Should the residents be concerned with how the building looks from afar? As you said, it is quality of life for them.

That's entirely up to them. I didn't say, or mean to imply, that my aesthetic experience of their building should matter to its residents at all. I think it should matter to its architects and to city planners, but I don't think that implies such things shouldn't be built. It's a trade-off, and as I said I don't begrudge anybody their outside space.

it depends on the climate. In Russia, for example, balconies in old panel buildings are either used for storage, or converted to an unheated exra room, with wood and glass railings, which are different for every apartment. This makes the house look like a vertical favela.

(off-topic question: do you come from Murmansk, by any chance? That username sounds familiar :)

nah, just been there as a tourist a couple of times...

> it depends on the climate.

There are quite generous balconies in Tromsø.