Air Pollution Modeling for Sustainable Urban Mobility with COVID-19 Impact Analysis: Case Study of Skopje

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the major problems in today’s urban areas. With increasing development and the need for the transport of goods and people, it has become imperative to seek sustainable urban mobility solutions. The impact of restrictive COVID-19 pandemic measures provides a unique insight into the possible reductions in air pollution. This paper presents a case study on the city of Skopje, North Macedonia, and attempts to identify the effect of traffic emissions on air quality. Resultant correlation analysis and linear regression models show the impacts of multiple factors contributing to air pollution. Finally, a discussion on the impact of COVID-19 measures on air pollution is provided. The main findings of this research are the observed drop in air pollution levels during COVID-19 measures, the effects on air pollution models, and the identification of primary pollutants in the city of Skopje.