Krakow's landscape resolution has been clearing the streets of excessive advertising, signs and billboards for the past fifteen days. It's hard not to notice the significant change that has taken place on Krakow's streets. However, the city still has to admonish advertisers to remove the advertising media themselves.
June 30 of this year marked the end of a two-year process for ad owners to comply with the guidelines of the landscape resolution. Some ads began to disappear only a few days before the deadline. According to the law, Krakow has been divided into three zones, taking into account the subareas covered by cultural parks, in which different rules for the placement of advertising media have been set. We wrote about the new Krakow regulations on the A&B portal in the article "Krakow said goodbye to advertising. Landscape Resolution came into force".
Residents, however, draw attention to the stumps left in many places, growing out of the ground in the form of constructions after the removed advertisements. What should be done about them?
city reacts
The City Hall of Krakow has published a notice on its official website about the need to dismantle the structures left behind by removed structures. Referring to the definitions of "billboard" and "advertising device" from the Law on Planning and Spatial Development, the magistrate indicates the necessity of removing the structural elements as well, as a result of the city's adoption of a landscape resolution.
The law defines "billboard " as "a material object intended or used for the display of an advertisement, together with its structural elements and fastenings, with a flat surface for the display of an advertisement, in particularin particular, an advertising banner, an advertisement affixed to the windows of buildings and advertisements placed on scaffolding, fencing or construction site equipment, excluding small everyday objects used for their intended purpose."
"Advertising device" is defined as "a material object intended or used for the display of an advertisement, together with its structural elements and fastenings, other than an advertising billboard, excluding small everyday objects used for their intended purpose."
This means that advertising owners removing billboards should also remove structural elements, not just advertisements and banners.
Podchorążych Street
© City Hall of Krakow
beginning of changes
The Krakow resolution has been in effect for several weeks, but its effects are visible to the naked eye. Many places in the city have been unveiled that may surprise (positively and negatively). However, it is hard not to notice a significant improvement in spatial aesthetics, often obtrusively attacked with poor-quality ads or obnoxious political messages.
As UMK stresses on the krakow.pl portal, "In the first days, interventions will end with a warning. In case of no response, fines will be imposed." Illegal media, as well as structural elements, should be reported to the municipal police. The need to remind people to dismantle the removal of structural elements shows that the city still has a long way to go. Krakow has a real chance to become a model for other Polish cities in terms of removing advertising carriers, as was the case with the creation of the Old Town Cultural Park.
Powstańców Street and Strzelców Street
© City Hall of Krakow
