In the perspective of a sustainable urban planning, it is necessary to investigate cities in a holistic way and to accept surprises in the response of urban environments to a particular set of strategies. For example, the process of inner-city densification may limit air pollution, carbon emissions, and energy use through reduced transportation; on the other hand, the resulting street canyons c...

In this paper, we discuss the main informatics challenges that arise when a high throughput sensor network is constructed with view to addressing real environmental challenges, such as real-time urban air pollution monitoring and mapping. We present a distributed infrastructure based on grid technology and data integration and mining tools, and describe our experience in developing such compone...

Tree planting has been proposed by the municipal government as a measure to alleviate air pollution in Beijing, the capital of China. This study examines that proposal. It is based on the analyses of satellite images and field surveys to establish the characteristics of current urban forest in the central part of Beijing. The influence of the urban forest on air quality was studied using the Ur...

This paper presents a brief review of ways that urban forests positively and negatively impact air quality. It provides an overview of our research on air quality effects from parking lot shade and guidelines to estimate atmospheric carbon dioxide reductions through urban forestry.