Although the general role of advertising in ordering the material world and organising social relations has been extensively analysed (for example, Leiss et al, 1990; Schudson, 1993; Wernick, 1991), the significance of advertising in urban spaces has been neglected. Some analyses have focused on the way in which cities use images to market themselves as tourist destinations, or have emphasised the manner in which images can organise the character of a city (for example, Judd and Fainstein, 1999; Kearns and Philo, 1993). Other accounts analyse the use of brand extensions, such as Virgin's shops, airline, and financial services, and the convergence of shopping, entertainment, dining, education, and culture in cities (for example, Hannigan, 1998). There are a few studies of advertising agencies' understanding and use of spatiality, but these focus on regionality rather than on city space, and address broadcast rather than outdoor advertising (Clarke and Bradford, 1989; 1992). Thus, although many accounts cite advertising as one element in the visual mix of the city, there remains no sustained analysis of its specificity. Urban advertising has fleetingly attracted the attention of some writers, but their comments have largely remained marginal asides in debates of city space and in accounts of advertising. Benjamin, for instance, notes the architectural quality and striking scale of urban advertising billboards,``where toothpaste and cosmetics lie handy for giants'' (1979, page 89). In a poetic and polemic intervention, Borden casts billboards as an urban scourge:``not really buildings, not really here, they are simply a temporary covering, a mask across the face of the city at its most leprous. They hide a multitude of sins'' (2000, page 104). These brief commentaries notwithstanding, the paucity of attention directed at advertising in urban settings has meant that important questions about the impact of advertising upon cities remain unasked: in what ways do advertising companies' practices of segmentation and bartering of specific urban sites and routes function to remap the city? What is the impact of advertising structures such as billboards and panels upon people's understanding and experience of urban space? What is the effect of the rhythmic, cyclical appearance of new advertisements in cities?