Abstract

Visual meaning plays such an important role in our daily lives that as an epistemological concept, visual sustainability is curiously absent from pedagogical and modern-day sustainability. Methods: A theoretical framework firstly unpacks how and why we ‘latch on’ to visual elements. Secondly, the construct of a high street is used to help understand more about visual meaning as urban phenomenon in the context of modern-day sustainability. Results: Simulation techniques, used in conjunction with other methods, can be a useful tool in experimenting with the complex relationship between visual affordance and physical use. Conclusion: Visual sustainability is closely aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDGs 3 and 11. But it does more. It orients us at both ends of life’s spectrum: in basic physiological needs, as well as in self-actualisation.