Visual Pollution of Architectural Facades of Buildings in the City of Tripoli: A Case Study (Tripoli Center)

Abstract

The city of Tripoli serves as a prime example of visual pollution, with many of its neighborhoods losing their distinct architectural character due to a lack of urban planning regulations and declining building control factors that have ultimately distorted the city's visual identity. Among its districts, the Central Tripoli Municipality stands out as the city’s urban heart and one of its most dynamic sectors. It weaves together administrative, commercial, and residential spaces alongside public services and government institutions, resulting in a complex urban typology. This diversity is directly reflected in the building facades and the broader urban fabric, where spatial transformations occur at a noticeably faster pace than in neighboring municipalities. Consequently, in the absence of a unified visual framework to guide development, parts of Central Tripoli have begun to display varying degrees of visual pollution, driven by clashing architectural styles, disparate finishing materials, and an overall lack of harmony between adjacent structures.