TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationships between changes in urban characteristics and air quality in East Asia from 2000 to 2010
AU - Larkin, Andrew
AU - Van Donkelaar, Aaron
AU - Geddes, Jeffrey A.
AU - Martin, Randall V.
AU - Hystad, Perry
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2016/9/6
Y1 - 2016/9/6
N2 - Characteristics of urban areas, such as density and compactness, are associated with local air pollution concentrations. The potential for altering air pollution through changing urban characteristics, however, is less certain, especially for expanding cities within the developing world. We examined changes in urban characteristics from 2000 to 2010 for 830 cities in East Asia to evaluate associations with changes in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution. Urban areas were stratified by population size into small (100 000-250 000), medium, (250 000-1 000 000), and large (>1 000 000). Multivariate regression models including urban baseline characteristics, meteorological variables, and change in urban characteristics explained 37%, 49%, and 54% of the change in NO2 and 29%, 34%, and 37% of the change in PM2.5 for small, medium and large cities, respectively. Change in lights at night strongly predicted change in NO2 and PM2.5, while urban area expansion was strongly associated with NO2 but not PM2.5. Important differences between changes in urban characteristics and pollutant levels were observed by city size, especially NO2. Overall, changes in urban characteristics had a greater impact on NO2 and PM2.5 change than baseline characteristics, suggesting urban design and land use policies can have substantial impacts on local air pollution levels.
AB - Characteristics of urban areas, such as density and compactness, are associated with local air pollution concentrations. The potential for altering air pollution through changing urban characteristics, however, is less certain, especially for expanding cities within the developing world. We examined changes in urban characteristics from 2000 to 2010 for 830 cities in East Asia to evaluate associations with changes in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution. Urban areas were stratified by population size into small (100 000-250 000), medium, (250 000-1 000 000), and large (>1 000 000). Multivariate regression models including urban baseline characteristics, meteorological variables, and change in urban characteristics explained 37%, 49%, and 54% of the change in NO2 and 29%, 34%, and 37% of the change in PM2.5 for small, medium and large cities, respectively. Change in lights at night strongly predicted change in NO2 and PM2.5, while urban area expansion was strongly associated with NO2 but not PM2.5. Important differences between changes in urban characteristics and pollutant levels were observed by city size, especially NO2. Overall, changes in urban characteristics had a greater impact on NO2 and PM2.5 change than baseline characteristics, suggesting urban design and land use policies can have substantial impacts on local air pollution levels.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84985986827
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.6b02549
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6b02549
M3 - Article
C2 - 27442110
AN - SCOPUS:84985986827
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 50
SP - 9142
EP - 9149
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 17
ER -