Visual pollution

Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue and refers to the impacts of pollution that impair one's ability to enjoy a vista or view.

Visual pollution disturbs the visual areas of people by creating harmful changes in the natural environment. Billboards, open storage of trash, space debris, telephone towers, electric wires, buildings and automobiles are forms of visual pollution. An overcrowding of an area causes visual pollution. Visual pollution is defined as the whole of irregular formations, which are mostly found in natural and built environments.

Effects of exposure to visual pollution include: distraction, eye fatigue, decreases in opinion diversity, and loss of identity.

Local managers of urban areas sometimes lack control over what is built and assembled in public places. As businesses look for ways to increase profits, cleanliness, architecture, logic and use of space in urban areas are suffering from visual clutter. Variations in the environment are determined by the location of various objects. For example, 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. The increase in high-rise buildings brings negative change to the visual and physical characteristics of a city, which reduces the readability of the city and destroys natural environments.

A frequent criticism against advertising is that there is too much of it.Billboards, for example, have been alleged to distract drivers, corrupt public taste, boost the infinite need of consumption and clutter the land. See highway beautification. However, with the introduction of new communication technologies the fragmentation and incentive nature of advertising methods will improve, reducing clutter. Thus, with the increase of mobile device usage, more money goes to advertising on social media websites and mobile apps. Vandalism, in the form of graffiti is defined as street markings, offensive and inappropriate messages made without the owner’s consent. Graffiti adds to visual clutter as it disturbs the view.

In the United States, there are several initiatives gradually taking place to prevent visual pollution. The Federal Highway Beautification Act 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. Another highway bill, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 has made transportation facilities sync with the needs of communities. This bill created a system of state and national scenic byways and provided funds for biking trails, historic preservation and scenic conservation.

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