Greetings urban dwellers! We have finally reached the last form of metropollution that plagues our urban environment: Visual Pollution!

Visual pollution was rarely recognised as an environmental pollution in the past because the nature of it was difficult to document and scholars did not have sufficient information to coin it as a form of pollution. However, in the recent decade, where urbanisation and civilisations develop at a rapid rate, the ‘symptoms’ in cities are becoming more ubiquitous and pronounced such that some scholars are classifying it as environmentally damaging. This is particular when there is an uneven development within the cityscape. Before elaborating on more, we will first need to unpack this question: what exactly is visual pollution?

In essence, visual pollution is an aesthetics issue which surfaces when the scenery becomes visually unpleasant. At the onset, this might appear to be a social-economic problem but in reality its significance and repercussions extend to the environmental domains of geography. Visual pollution can be understood from two angles. First type is a visual blight whereby infrastructures pose as unattractive and obstructive. Examples include electrical wires hanging across the poles, neon signboards, dilapidated buildings and more. The second type is known as visual clutter which occurs when there is an excess of urban elements. For instance, a highway that is experiencing congestion is a type of visual clutter.

Visual Cluttering of signboards in Times Square, New York (https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/visual-pollution-in-times-square-new-york/)

Now, how is this a problem? Simply, having a poor environment is visually unpleasant and have detrimental psychological effects like depression, stress-inducing, and even a loss of identity. Furthermore, when certain parts of the city is developed more than the other, the less developed area will be neglected and potentially become an area that invites poverty and vice. Take Detroit, USA as a case study. Between 1950-1980, the city experienced a decline in demography by over 600,000 population and poverty and criminal activities remain high. Since the city’s bankruptcy, there has been minimal signs of rejuvenation and the city is a prime source of visual pollution. With graffiti splashed on most walls and infrastructures in shambles, there is little contest to prove that the city and its inhabitants are suffering from visual pollution.

Visual Blight in Detroit, Michigan, USA (https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2018/07/31/why-has-detroit-continued-to-decline/?sh=59b71b403fbe)

In the next few posts, I will attempt to PAINT a clear (and BEAUTIFUL) picture of visual pollution. Stay tuned!

You Live in Urban, You Fight for Urban.

Your metropollution warrior,

BriChua

References:

Beyer, S. (2021, December 10). Why has Detroit continued to decline? Forbes. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottbeyer/2018/07/31/why-has-detroit-continued-to-decline/?sh=59b71b403fbe