Outdoor advertising is not very often discussed within city planning even though the commercial messages occupy much of public space. The advertising signs affects not only the physical environment but also social life.
In this report I would like to acknowledge and question the presence of advertising in our everyday environment.
Outdoor advertising is not a new phenomena, technical progress however, results constantly in new expansions in the environment. Today advertising occurs in all sorts of shapes in the cities, both as free standing signs and as signs attached to facades, incorporated in city furniture such as bus shelters and on vehicles moving along the city streets.
Grouping advertising into two categories; local and national, reveals that the different categories have different impact on public space. National advertising, to some extent, contributes to a more homogeneous environment since many of the signs and the commercial campaigns are similar in cities within Sweden as well as in other countries. On the other hand advertising could contribute to vitalizing the environment due to adding light, colour and often entertaining messages. Local advertising demonstrates what the city has to offer within trade and industry.
The case study has been performed in the city of Malmö, in the south of Sweden. The presence of advertising signs in different areas of Malmö have been documented. The inventory reveals that the presence and the scale of the signs are connected to the each areas geographical position, whether it is in the centre or in the outskirts, the structure of the built environment in terms of space for the signs, the possibilities for businesses to establish and traffic patterns. Advertising signs affects both the physical environment as well as the experience of it. The signs could act as orientating land marks and also give places identity such as the case of Times Square in New York.
The roles of the municipalities have changed as they receive less funding. Outdoor advertising generates income, however the consequences are that private interests become more governing and the competence of city planning within the municipality is not utilized. If the municipalities instead would undertake a more active planning role the advertising signs could, to a higher extent, act as components in creating a pleasant city environment. The signs spatial and orientating possibilities could better be developed.
In public space there is an unbalance between people’s possibilities to express themselves. The amount of advertising signs are much higher compared to the spaces where citizens legally and free of charge can put up a poster or a message.
Outdoor advertising contribute to commercialise and privatise public space which could prevent people from feeling that they participate and have accessibility to city environments. Different forms of street art and activism could be interpreted as an attempt to defend the common public space against increasing influence from commercial marketing sources.
The modern society is marked to a great extent by consumption and consumption patterns are becoming more global. The increased presence of advertising in the city environment could be understood as a result of consumption society. At the sa...
