Banned Billboards A Success in Brazil

São Paulo, the "largest metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, and "the 7th-most-populous city in the world," has managed to successfully eliminate all billboard and other "visual pollution" around the city.

Mayor Gilberto Kassab believed that the overbearing existence of billboards was just as invasive and disruptive as noise and air pollution, so he passed the "Clean City Law" in 2006 as an attempt to put an end to these visual disruptions.

As it turns out, "most citizens and some advertising entities report being quite pleased with the now billboard-less city. A survey this year found that a 70 percent of residents say the Clean City Law has been 'beneficial,' and "some advertisers are actually thankful for the ban, as it's forced them to reevaluate and improve", writes author Cord Jefferson.