Using green infrastructure to improve urban air quality (GI4AQ)

Air temperature regulation by urban trees and green infrastructure

A well-known effect of urbanisation is the warming of the local climate relative to surrounding rural areas, creating a phenomenon known as the ‘urban heat island’ (UHI). UHI intensity varies across a city and over time, but temperature differences may reach 9 °C in the UK. Factors that contribute to a UHI include the thermal properties, height and spacing of buildings, the production of waste ...

Financing Green Urban Infrastructure

This paper presents an overview of practices and challenges related to financing green sustainable cities. Cities are essential actors in stimulating green infrastructure; and urban finance is one of the promising ways in which this can be achieved. Cities are key investors in infrastructure with green potential, such as buildings, transport, water and waste. Their main revenue sources, such as...

Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality

Exposure to airborne pollution has substantial adverse health consequences. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study has estimated that urban air pollution accounts for 6.4 million years of life lost worldwide annually (Cohen et al. 2004). Many harmful pollutants are emitted by automobiles. For example, Currie and Walker (2011) estimate that prenatal exposure to traffic congestion alone r...

Green Infrastructure: The Effects of Urban Rail Transit on Air Quality Supplemental Appendix

Cost-effective Strategies to Improve Urban Air Quality

A British research team has recently compared the cost-effectiveness of different measures to reduce fine particulate matter (PM10) pollution in London. The authors used the Urban Scale Integrated Assessment Model (USIAM). This software tool enables to bring together data on air pollutant sources, their respective contributions to atmospheric concentrations, and human exposure, together with in...