TY - JOUR
T1 - The nexus between air pollution, green infrastructure and human health
AU - Kumar, Prashant
AU - Druckman, Angela
AU - Gallagher, John
AU - Gatersleben, Birgitta
AU - Allison, Sarah
AU - Eisenman, Theodore S.
AU - Hoang, Uy
AU - Hama, Sarkawt
AU - Tiwari, Arvind
AU - Sharma, Ashish
AU - Abhijith, K. V.
AU - Adlakha, Deepti
AU - McNabola, Aonghus
AU - Astell-Burt, Thomas
AU - Feng, Xiaoqi
AU - Skeldon, Anne C.
AU - de Lusignan, Simon
AU - Morawska, Lidia
N1 - Funding Information: This work has been supported by the EPSRC funded project Health assessment across biological length scales for personal pollution exposure and its mitigation (INHALE; Grant No. EP/T003189/1 ), GREENMASS ( Gree n I n frastructure and Health M apping A lliance of S urrey Academic s ) project that is supported by the University of Surrey 's Urban Living Award; and the iSCAPE (Improving Smart Control of Air Pollution in Europe) project, which is funded by the European Community's H2020 Programme (H2020-SC5-04-2015) under the Grant Agreement No. 689954.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Cities are constantly evolving and so are the living conditions within and between them. Rapid urbanization and the ever-growing need for housing have turned large areas of many cities into concrete landscapes that lack greenery. Green infrastructure can support human health, provide socio-economic and environmental benefits, and bring color to an otherwise grey urban landscape. Sometimes, benefits come with downsides in relation to its impact on air quality and human health, requiring suitable data and guidelines to implement effective greening strategies. Air pollution and human health, as well as green infrastructure and human health, are often studied together. Linking green infrastructure with air quality and human health together is a unique aspect of this article. A holistic understanding of these links is key to enabling policymakers and urban planners to make informed decisions. By critically evaluating the link between green infrastructure and human health via air pollution mitigation, we also discuss if our existing understanding of such interventions is sufficient to inform their uptake in practice. Natural science and epidemiology approach the topic of green infrastructure and human health very differently. The pathways linking health benefits to pollution reduction by urban vegetation remain unclear and the mode of green infrastructure deployment is critical to avoid unintended consequences. Strategic deployment of green infrastructure may reduce downwind pollution exposure. However, the development of bespoke design guidelines is vital to promote and optimize greening benefits, and measuring green infrastructure's socio-economic and health benefits are key for their uptake. Greening cities to mitigate pollution effects is on the rise and these need to be matched by scientific evidence and appropriate guidelines. We conclude that urban vegetation can facilitate broad health benefits, but there is little empirical evidence linking these benefits to air pollution reduction by urban vegetation, and appreciable efforts are needed to establish the underlying policies, design and engineering guidelines governing its deployment.
AB - Cities are constantly evolving and so are the living conditions within and between them. Rapid urbanization and the ever-growing need for housing have turned large areas of many cities into concrete landscapes that lack greenery. Green infrastructure can support human health, provide socio-economic and environmental benefits, and bring color to an otherwise grey urban landscape. Sometimes, benefits come with downsides in relation to its impact on air quality and human health, requiring suitable data and guidelines to implement effective greening strategies. Air pollution and human health, as well as green infrastructure and human health, are often studied together. Linking green infrastructure with air quality and human health together is a unique aspect of this article. A holistic understanding of these links is key to enabling policymakers and urban planners to make informed decisions. By critically evaluating the link between green infrastructure and human health via air pollution mitigation, we also discuss if our existing understanding of such interventions is sufficient to inform their uptake in practice. Natural science and epidemiology approach the topic of green infrastructure and human health very differently. The pathways linking health benefits to pollution reduction by urban vegetation remain unclear and the mode of green infrastructure deployment is critical to avoid unintended consequences. Strategic deployment of green infrastructure may reduce downwind pollution exposure. However, the development of bespoke design guidelines is vital to promote and optimize greening benefits, and measuring green infrastructure's socio-economic and health benefits are key for their uptake. Greening cities to mitigate pollution effects is on the rise and these need to be matched by scientific evidence and appropriate guidelines. We conclude that urban vegetation can facilitate broad health benefits, but there is little empirical evidence linking these benefits to air pollution reduction by urban vegetation, and appreciable efforts are needed to establish the underlying policies, design and engineering guidelines governing its deployment.
KW - City greening
KW - Environmental health
KW - Passive control
KW - Physical and mental health
KW - Pollution exposure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074083234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105181
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105181
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31675531
AN - SCOPUS:85074083234
VL - 133
JO - Environmental International
JF - Environmental International
SN - 0160-4120
IS - Part A
M1 - 105181
ER -