As air pollution problem affects human health adversely and related issues are becoming serious threat globally, addressing air pollution is important in urban planning field. In order to develop proper air quality management strategies, it is importa...
As air pollution problem affects human health adversely and related issues are becoming serious threat globally, addressing air pollution is important in urban planning field. In order to develop proper air quality management strategies, it is important to figure out the spatial distribution of pollutants according to the urban environmental characteristics.
In this study, the distribution characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10 in Seoul were identified and urban environmental factors affecting the pollution concentrations were investigated. PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were collected from 850 S-DoT sensors that are densely installed throughout Seoul, during April 2020 to March 2021. The urban environmental factors including both macro and micro-scaled variables were analyzed as potential variables. Macro scale factors are variables that can affect air quality at the local level, such as traffic volume, network accessibility, and geographical factors. Micro scale factors are locally effective variables, such as transportation, spatial form, land use, and socioeconomic variables.
The results showed that the highly polluted areas of both PM2.5 and PM10 were characterized as great accessibility and center of transportation, and areas with good air quality were characterized as high green density. However, there was a difference in urban environmental factors that differed according to each cluster of PM2.5 and PM10. PM2.5 concentrations were closely associated with the spatial form of buildings and road density, which is related to polluting source, while PM10 concentrations were more associated with land use and congestion factors. The spatial range of influence of the variables also differed according to the characteristics of factors. In addition, It was confirmed that the diurnal change of air quality was bigger in the low polluted areas compared to the high polluted areas.
The results of this study present that not only transportation factors, but also urban environmental factors such as structural, morphological, and land use can affect the generation and dispersion of air pollutants in urban area. Furthermore, the managing strategy of PM2.5 and PM10 may be needed because they have different distribution characteristics. The result of this study provide implications on how PM and urban environmental factors are associated within the urban environment, and in what spatial range these variables affect more effectively. It also suggests that changes in the physical environment through urban planning and design could be a strategy for dealing with the air pollution problem.