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Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

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Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

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I chose this goal because I personally find urban planning/design very interesting and I'm curious as to how we would go about integrating environmentally sustainable architecture and energy sources into our cities.

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Goal 11 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

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Some of the goals on the UN website include:

-Safe and Affordable Housing

-Affordable and Sustainable Transportation

-Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization

-Protecting Culture and Heritage

-Mitigating Natural Disasters

-Reducing the Environmental Impact of Cities

-Providing Safe and Inclusive Green Public Spaces

-National and Regional Development

-Inclusion, Resource Efficiency, and Disaster Reduction

-Support Developing Countries in Sustainable Development

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Goal 11 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

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Towns are now experiencing air quality worse than that of cities in East and South-East Asia. This data point seemed off to me though, so I decided looked into what the exact statistics were on the situation.

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As for the air pollution of Asian cities, "Beijing’s peak average daily AQI in 2020 reached 262, which the EPA considers very unhealthy." For reference, the range for good air quality is 0 - 50, and a satisfactory range is 50-100, and 100-200 being in the moderate level.

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Is air quality in China a social problem?

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The human and fiscal cost of air pollution is irrefutable.

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I found that, "the concentrations in SPs ranged from 17.08 to 35.63 μg m−3 in cities, from 16.09 to 34.00 μg m−3 in towns, and from 15.90 to 28.78 μg m−3 in rural areas." Making their levels not that far off comparatively.

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Average Hourly Concentrations of Air Contaminants in Selected Urban, Town, and Rural Sites

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The inhabitants of cities, towns, and villages are exposed to different levels of air pollution, which also vary throughout the day. Information regarding episodes of poor and good air quality enables planning to mitigate the risks and maximize the…

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Beijing Air Quality Actually Used to Be Worse

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Beijing Air Quality Actually Used to Be Worse

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According to government records, "particle pollution in Beijing reduced by more than 60% over the 10 years from 2013 to the end of 2022, it is still six times greater than the World Health Organization guidelines." So whilst the air quality still doesn't meet WHO standards, there's still a show of improvement from the previous decade.

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Beijing air pollution study could unlock solution to persistent smog

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Particle pollution in China’s capital has fallen by 60% in 10 years, but it remains six times higher than WHO guidelines

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I became curious as to what other cities were regarded as having the worst air quality. I found that nearly all of the top ranked cities on the list resided in Asia, with African cities being dispersed throughout the list, and the bottom portion of the list consisting of cities from the West. (Houston actually appears on it at roughly #75 as the air quality fluctuates.)

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World Air Quality Index (AQI) Ranking | IQAir

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Keep track of the most polluted cities in the world with our air quality index (AQI) ranking.

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Asian cities have some of the worse air pollution across the board, eclipsing African and Western cities by their sheer volume. The Asian continent is home to the majority of the world's population, yet around 92% of it's population, totaling 4 billion people, are subject to these horrible levels of air quality.

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Air pollution measures for Asia and the Pacific

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Across the board, Africa has some the worst air pollution spanning across the entire continent, with "about 236,000 newborns [dying] within the first month of life from air pollution exposure, with 80% of those coming from HAP." This air pollution is likely one of the biggest reasons Africa's mortality, and especially child mortality rates are so high. The exact statistics state that "air pollution is the third largest risk factor for deaths in children under the age of 5, after malnutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) in Sub-Saharan Africa."

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Air Pollution and Health Impacts in Africa | State of Global Air

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Figures: Distribution of deaths in 2019 attributable to PM2.5, ozone, and household air pollution, by age (years, except early neonatal [0 to 6 days] and late neonatal [7 to 27 days]).

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Despite having better air quality in comparison to continents like Asia and Africa, air pollution still serves at the largest environmental health risk in Europe. The elderly and those with preexisting health conditions such as asthma are especially at risk populations for this issue. Air quality in Europe is at it's worst in Eastern Europe, with Western Europe having moderate to good conditions, and the Nordic countries having extremely good air quality.

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Most European city dwellers are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution. Improving air quality to match World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended levels could prevent more than half of premature deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter.

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Whilst being better off than many other continents in terms of air quality, Latin America still suffers from the effects of air pollution and suffer the typical consequences that come from it. (Eg. Risk to the elderly, worsening health conditions, and premature death.) Most of this air pollution is generated from the industrialization and urbanization that utilize energy sources such as fossil fuels that contribute to the generation of smog and contaminated air.

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Urban air pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean: health perspectives - PubMed

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In the last few years, air pollution has become a major issue in some countries of Latin America and the Caribbean because of urban development and growing industrialization. In addition to industrial processes often concentrated in the cities, vehicle emission and stationary-source fuel combustion …

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The Negative Health Effects of Air Pollution

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The Negative Health Effects of Air Pollution

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Whilst the harm from air pollution is not immediate, the accumulation and prolonged exposure of it has been linked to damage to our bodily systems, worsening preexisting health conditions, and death within the elderly. These sources of pollution primarily come from industry buildings, transportation that use fossil fuels, forest fires, radiation, and aerosols.

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A major study links pollution in cities with deaths of elderly and sick people on a daily basis. In this infographic you can know how it affects human beings.

A major study on urban pollution carried out in 650 cities worldwide has confirmed the fear that air pollution impacts on human health in the short term and is directly linked to the deaths of elderly people and those already suffering from illness on a daily basis.

The study, performed by an international team of 50 scientists and published in the specialist New England Journal of Medicine, gathers data on cities in 24 countries, including Mexico City, New York City, London and Madrid. The research focuses on two kinds of ambient suspended particles, emitted mainly from car exhausts: PM ₁₀, able to penetrate lungs; and PM 2.5, which can enter the blood.

