This article examines the control of outdoor advertising in Britain, tracking its development as a mirror of the practices of spatial governance. It evidences both a largely forgotten, yet radical change in the urban environment, whilst also functioning as a lens through which we might examine local government’s role in driving change in the visual environment of cities and towns. The article argues that, despite important early work by preservationist organisations, local corporations and councils were the principal drivers of legislation, altering attitudes in central government that ultimately led to stringent control of outdoor advertising in urban space. Beginning in the nineteenth century, but coming to the fore during the interwar period, corporations and councils pushed for ever greater controls over the size and siting of billboards, hoardings and posters. In doing so they deployed a language of amenity, and conjured with seemingly social democratic notions of citizens’ rights to push their agenda. The study is thus revealing of the ways in which town planning, patterns of holistic control in the visual environment, and the philosophy of urban modernism shaped even the most mundane, extant urban areas and left a lasting impression on the urban landscape.

中文翻译：

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1893 年至 1962 年英国对户外广告、便利设施和城市治理的控制

本文考察了英国户外广告的控制，追踪其发展作为空间治理实践的一面镜子。它证明了城市环境在很大程度上被遗忘但发生了根本性的变化，同时也作为一个镜头，通过它我们可以检查地方政府在推动城镇视觉环境变化方面的作用。文章认为，尽管保护主义组织在早期开展了重要工作，但当地公司和议会是立法的主要推动力，改变了中央政府的态度，最终导致对城市空间户外广告的严格控制。从 19 世纪开始，但在两次世界大战期间脱颖而出，公司和委员会推动对广告牌的大小和位置进行更大的控制，围板和海报。在这样做时，他们使用了一种舒适的语言，并用看似社会民主的公民权利概念来推动他们的议程。因此，这项研究揭示了城市规划、视觉环境中的整体控制模式以及城市现代主义哲学如何塑造最平凡、现存的城市地区，并给城市景观留下了持久的印象。