; Sagsoz, Ayse (28 April 2011). "In the Context of Visual Pollution: Effects to Trabzon City Center Silhoutte". Asian Social Science. 7 (5). doi:10.5539/ass.v7n5p98. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fass.v7n5p98</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Morozan, Cristian; Enache, Elena; Purice, Suzan (December 2012). "Visual Pollution: A New Axiological Dimension Of Marketing?" (PDF). Annals of the University of Oradea: 820–826. S2CID 151162637. <a href="http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf" target="_blank">http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Nagle, John (1 January 2012). "Cell Phone Towers as Visual Pollution". Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. 23 (2): 537. SSRN 1463592. <a href="https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Morozan, Cristian; Enache, Elena; Purice, Suzan (December 2012). "Visual Pollution: A New Axiological Dimension Of Marketing?" (PDF). Annals of the University of Oradea: 820–826. S2CID 151162637. <a href="http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf" target="_blank">http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2012/n2/125.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Wakil, Khydija; Naeem, Malik Asghar; Anjum, Ghulam Abbas; Waheed, Abdul; Thaheem, Muhammad Jamaluddin; Hussnain, Muhammad Qadeer ul; Nawaz, Raheel (January 2019). "A Hybrid Tool for Visual Pollution Assessment in Urban Environments". Sustainability. 11 (8): 2211. doi:10.3390/su11082211. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30123294. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fsu11082211" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fsu11082211</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Nawaz, Raheel; Wakil, Khydija (13 October 2022). Visual Pollution: Concepts, Practices and Management Framework. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80382-041-520221006. ISBN 978-1-80382-042-2. <a href="978-1-80382-042-2" target="_blank">978-1-80382-042-2</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:25"><p>Nagle, John (1 January 2012). "Cell Phone Towers as Visual Pollution". Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. 23 (2): 537. SSRN 1463592. <a href="https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/" target="_blank">https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/7/</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:26"><p>Maguire, Meg; Foote, Ray; Vespe, Frank (30 September 1997). "Beauty as well as Bread". Journal of the American Planning Association. 63 (3): 317–328. doi:10.1080/01944369708975925. ProQuest 229617956. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:27"><p>Maguire, Meg; Foote, Ray; Vespe, Frank (30 September 1997). "Beauty as well as Bread". Journal of the American Planning Association. 63 (3): 317–328. doi:10.1080/01944369708975925. ProQuest 229617956. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:28"><p>Rohter, Larry (2006-12-12). "Billboard ban in São Paulo angers advertisers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-16. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/world/americas/12iht-brazil.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/world/americas/12iht-brazil.html</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>