Abstract

The visual environment of cities usually sends rapid messages to the observer’s eyes. These messages affect differently the visual perception of urban spaces. They can interpret the real aesthetic quality and social life of the resident society. The built environment forms the bigger part of the visual environment within the large cities. Unfortunately, the building sector has become the main contributor of the visual clutter in the urban context of high-congested cities. Despite the harmful impact of this kind of visual pollution on human behavior and quality of life, visual chaos is usually ignored by governmental organizations and is considered less important than other types of pollution. In fact, this problem directly harms human health by causing several diseases, such as overall loss of hygienic and aesthetic sense, as well as psychological disturbance. Hence, trying to enhance the visual quality of the built environment will reflect a positive contribution toward upgrading the aesthetic value of the community. This article will illustrate the different forms of visual pollution caused by the building sector. It also explores aesthetic disturbance problems caused by the building sector in different parts of the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Different solutions are suggested to tackle and eliminate the spreading of this severe problem. The article will also discuss how the Russian government partially succeeded in eliminating the severity of the visual pollution at the city center of Moscow.