Visual Pollution

This summer, the mayor of Sao Paulo approved a new law banning billboard advertising in the city.  It's a zero tolerance law which has resulted in a ton of the city suddenly becoming open.  Many billboards were erected with the permission of local residents who collected a fee for allowing advertising on their property, so suddenly houses are appearing from the shadow of their "sponsors".  Photographer Tony De Marco has some great shots of the "city that said no to advertising" on his flickr page.  

Any reader of Howard Gossage's views on billboards will see this as a great step towards removing visual pollution in cities that are polluted enough.  Personally, I've never been an anti-billboard man.  If they're great like the Economist stuff that's been running in the UK for years or innovative like this Mini ad in Europe billboards are a brilliant addition to an urban landscape.  Who am I kidding…the majority are rubbish, but to remove them all seems a bit extreme to me.  What's your vote?