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Bigger Is Not Always Better: A Comparative Analysis of Cities and their Air Pollution Impact

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  • Andrea Sarzynski

Abstract

This paper investigates the pressure placed by cities on their environment with respect to urban air pollution. The analysis employs a spatially explicit global dataset of emissions to estimate urban emissions of four pollutants from a sample of 8038 cities world-wide in 2005. A cross-sectional regression analysis is then conducted to examine the association of urban air pollution with socioeconomic and geographical factors. The results confirm that urban pollution is associated primarily, but not exclusively, with demographics. The results suggest that urban pollution is likely to increase with population growth and that economic modernisation is unlikely to provide much relief from the pressures placed by coming population growth. The findings suggest that policy-makers must focus on reducing the emissions intensity of production activities within cities, especially from the energy sector, if they are to avoid rapid growth in urban air pollution in coming decades.

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  • Andrea Sarzynski, 2012. "Bigger Is Not Always Better: A Comparative Analysis of Cities and their Air Pollution Impact," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(14), pages 3121-3138, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:49:y:2012:i:14:p:3121-3138
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098011432557
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    2. Pablo-Romero, María del P. & Pozo-Barajas, Rafael & Sánchez-Braza, Antonio, 2015. "Understanding local CO2 emissions reduction targets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 347-355.
    3. Christian Hilber & Charles Palmer, 2014. "Urban development and air pollution: Evidence from a global panel of cities," GRI Working Papers 175, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    4. Ahfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2017. "The compact city in empirical research: A quantitative literature review," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 83638, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Borck, Rainald & Schrauth, Philipp, 2021. "Population density and urban air quality," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2019. "The economic effects of density: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 93-107.
    7. Saenz-de-Miera, Oscar & Rosselló, Jaume, 2014. "Modeling tourism impacts on air pollution: The case study of PM10 in Mallorca," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 273-281.
    8. Gabriel M. Ahfeldt & Elisabetta Pietrostefani, 2017. "The Compact City in Empirical Research: A Quantitative Literature Review," SERC Discussion Papers 0215, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Felipe Carozzi & Sefi Roth, 2019. "Dirty density: air quality and the density of American cities," CEP Discussion Papers dp1635, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

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