The Relationship between Urban Air Pollution and Urban Planning Decisions

Abstract

The air pollution problem remains, although significant improvements have been seen in urban air quality over the last years. This study aims to show that the spatial statistic techniques can well be used to examine and explain the air pollution levels in urban areas. The data for SO2 and NO2 concentrations are measures using passive diffusion tubes at the 67 monitoring sites in the district of Çiğli (Izmir). The tubes were exposed for a 2-week period in August 2015. For the determination of the level of clustering for high values and low values of pollutants, Getis-Ord G* local statistics are calculated. There are five points with high values of SO2 surrounded by low values, three points of NO2, where the results are statistically significant at the 0.10 level. The presence of the industrial zone, the form of fossil fuels used in heating, and topography are strong determinants urban air pollution.