Green Urban Planning – Integrating Air Pollution Control into Local Government Policies

According to the UN, over 55% of the world’s population lives in cities, while the number is estimated to increase to 68% by the year 2050. With such a rapid development of the civilisation, the call for green city urban planning is more vital than ever before. Local authority air pollution control has become the key to battling the problems of expanding cities. In this article, we will focus on the role of air pollution control in green urban planning. Interested? Read on.

Key Points:

• The rapid urbanization projected by the UN indicates that 68% of the global population will live in cities by 2050, making green urban planning an absolute necessity for the future.
• Eco-friendly city planning aims to minimize energy consumption and waste production by utilizing sustainable construction materials, supporting green transportation, and establishing public green spaces.
• Successful urban green infrastructure requires local authorities to focus their efforts on the most densely populated boroughs and major transport nodes.
• Installing professional air quality monitors allows local governments to accurately pinpoint pollution hotspots and strategically design green spaces exactly where they are needed most.
• Continuous air pollution control helps verify the overall effectiveness of green initiatives by tracking whether pollutant levels actually drop over time in the targeted areas.

Table of Contents

• What is Green Urban Planning?
• The Role of Air Pollution Control in Green City Urban Planning
• The Takeaway

What is Green Urban Planning?

Firstly, we will discuss the idea of eco-friendly city urban planning itself. According to the authors of Urban Planning Models for the Future, it is the way of creating communities within cities, organized so that the energy consumption and waste production would be reduced to minimum (2014, p. 463). The main principles of urban green infrastructure planning are:

• Using sustainable construction materials,
• Supporting eco-friendly transportation,
• Creating public green spaces.

In order for the planning to be successful, it is crucial to introduce it around and in the most problematic areas – transport nodes and the most developed and densely populated boroughs. So, how to achieve it?

The Role of Air Pollution Control in Green City Urban Planning

You might know how air pollution affects politics, but do you realize how air pollution control may help in eco-friendly city planning? Installing professional air quality monitors is the key to both a better planning and a deeper evaluation. Below, we present the examples of how integrating air pollution control into local government policies may be beneficial in terms of designing the urban space:

• Localizing the hotspots – With comprehensive data on air quality within an urban area, you can find the most problematic regions and focus on creating green spaces around them.
• Verifying the results – If the number of air pollutants is dropping over time in an area where green urban planning was introduced, it means that it works. Air quality monitoring systems enable you to analyze and evaluate your actions.

The Takeaway

Air quality control is a true aid for green spaces urban planning. With a proper system, you will be able to quickly analyse where there is need for further improvements and verify whether your systems work. Do you wish to introduce effective green urban planning in your city? Check our air quality monitoring solutions for local governments.

Sources: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html Laura, Tîrlă & Manea, Gabriela & Iuliana, Vijulie & Matei, Elena & Cocoş, Octavian. (2014). Green Cities – Urban Planning Models for the Future.