Speaker
Description
Urban environments have a profound impact on public health. The design and management of such places play a significant role in shaping air quality and thus respiratory health. Despite growing awareness of the health implications of urban design, little is known about how to improve air quality of neighborhoods. Most urban design guidelines have focused on creating walkable neighborhoods (NACTO, 2013), and that as a recent article has shown, most of the empirical studies linking urban environment characteristics to air quality and respiratory health have been conducted by researchers affiliated with disciplines other than urban planning (Aydın and Severcan, 2024). Furthermore, some of the findings about the links between built environment and outdoor air quality are conflicting (e.g., land use mix and outdoor air pollution), which highlights the importance of multiple factors on air pollution. The factors affecting outdoor air quality are complex, and they are mostly related to the physical environment.
Given the absence of comprehensive urban design guidelines tailored to address issues related to air pollution, this study aims to propose an urban design guideline for creating neighborhoods with clean air. To this end, after revealing the limitations of the existing urban design guidelines that were specifically developed to improve outdoor air quality, we content analyzed the findings and urban design implications of empirical research studies aimed at investigating the relationships between built environment features and outdoor air quality. More specifically, we focused on research articles published in English and indexed only in Web of Science and Scopus. We organized the mentioned urban design implications based on their scale: micro (e.g., proximity to major roads, industrial facilities, and green spaces, spatial patterns of green spaces, types of land uses); meso (e.g., land use mix, residential density, and traffic density); and macro (e.g., urban compactness). Conflicting, as well as non-conflicting policy implications were revealed and addressed in the crafting of evidence-based suggestions for urban planners and designers. It is believed that these suggestions will contribute to the creation of healthier neighborhood environments for all.
References
Aydın, N. and Severcan, Y. C. (2024) ‘The relationship between urban environment and childhood asthma: a systematic literature review’, Journal of Planning Literature, 39(4), pp. 563-580.
NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) (2013) Urban Street Design Guide. New York: Island Press.
| Keywords | urban design guidelines, air pollution, content analysis, healthy cities |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
