The visual contamination It is any alteration of the natural or artificial landscape whose perception negatively affects the observer. This implies objective and subjective elements in the relationship of the human being with the environment..
In addition, there are factors of visual contamination that are not conscious facts when perceived, but still cause an impact. The images saturate our mind and it selects some and others remain in the subconscious where they have a positive or negative effect..
The main cause of visual pollution is outdoor advertising, that is, the different types of posters and advertisements that are placed on public roads. We also receive significant doses of visual pollution through television and the internet..
Another source of visual pollution is waste piled up in public spaces. The same occurs with pollutant discharges into water and visible gas emissions.
Overhead cabling, electricity or telecommunications towers and various types of antennas are elements that also produce visual pollution. In the same way, it occurs with abandoned constructions or deteriorated buildings and the agglomerations of vehicles in urban traffic.
These visual pollution factors can be grouped into different types. Thus, for example, we have visual pollution from advertising, waste, architectural, industrial and services, electronics and vehicles..
In this sense, every day the human being is subjected to a bombardment of images of which he is not necessarily aware. However, image saturation affects your nervous system, manifesting itself physically as exhaustion, headache, and stress..
In other cases, visual pollution causes distraction for drivers and pedestrians that can lead to accidents. Additionally, visual pollution deteriorates the scenic value of urban and natural areas by degrading the landscape.
Biodiversity is also affected, as many animals alter their behavior by artificial images. In some cases, the colors generate attraction or rejection and in others they disorient migratory birds and insects.
To prevent visual contamination, it is necessary to educate the public about it, as well as to establish rules for the related aspects. It is necessary to regulate the characteristics of outdoor advertising, including permissible areas, number of posters, size and content..
Another fundamental element is the control of other types of pollution that in turn generate visual pollution. Such as the disposal of solid waste, effluents and the emission of polluting gases.
Relevant examples of visual advertising pollution are the commercial areas of large cities such as Tokyo or New York. These cities display a high density of billboards of various sizes, shapes and colors illuminated at night.
An interesting case of industrial visual pollution is wind farms. These consist of large concentrations of wind generators (turbines that produce electricity from the wind).
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Perception is the most important mechanism that relates human beings to their environment. This is why sight is the normally dominant sense for both physiological and psychological reasons..
Visual perception is the process by which the brain transforms and interprets external visual stimuli. This interpretation implies a selection or discrimination related to the previous knowledge and the emotional state of the observer..
Visual perception involves the perceiver and the perceived environment, and also contributes to orientation. For this it relies on space, distance, texture, color, shape and contrast..
Much data is not received consciously and two nervous systems coexist. One of these captures the stimulus and another processes only some selected data.
Some characteristics of the stimuli are size, location, prominence, contrast, use and symbolic significance, among others. All these characteristics work together to determine the strength and impact of the visual stimulus on an observer..
Of these, the most relevant is the symbolic significance of the visual stimulus. This is because the images are interpreted according to a culturally defined code..
Visual contamination has an objective dimension based on established conventions and a subjective dimension based on personal taste. Therefore, its fundamental impact is of an aesthetic nature, and the sensitivity to the visual alterations that constitute it varies with the individual..
In the common cultural sphere there are a series of general criteria of what is beautiful and what is not. That which transmits harmony, regularity, balance, symmetry, purity, coherence and order, tends to like and generate comfort.
While what breaks the expected positive patterns is associated with threats or generates confusion, causing discomfort and rejection. In any case, visual contamination is caused by the breakdown of what is conventionally accepted.
A street is expected to be free from potholes, garbage piles or to see the sky without dozens of cables traversed. For example, if we want to appreciate a plain, we do not want to see hundreds of wind generators.
But it is also true that if our object of admiration are wind turbines, the landscape will be significant and there will be no visual pollution.
There is a growing concern about the degradation of the landscape (natural and urban) and a social demand for quality landscapes. In Europe for example, it is manifested in the elaboration by the Council of Europe of the European Landscape Convention.
Regardless of the final aesthetic evaluation of a natural area, when we admire it, we want to have no obstacles to its appreciation. For example, we do not want a large billboard or a high voltage tower to get in the way.
Scientifically it is proven that an excess of population produces a stress in the individuals that compose it. Modern cities are centers of population concentration, therefore irritating stimuli are frequent.
