Although the public debate increasingly talks about the need to tidy up space and reduce advertising chaos, the reality is different. Dozens of new advertising screens have just been installed in the ground floor of one of the high-rise buildings on Jerozolimskie Avenue in Warsaw. This has happened in the very heart of the city, where visual chaos and excess already dominate. Decisions of this kind cause growing indignation, as they show that the Warsaw authorities have not only been unable to implement the landscape resolution for a decade, but have also been unable to prepare a local development plan for the central districts of the capital for more than 35 years.
Visual chaos in the capital
Warsaw has been trying for years to tidy up public space and reduce advertising chaos. Despite repeated attempts to enact local legislation, the matter has still not reached a conclusion. In July 2025, the Warsaw City Council restarted work on a landscape resolution, but residents and observers of urban life make no secret of their frustration.
An endless history of regulation
The first resolution was adopted in January 2020, but was quickly invalidated by the Mazovian Voivode and then rejected by the administrative courts. In 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court finally ruled that the document would not enter into force. The key reason was the lack of compensation mechanisms for owners of existing advertising media. Since then, the city has repeatedly announced further attempts, but no project has succeeded.
A city full of advertising
Meanwhile, the space of the capital remains in a dramatic state. Warsaw is disfigured by thousands of large-format banners, billboards and signs. Advertisements dominate along the main arteries, obscure architecture, including historical architecture, and introduce visual chaos. Many streets give the impression of being overwhelming and unfriendly, and the excess of advertising media weakens the aesthetic value of the city and reduces the comfort of daily use of public space. The creator of the website Pogromcy Reklamozy (Slayers of Advertisements), who drew our attention to new media in the centre of Warsaw, is concerned with improving the quality of space.
New start to resolutions
The Warsaw Council in July 2025 adopted a resolution to start drafting a new document. Proposals are being collected from residents and businesses, and the draft is to redefine the rules for signs, advertisements, fences and street furniture. The document envisages dividing the capital into zones with different rules, especially in the city centre and areas of special landscape interest.
Endless procedure
However, several stages will have to be passed before the new regulations come into force. A draft will be prepared on the basis of the collected applications, then subjected to agreements and opinions, and then put out for public inspection. After public consultations, the document will be sent to the Warsaw Council. This means that even if the process goes smoothly, residents must arm themselves with patience, as it will still be many months, or perhaps years, before advertising is really sorted out.
Unmet expectations
The lack of an existing resolution means that the city only removes illegal advertisements. However, the scale of the problem is much larger and current tools are proving insufficient. Warsaw, as the capital of the country and one of Europe’s major cities, still lacks effective regulations to improve the aesthetics of the space. Many residents perceive this as evidence of the authorities’ helplessness towards the interests of the advertising industry and as a sign of a worrying delay in action to improve the quality of life in the city.
Visual chaos and concerns
The new resolution will have to reconcile the expectations of the various parties and introduce solutions in line with court rulings. The most important thing will be to set realistic deadlines for adjusting existing media and avoid provisions that could be challenged again. The question still remains, however, whether the city will see the process through this time and whether residents will finally live to see a space that is free of excessive advertising and that is more aesthetically pleasing and pleasing to the eye. The incident on Jerozolimskie Avenue, however, does not inspire optimism.
Source: Pogromcy Reklamozy, architektura.um.warszawa.pl, warszawa19115.pl
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