The incidence of allergic respiratory diseases and bronchial asthma appears to be increasing worldwide, and people living in urban areas more frequently experience these conditions than those living in rural areas. One of the several causes of the rise in morbidity associated with allergic respiratory diseases is the increased presence of outdoor air pollutants resulting from more intense energ...

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of...

BACKGROUND The emerging consensus that exposure to near-roadway traffic-related pollution causes asthma has implications for compact urban development policies designed to reduce driving and greenhouse gases. OBJECTIVES We estimated the current burden of childhood asthma-related disease attributable to near-roadway and regional air pollution in Los Angeles County (LAC) and the potential healt...

The relation between urban industrial air pollution and ill-health, particularly in highly economically developed cities, has been recognized for years now; yet severe urban contamination continues to cause damage particularly to children’s health. Plausible evidence is provided in this paper that changes in both the quality of natural environments and the status of residents’ health is strongl...

Urban China’s high levels of ambient air pollution both lowers quality of life and raises mortality risk. China’s wealthy have the purchasing power to purchase private products such as air filters that allows them to offset some of the pollution exposure risk. Using a unique data set of Internet purchases, we document that households invest more in masks and air filter products when ambient pol...

Compact urban development would reduce urban sprawl, leading to shorter driving distances and ultimately less regional air pollution. But it would also mean greater housing density in a given area, potentially increasing the number of residences near major roadways. Given that exposure to traffic emissions near roadways is strongly associated with asthma and related symptoms in children, a new ...

Growth in the commercialization, mobility and urbanization of human settlements across the globe has greatly exposed world urban population to potentially harmful noise levels. The situation is more disturbing in developing countries like Nigeria, where there are no sacrosanct noise laws and regulations. This study characterized noise pollution levels in Ibadan and Ile-Ife, two urban areas of S...

one of the indicators of sustainable urban growth is the balance of development between different regions of the city, quality of the environment, equality in job opportunities, housing, basic services, social infrastructures, and transportation in urban areas. urban sprawl has some negative consequences. some of the consequences that are frequently mentioned are destroying green spaces, high c...

Compact urban development would reduce urban sprawl, leading to shorter driving distances and ultimately less regional air pollution. But it would also mean greater housing density in a given area, potentially increasing the number of residences near major roadways. Given that exposure to traffic emissions near roadways is strongly associated with asthma and related symptoms in children, a new ...

Urban air pollution is a major concern in many cities worldwide. Atmospheric pollutants are responsible for health problems ranging from asthma to cancer. Air pollution also causes environmental damages. Monitoring airborne pollutants is of utmost importance to reliably assess the impact of air pollution on the human health, enable urban planners to craft and accurately evaluate new policies, a...