Being fundamentally visual beings, the images provide the highest proportion of said stimuli. From this it derives that those urban elements that generate images that cause conscious negative effects or are not considered visual pollutants..
Any contaminant capable of being visually perceived and interpreted as such, additionally represents visual contamination. For example, the image of piles of garbage on sidewalks and streets is associated with possible health effects.
In addition to breaking with the expected pattern of clean sidewalks and streets that can adequately fulfill their traffic function. Plastics floating in a river are an image that we associate with undrinkable water causing disturbance and displeasure.
The same occurs with the image of smoke coming out of industrial chimneys or automobile exhausts..
It is a proliferation of posters of all kinds promoting an infinity of products and services, packed with colors and shapes. This enormous load of visual stimuli exceeds the ability of the observer to capture and process the information..
Graffiti are messages of shapes, while graffiti or pints are messages of content. The graffiti are associated with aggressive or out of place phrases that visually degrade and distort the facades and monuments.
A modern element that has even been the subject of special studies due to its polluting effect are telecommunications antennas. These facilities are designated as visual and electromagnetic pollutants.
High voltage power lines with their cables and huge towers represent a major alteration of the natural landscape. On the other hand, many countries (especially in the third world) maintain overhead power lines, which affects the urban landscape.
It refers to the mixture of styles that cause a saturation effect making it difficult to read the urban landscape. Likewise, the breaking of stylistic continuity by an incompatible addition (an awning, an air conditioning device).
Half-built abandoned buildings or with deteriorated facades represent elements of visual pollution.
A classic image of pollution is the profile of a factory with huge chimneys expelling smoke into the environment. This would be the stereotype of visual pollution by industrial facilities.
One aspect that has aroused interest in the field of visual pollution is wind farms. These consist of large areas covered by wind generators or wind turbines (power generators from the wind).
People have a positive opinion of these parks due to their function, but they perceive them as alterations of the landscape.
In this case, reference is made to poorly located, unmaintained or dry trees such as those growing spontaneously on the road and causing them to break. Likewise, deteriorated trees, without proper pruning and covered with parasitic plants.
Empty spaces in cities break up the urban landscape, even more so if they are not properly maintained.
Traffic jams in the city are one of the most stressful images out there.
An airplane is a polluting image in certain contexts, for example, if we aspire to see the horizon in its natural condition.
This is the main type of visual pollution present in large cities, especially in their commercial areas. It includes various forms of visual advertising such as billboards, illuminated signs, banners, posters or giant screens, among others..
Both the word advertisements (at the entrance of a business informing the name and business reason) and the advertising itself. The polluting effect of the advertising image is complex, most people today are used to this.
Graffiti and graffiti are included, as well as traffic signs. Graffiti and graffiti are defined as visual contamination when their content or location generates rejection in the observer.
In the case of traffic signs, their polluting effect is related to saturation situations. For example, an intersection with such a proliferation of signals that it confuses the driver or the pedestrian.
All polluting matter perceived by sight and interpreted as such, in turn represents visual pollution. This is so because we associate pollution with environmental deterioration and therefore of the quality of life..
It covers both the visual shocks that a poorly designed, chaotic, non-functional urbanism can generate as well as deteriorated and unfinished buildings.
This includes the alteration of the natural or urban landscape by industrial constructions such as chimneys, surface wiring, antennas, among others..
It refers to electronic visual communication media, such as television and the internet. In a sense, it is a variant of advertising pollution, since part of its polluting effect is the advertising that includes.
However, both TV and the internet are saturated with non-advertising images that exert a polluting visual effect. In both media, images are presented that can affect the sensitivity of users, constituting visual contamination.
Depending on the circumstances, the presence of vehicles can be a polluting factor. For example, an exaggerated density of cars in urban traffic or a jet plane breaking the landscape.
On the other hand, today buses are used as mobile advertising through graphic prints on their sides.
Visual pollution causes negative effects not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also on public health, security, the economy and biodiversity.
When the human perceives a chaotic and confusing environment, it excites and stimulates him, causing anxiety for the duration of the stimulus. Therefore, the scenes of garbage, traffic or excessive publicity, have a negative effect.
