District in capital temporarily halts sign replacements

Urban management authorities in Beijing’s Haidian district have halted the removal of business name signs on buildings and have not made a decision about when the work will resume.

The removals were part of a drive to clean up visual clutter.

According to a notice released on Saturday and widely publicized on Monday, the district halted the sign removals because of concerns over workers’ safety in windy weather and problems faced by visitors in finding their way around an unfamiliar area without the signs as reference.

Signs that didn’t conform to the rules in size, placement or other criteria were targeted for removal.

According to the notice, removal work currently underway should be completed. But it added that in the future, the removal of signs that don’t comply with the rules should be followed without delay by the installation of new conforming signs.

The Beijing Commission of City Management launched a citywide campaign recently to limit the number and placement of signs on buildings in order to “create an urban skyline that is visually clear and bright” under the capital’s 2016-35 urban plan.

According to an earlier notice from the commission, all signs attached to roofs must be removed. In addition, there can be only one sign with a building’s name on the third story or higher, and the name should be the same as the one registered with planning authorities.

Each of the capital’s 16 districts will launch an enforcement campaign, the notice said, and failure by institutions or individuals to remove noncompliant signs will be noted on credit records.

Improper signage was to be removed by the end of December. The commission planned to inspect the capital “road by road” in January, the notice said.

While some Beijing residents applauded the campaign, some were worried that it will make it more difficult to find destinations.

“Without signs, it was difficult for me to find where I was going in areas that I was not familiar with,” said Shi Shunji, a resident of Haidian district.

In response to the concern, an unnamed official from the commission told Qianlong, a website operated by the city government, that the authorities would work with property owners to install new signs “as soon as possible”.

The official added that the campaign aims to encourage property owners to design signage within the “prescribed framework”.