São Paulo: Tale of ‘no-ads’ city

Imagine a megacity being stripped bare of its towering billboards or hoardings, leaving a stark landscape behind. Will the city’s essence remain intact, or will its vibrant energy die in the absence of dazzling lights and advertisements? São Paulo may have the answer to this.

In the early 2000s, São Paulo, Brazil, overwhelmed by the sheer number of outdoor advertisements, embarked on a radical experiment—no outdoor ads.

The city banned nearly all outdoor advertisements by introducing the “Lei Cidade Limpa”—the Clean City Law—in September 2006. To protect citizens’ rights to clean public spaces free of visual pollution, the city, within a year, removed 15,000 billboards, 3,00,000 oversized storefront signboards, 1,300 towering metal panels, and 3,00,000 fancy business signs. Not even the ads on buses and taxis were spared let alone handing out pamphlets.

Clean City Policy

When the policy came into force in January 2007, it brought a dramatic shift to the cityscape. The businesses and advertising agencies were given a 90-day grace period to remove all the hoardings and billboards. The people who failed to comply with this were made to pay a hefty fine of up to $4,500 per day. Even the advertisers and the owners of advertising space were penalised.

However, signboards of establishments like grocery stores, medical clinics, renting or selling real estate, and bars were exempted. They were given 1.5 metres for every 10 metres of shop frontage. Only one indicative signboard was allowed on a property, which should contain only the necessary information for the public. Yet, when the size of a real estate property exceeded 100 linear metres, two signs, under 10 square metres each, were allowed. But in no condition was the ad installed to exceed its maximum height of five metres.

The law even regulated the thickness of the signboards. Signs can only advance 15 centimetres from the property wall to the sidewalk and must have atleast 2.2 metres height. Colours used for commercial characterisation or logo composition and decorative objects in front of establishments, were counted as advertisement space.

Announcements about cultural events or educational campaigns, were considered special. For these, a temporary projection on the facades of the buildings, monuments, or any other public or private construction was allowed. The display of the names and logos of sponsors was only permitted, provided that it occupied a maximum of 10 per cent of the total projection area, located in the lower portion of the projection area, and did not exceed one-third of the total height. There were stringent penalties for cases of non-compliance as well. In the case of infractions, a fine of $10,000 per ad measuring up to 4 square metres and an increase of $1,000 for each sq metre that exceeds the size. The fine was doubled in cases of repeated offences. Of course, such drastic measures would not be without opposition, especially from the advertising industry. A global outdoor advertising firm, Clear Channel Outdoor, took legal action against the city, alleging that the ban was unconstitutional.

Public opposition

The first and foremost argument raised by the policy’s opponents was revenue loss, which was pegged at $133 million. Then came the loss of employment for up to 20,000 people working in the advertising industry. Additionally, the cost of removing existing signs was another significant hurdle.

The city responded by placing the onus on businesses and advertising agencies to shoulder these costs, with hefty fines as an added deterrent for non-compliance. The municipality reinvested a portion of the collected fines (nearly eight million dollars) to further clean the city’s landscape.

Despite initial worries, São Paulo’s economy weathered the storm. However, the rapid removal of signage created a temporary visual shock. The city resembled a battlefield for a short period, with blank billboards, partially dismantled frames, and hastily painted-over storefronts.

Bright side

As it turned out, advertisement boards were quite literally covering up one of the biggest issues with the city—the slums (favelas). The removal of giant hoardings revealed hidden slums. And without the blinding glow of advertising, people were forced to confront and acknowledge these spaces in a new light.

This forced the government take more steps and policies to uplift the lives of people staying in slums. The São Paulo Municipal Housing Secretariat established a tracking system to monitor the status of favelas and other vulnerable settlements. It provided a basis for effective targeting of upgrading efforts and environmental clean-ups. Although the policy helped focus on a bigger issue, initiatives to uplift the favelas could have been more successful. A 2010 report by UN-HABITAT stated that 20 per cent of the population of São Paulo lived in favelas while 57 per cent reside in the suburbs’ perilous quarters. In a 2018 report by Reuters, the São Paulo City Hall stated that the city is still in need of affordable homes where about half a million families are homeless with an income up to about $1,500 per month. With the city co-hosting the U20 Summit this year, it underscores the government’s ongoing commitment to improve the lives of the urban dwellers.

On another brighter side, the enthusiastic city workers took things a step further. They came up with graffiti works and large-scale murals on the sides of tall buildings. With public support, the city established an official registry to protect existing and future street art, ensuring these artistic expressions would be more visible than ever.

The Clean City law also asked building owners to confront unpainted and unattractive architecture for their visual presence. Structures in distinctive colours for businesses became a way to help people distinguish and identify between them.

This helped to bring back the vibrant energy of the city without the dazzling lights and relentless commerce of its billboards. São Paulo’s experiment with outdoor ads became a case study to understand the relation between economic development, aesthetics, and social responsibility.

The removal of giant hoardings revealed hidden slums. And without the blinding glow of advertising, people were forced to confront and acknowledge these spaces in a new light.