The authors of this macro study link the daily increase in these particles to the increase in daily mortality for all causes, and an increase in death due to respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

Quality of air, quality of life

It has been proven that air quality affects human health. Living in a pollution-free environment signifies a better quality of life, but do we really know how air pollution affects us and which parts of our bodies are damaged by each kind of polluting particle?

Air pollution causes around seven million deaths a year worldwide. Growth and concentration of the population in cities, as well as the way in which we consume energy in urban areas through transport or heating and air conditioning systems, among others, result in the emission of huge quantities of gases that are harmful to our health.

How does air pollution affect our health?

Our physical and psychological wellbeing is affected differently by the kind of air pollution we are exposed to. There are many organs and bodily functions that can be harmed, the consequences including:

Respiratory diseases

Cardiovascular damage

Fatigue, headaches and anxiety

Irritation of the eyes, nose and throat

Damage to reproductive organs

Harm to the liver, spleen and blood

Nervous system damage.

Urban populations are more exposed to suffer the effects of air pollution and, in this context, people who are already ill are particularly vulnerable, as are children and the elderly.

Discover how humans are affected by air pollution in the graphic:

[INFOGRAPHIC] Air pollution affects our health more than we think

Main causes of air pollution

Emissions from different transport modes, the burning of fossil fuels, industrial production, forest fires, aerosol use and radiation fare some of the main causes of air pollution.

Such sources of emissions liberate gases and substances that are toxic for human beings, the most harmful of which are: tropospheric ozone (O ₃), sulphur dioxide (SO ₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂), benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and suspended particulate matter (PM).

How to tackle air pollution

To alleviate the negative effects of atmospheric pollution on health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) - made up of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and 54 nations, among other agencies - launched the BreatheLife initiative.

This is a program that aims to "aims to mobilize cities and individuals to protect our health and our planet from the effects of air pollution" and which has fixed the objective of cutting by half the number of deaths linked to air pollution before 2030.

Actions will be local and transport, waste management, indoor air quality, energy supply, industry, food and agriculture.

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The effects of air pollution on human health

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A major study links pollution in cities with deaths of elderly and sick people on a daily basis. In this infographic you can know how it affects human beings.

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One of the lesser talked about consequences of air pollution is arguably the effects it has on our mental health. Through inhaling higher than average amounts of polluted air, the parts of our brain responsible for emotional regulation are physically changed and disrupted, limiting our ability to properly manage our own thoughts and feelings.

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Air pollution harms the brain and mental health, too – a large-scale analysis documents effects on brain regions associated with emotions

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In a systematic review of existing studies, researchers found that air pollution such as fine particulate matter can interfere with regions of the brain responsible for emotional regulation.

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The Causes of Air Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa

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The Causes of Air Pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Due to Africa being home to so many developing countries, the biggest contributor to its poor air quality, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, is the burning of fossil fuels and industrial activities. As these countries don't have access to wide-scale, affordable sustainable energy sources, their desires to gain economic growth go against the need to solve the more long term consequences of poor air quality. You've probably heard it a million times over, but fossil fuels are the main contributor to air pollution across the entire globe, researching 50 more articles isn't going to change that fact.

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Air Pollution: Africa’s Invisible, Silent Killer

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Air pollution remains a major challenge in Africa. About 600,000 deaths every year across the continent are associated with this invisible killer.

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Economic Output vs. Environmental Policy

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Economic Output vs. Environmental Policy

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Even though one of the main concerns regarding environmental policies being the slowing of economic growth and urbanization, it has been shown through studies that air pollution policies are able to effectively reduce air emissions without stunting or disrupting economic growth; this hereby supports that these two goals are in fact compatible with each other and should not be overlooked.

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Environmental policy, pollution and economic growth

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Air pollution policy reduces the extent to which population growth in metropolitan areas results in increased pollution emissions without disrupting the economic growth from this urbanization, new research shows.

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Air Pollution and Its Detriment to Solar Power

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Air Pollution and Its Detriment to Solar Power

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Even with efforts that aim to make our cities more sustainable, current levels of air pollution, such as that in Delhi are so great that they cause energy solar power to be less effective due to the haze and smog created from air pollution dispersing the sunrays needed in order to efficiently use solar power.

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Air pollution can put a dent in solar power

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Air pollution, especially in urban areas, can significantly reduce the power output from solar panels, and needs to be considered when design solar installations in or near cities.

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Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease in Africa

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Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease in Africa

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Whilst the data is currently limited, research has shown at least a passive connection to air pollution and Africa's growing cases of death caused by cardiovascular diseases.

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Heart attacks and high blood pressure are on the rise in Africa - what does air pollution have to do with it?

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The impact of air pollution on African populations is under-researched due to limited air quality data and health studies.

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Some scientists have suggested the use of photocatalysts in order to break down air pollutants. However, due to their limitations, materials such as hybrid perovskites have been suggested as alternative to photocatalysts, being tested through the use of AI algorithms and precise robots in order to test out their variations and effects.

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Tiny robots and AI algorithms could help to craft material solutions for cleaner environments

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Some materials react and generate potentially helpful particles when exposed to light. Analytical AI can help scientists sort through materials to find ones with this property.

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I think I want to research air pollution which must be addressed to reach Goal #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. I will focus on urban areas in Asia and new technology being worked on to combat air pollution.

I want to research this because I find that air pollution is an issue that can be delved into a lot because of its interconnectivity with a variety of other issues and topics.

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How does the urban planning of metropolitan cities in China effect the accumulation of air pollution?

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What can be done to protect children from the effects of air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa?

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What conditions allow Nordic countries such as Iceland to maintain exceptional air quality?

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The first article I found on my topic

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The second article I found on my topic