Outdoor beautification and varied spatial positions and sensations of colours in the built environment create visual contrasts which contribute to urban aesthetic development. The perception of the dynamics of colours and their “chroma value” can have a considerable effect on the character of an environment. Colour in an urban environment is a function of the paint and other coverings used, and it is the effect of the surface colour that results, which is explored in this paper. To understand urban aesthetics the interaction and interdependence of the complex environment need to be considered separately. The physical environment, the biological environment and the socio-cultural environment each make their contribution to the whole. Trying to beautify an environment is a complex problem which can be helped by legislation but this must be underpinned by education which can aid compliance. Nigeria is a multi-cultural society the various elements of which see and use colour differently from each other. It is the role of designers to lead builders, and help in the education of the disparate city dwellers, with the aim of producing an environment aesthetically pleasing to all. Nothing should be excluded from consideration whether sculptural decoration or the humble streetlight.

This review advocates that integrity remains a crucial requisite in designing and beautifying any created environment. Integrity of design and aesthetics in the Built Environment has historical antecedent in the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain in the early 20th century. Already, by this time, there were competing values of concern for prudence, morality and sincerity in the application of materials for design forms and functions, believing that in a created environment, physical features that were produced and modified by man to serve his needs should be governed by `social conscience'. This basic concept is still relevant to contemporary design. It is imperative for the artist/ designer, artisan, architect and planner to consider the matter of integrity in each of its separate applications: to materials, form, function, and ornamentation. Diversity of views concerning the meaning of design and aesthetics and the uncertainties they contain have little or no capacity to negate the principle of integrity of design whether as process or product. Nevertheless, design and aesthetics have common things to share in the harmony of functions. This paper considers the various opinions of scholars concerning the subject and highlights the importance of certain design elements and principles necessary for inducing and sustaining the aesthetics of the environment.