LAST week, at the behest of the Ministry of Municipality and Rural Affairs, the Jeddah Municipality declared war on advertising hoardings. In a major policy shift, it announced that billboards on roofs of buildings have to go — and that includes the roofs of malls and gas stations. It is not just a matter of refusing permission for new hoardings; old ones have to go too. Outdoor adverting will in future be limited to designated sites. The howls of anguish from the advertising industry and local businessmen were audible almost as far away as the other side of the Red Sea. Dire consequences are predicted. The new policy will, it is claimed, hit private and smaller companies unfairly; many will be put out of business; Saudi companies will be at a serious disadvantage compared to international ones; jobs will be hit; unemployment will rise.
This is all nonsense. There are plenty of countries in the world in which rooftop billboards are either banned or rigorously controlled — Western Europe being the most obvious example; but it does not damage the private sector there. On the contrary, the private sector, and especially small businesses, are the engine of the economy.
Ironically, it is the opposite that is the case. It is countries where the private sector and small business flourish least, where the economy is either centrally controlled or in the developing stage, that tend to be blanketed with advertising hoardings. As any well-traveled reader will know, the general rule of thumb is the more developed an economy, the fewer the number of rooftop advertising hoardings. A mass of city rooftop hoardings usually means you have arrived in a Third World economy.
The new policy will result, if properly implemented, in the removal of thousands of rooftop hoardings across the city. But this is a policy change that should have happened ages ago. It is a good thing, not a bad one. Jeddah’s skyline has been deformed with a mass of ugly, intrusive, and at times downright dangerous, hoardings. A few hoardings, carefully and thoughtfully sited, are one thing. In Jeddah’s case, however, the situation has got out of hand. The scramble to grab the public’s attention has led to an explosion of billboards that do nothing for the urban landscape. The free-for-all is out of control and must be reined in. Why should Jeddah, any more than London or Paris or Amsterdam, be so spoiled?
Nor do people want to be constantly assaulted visually by enticements to buy this vehicle or that mobile phone. Business will adapt. No one will go under, not even the advertising agencies. There are plenty of other avenues available — the press, television and radio, leafleting, promotions — local business is well used to dealing with them.
Jeddah is said to be the Bride of the Red Sea. Brides are meant to be beautiful. This overdue move should go some way to restoring the city’s beauty.
