Free standing billboards have a significant negative visual impact on the landscape. In the majority of foreign countries construction of free standing billboards is regulated by various legal instruments, guidelines and control manuals. In Lithuania the construction of free standing billboards considering their visual impact is poorly regulated by juridical and spatial planning means. Taking this situation into account the paper aims to review main problems of regulating free standing billboards construction in Lithuania, to assess their impact on the landscape, to present foreign experience in solving these problems and to provide methodological guidelines for regulation of free standing billboards construction considering their visual impact. The proposed stages of the assessment of free standing billboards visual impact are the following: analysis of the landscape spatial structure designating visual spaces perceived from separate road sections, analysis of the possibilities of free standing billboards layout designating visual spaces protected from free standing billboards construction and visual spaces as free standing billboards construction areas, establishment of the possible visual contrast level of free standing billboards and establishment of free standing billboards location in a visual space and a visual contrast character according to the SID theory and results of the visual space evaluation according to the criteria of vitality, complexity, compositional harmony, expressivity, uniqueness, functionality and meaningfulness.

In 2014 the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania initiated creation of Methodology of the Assessment of Visual Pollution to Natural Landscape Complexes and Objects. In order to prepare the Methodology legal (international and national level) and theoretical framework (world-wide and Lithuanian experience in the field of visual impact assessment (VIA) and assessment of landscape visual-aesthetic potential) was analysed and evaluated. Using the method of logical analogy and considering the results of analysis of legal and theoretical framework of VIA, and peculiarities of Lithuanian landscape, the concept of visual pollution and the main methodological stages of visual pollution assessment (VPA) for natural landscapes were proposed. The authors of the methodology state that the assessment of visual pollution should be based on: the establishment of the overall landscape character, visual character, visual capacity, and other aspects as the starting point for the evaluation of visual pollution; assessment of visibility of a pollution object; description of physical, visual and other characteristics of the pollution object; evaluation of negative visual impact (visual pollution) according the level of contrast of physical, visual and other characteristics of landscape and the pollution object.

The article is aimed to discuss and reconsider the concept and challenges of the social housing in the world and in Lithuania. The research consists of three major parts. In the first part the evolution of social housing from the 18th century until nowadays was analyzed and evaluated and the main trends of architectural expression of social housing were distinguished and shortly characterized. The second part was devoted to the introduction of the dimension of sustainability in the design of affordable housing. The idea of sustainable architecture and the trends of its expression were presented and the composite trends of social housing in urban settings with dimensions of sustainability were formulated and characterized. The third part of the research dealt with the local specifics of the city of Kaunas: the possibilities of localization of the social housing of different trends were analyzed and the experimental design of the social housing complex demonstrating the possibilities of application of environmentally friendly technologies and the potential of rehabilitation of neglected urban areas was shortly presented.

Fulfilling the requirements of European Landscape Convention (2002) and following the statements of the National Landscape Policy of the Republic of Lithuania (2004) in 2014 the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania initiated creation of Methodology of the Assessment of Visual Pollution to Natural Landscape Complexes and Objects. In order to prepare the Methodology legal and theoretical framework of visual impact assessment (VIA) was analysed and evaluated. The analysis showed that international legal documents create all preconditions for the VIA at the national level. The national legislation requires the avoidance of visual pollution (in the state parks regulations), but there are no recommendations how to evaluate visual impact. Foreign countries in the field of VIA, unlike Lithuania, have validated concepts of landscape visual quality and planned activity or object visual impact assessment; systemic and objective methodological recommendations of visual impact assessment, which are used in practical activities of planning and design. Methodologies used by Lithuanian authors are well developed theoretically and intended for the overall evaluation of landscape visual quality or VIA, designation of landscape visual quality classes, evaluation of visual spaces (VS) indicators, establishment of VS visual resistance and sensitivity. Parts of some works can be used for the creation of methodology of visual pollution (negative visual impact) assessment.

A well-grounded system of Roadside Rest Areas (RRA) for transit travellers and local inhabitants in Latvia and Lithuania is absent. To select places for the location of RRA on Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border roads space syntax method and GIS-based analysis was used. The aim of this article is to present the developed methodology, results of the performed research and to lead discussion for the further development and applicability of the methodology. The application of space syntax method to nine transit roads in Latvian-Lithuanian border zone reveals that considering both local and regional contexts three roads or their parts could be recommended for the location of RRA. For the more precise location of RRA GIS-based method was developed. This method includes the GIS capabilities of information collection, spatial analysis and multi-criteria (eight criteria were selected) evaluation. The main proposed methodical stages are: creation of the thematic GIS database; formulation of RRA sites selection criteria, division of the analysed road into intervals, and assignment of attribute data according to the criteria to the road intervals; generation of buffer zones for the analysed road and evaluation of them according the selected criteria; assignment of values provided to the buffer zones to the road intervals attribute data and total rating of roadside area potential to equip rest areas; elaboration of road buffer zone area suitable for the location of RRA.