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Urban Air Pollution, Urban Heat Island and Human Health: A Review of the Literature

Author

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  • Awais Piracha

    (School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia)

  • Muhammad Tariq Chaudhary

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Kuwait University, Shadadiya 13060, Kuwait)

Abstract

Many cities of the world suffer from air pollution because of poor planning and design and heavy traffic in rapidly expanding urban environments. These conditions are exacerbated due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. While there have been studies linking the built environment and air pollution with health, they have ignored the aggravating role of UHI. The past urban planning literature in this field has also ignored the science of materials, vehicles and air pollution, and technological solutions for reducing cumulative health impacts of air pollution and UHI. Air Pollution, built environment and human health are complex discussion factors that involve several different fields. The built environment is linked with human health through opportunities of physical activity and air quality. Recent planning literature focuses on creating compact and walkable urban areas dotted with green infrastructure to promote physical activity and to reduce vehicle emission-related air pollution. Reduced car use leading to reduced air pollution and UHI is implied in the literature. The literature from technology fields speaks to the issue of air pollution directly. Zero emission cars, green infrastructure and building materials that absorb air pollutants and reduce UHI fall within this category. This paper identifies main themes in the two streams of urban air pollution and UHI that impact human health and presents a systematic review of the academic papers, policy documents, reports and features in print media published in the last 10–20 years.

Suggested Citation

  • Awais Piracha & Muhammad Tariq Chaudhary, 2022. "Urban Air Pollution, Urban Heat Island and Human Health: A Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9234-:d:873824
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gallé, Johannes, 2023. "City Shape and Air Pollution," Ruhr Economic Papers 1012, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Dadashpoor, Hashem & Sajadi, Afshin, 2024. "Principles of just urban land use planning," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Ahmad Fallatah & Ayman Imam, 2023. "Detecting Land Surface Temperature Variations Using Earth Observation at the Holy Sites in Makkah, Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Luca Adami & Marco Schiavon, 2022. "A Quali-Quantitative Comparison between In Situ and Ex Situ Waste-to-Energy Processes in Terms of Local and Global Impacts," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-11, October.
    5. Paolo Semenzato & Lucia Bortolini, 2023. "Urban Heat Island Mitigation and Urban Green Spaces: Testing a Model in the City of Padova (Italy)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Nawhath Thanvisitthpon, 2023. "Statistically Validated Urban Heat Island Risk Indicators for UHI Susceptibility Assessment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Kaimeng Li & Shuang Gao & Yuantao Liao & Ke Luo & Shaojian Wang, 2022. "The Impact of Development Zones on China’s Urbanization from the Perspectives of the Population, Land, and the Economy," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Maksymilian Mądziel, 2023. "Vehicle Emission Models and Traffic Simulators: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-31, May.

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