Report: provide clean air to pedestrians

Study examines Vancouver

Steve Hawley, Nov 13, 09.

A new study conducted for the City of Vancouver indicates that many pedestrian-friendly areas have poor air quality due to motor vehicle exhaust, according to the University of Minnesota News.

The article notes:

[The authors] found a complex interplay between neighborhoods’ walkability and air pollution. Downtown neighborhoods are generally more walkable but have high levels of nitric oxide—a marker of motor vehicle exhaust. Suburban areas, on the other hand, tend to be less walkable but have their own issues with pollution; namely, higher concentrations of ground-level ozone. Elevated ozone concentrations tend to occur in the suburbs because ozone takes time to form. During that time, air masses often have migrated away from the downtown area.

Poor air quality poses a health risk to pedestrians and can contribute to asthma and heart disease, among other illnesses. According to the study, only two percent of Vancouver neighborhoods were both walkable and had low levels of pollution, and most of these areas are unaffordable to most residents.

The study’s authors suggested that planners must be aware of the link between walkability and air pollution. However, the article says that planners can begin reducing air pollution simply by designing more walkable and transit-friendly neighborhoods, reducing the need for residents to get in their cars. But, it cautions:

Sometimes that’s easier said than done. Urban planners often face zoning laws and regulations, including height restrictions for buildings and minimum parking requirements for retail establishments.

“The built environment—how we choose to structure our infrastructure—influences how we act, and [consequently] our health,” [one of the authors] says. “If there’s no sidewalk, or if destinations like shops and restaurants are miles away, you are less likely to walk there.”

Dr. Richard Jackson addressed the link between the built environment and public health in June, when he spoke in Houston as part of Houston Tomorrow’s Distinguished Speaker Series. Jackson said that by building car-dependent cities, we significantly increase the rates of obesity, asthma, and diabetes.

Full report: Healthy neighborhoods: Walkability and Air Pollution
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, November