A large number of commercial messages can be distracting, just as poorly designed or excessively grouped traffic signals create confusion. All this can make it impossible to perceive the signals themselves and cause accidents.
It has even been determined that the visual deterioration of the roads causes stress and reduces the ability to solve problems.
Visual pollution affects psychophysical health and consequently the quality of life, depending on the vulnerability of the person.
There is the so-called Usable Information Rate, referring to the amount of information that can be processed in a given time. A high density of advertising posters generates overstimulation, which produces information overload and cognitive fatigue.
This results in effects such as headaches and disturbances in attention. In addition, there may be a decrease in work efficiency, bad mood, aggressiveness, among others.
For most of the population, the landscape is related to scenic values and visually aesthetic experiences. In this sense, the landscape constitutes a territorial capital gain that distinguishes some tourist destinations from others..
Therefore, visual pollution represents a degradation of the landscape value of an area, be it natural or urban..
One of the elements that are taken into consideration to define the value of a real estate property is the landscape. Visual pollution in this case leads to significant economic losses.
The value of a house will be different if from its windows you can see a forest or a high voltage tower.
Tourism is a very relevant economic activity, being fundamental what the tourist wants to know. Whether the interest is to visit a natural park or the historic center of a city, the visual is relevant. The deterioration of the natural or urban landscape then translates into tangible economic losses.
One problem facing the advertising industry is public indifference due to its adaptation to image saturation. Ironically, excess advertising is reversed against advertising due to visual pollution..
Like humans, most other animals have one of their most important senses in vision. In many cases, they have a greater or different sensitivity than ours, perceiving certain details or capturing different wavelengths.
In this sense, visual pollution in wild areas can have a negative impact on certain species. For example, a sign or building in a forest can alter the perception of a route by migrating birds or insects..
Some insects are especially attracted to certain colors, so colorful, artificial structures can pose a problem.
The fundamental thing to prevent visual pollution is the implementation of a legal system that regulates the activities that may cause it. This is linked to the need for public awareness regarding visual pollution, its causes and consequences..
The citizen must be aware of the importance of guaranteeing an environment whose visual perception is pleasant. You must understand the factors that negatively affect such perception and the consequences of it.
In this way, there will be a citizenry lent to actively support the necessary measures to avoid visual contamination..
It is essential to regulate both the sites where advertising posters can be placed, as well as the type, size and quantity of them. The content and form of the message are also elements that contribute to visual pollution..
There are many reasons beyond the visual to control waste (solid and liquid), and gas emissions. However, from the perspective of visual pollution, waste and emissions should not be perceived.
One of the centers with the highest incidence of visual pollution is the city, so proper urban planning is essential. The city must develop in a rational way, guaranteeing a healthy environment that provides an adequate quality of life.
The urban planning plan must guarantee the harmony between functionality and aesthetics of the urban infrastructure. Among other things, it must promote the correct location of impressive activities, or with low aesthetic value.
As for the natural environment, the activities and facilities that can be carried out in them must be strictly regulated. If necessary, establish infrastructures that have the least visual impact on the environment.
To avoid saturation of advertisements on the internet, ad-blockers (ad-blocking software) have become popular. According to Adobe and PageFair there are 198 million people in the world who are using these programs.
It is one of the cities with the highest visual pollution in the world, especially in its commercial districts such as Akihabara. Its buildings are upholstered with luminous advertising posters and others are projected on the sidewalks of its streets.
On average there are more than one hundred posters per block, creating an environment crammed with advertising information of all kinds.
The United States is considered one of the countries with the greatest visual pollution and New York is its emblematic city. Especially areas like the mall and Broadway shows.
Here the advertising posters and canopies flood the space saturating passersby with information.
In Andalusia, the importance of landscape is reflected in its Statute of Autonomy and in the approval of the Andalusian Landscape Strategy. On the other hand, it is a region that promotes renewable energies, especially wind, with 144 wind farms installed.
However, its rapid rate of implantation and excessive concentration has caused various problems, including visual contamination. In some cases, natural areas such as the Sierra Nevada de Granada National Park are affected..
In this case, although there are no wind turbines installed within the park area, there are in neighboring areas. These nearby facilities generate landscape changes that affect the protected area.
About 7.8% of the Andalusian surface has undergone landscape changes as a result of the implementation of wind farms.
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