Effects of Compact Urban Development on Air Pollution: Empirical Evidence from Korea
1
Green Technology Center, Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-705, Korea
2
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2014, 6(9), 5968-5982; https://doi.org/10.3390/su6095968
Received: 6 June 2014 / Revised: 29 August 2014 / Accepted: 2 September 2014 / Published: 5 September 2014
This study investigates the effects of compact urban development on air pollution, taking into account both the spatial distribution of pollutants resulting from an increase in inner urban densities and the dispersion of pollutants associated with an increase in outer green open spaces. The empirical analysis is based upon a panel data model covering 17 cities in Korea from 1996–2009; this approach is used because urban air pollution is influenced by spatial and temporal changes. Measuring the air pollution level by distance from city centers demonstrates that the spatial concentration of emission sources does not necessarily increase air pollution levels. The two-way fixed effects model, which is employed to control both individual (regional) and time effects, shows that SO2 decreases as the proportion of green area increases, while a rise in net density leads to an increase of NO2. Both effects are observed in the case of CO dispersion by green area as well as emission source concentration by high densities. Therefore, there is no clear impact of compact urban development on air quality, which is instead related to pollutant-specific characteristics and the emission source.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
compact urban development; air pollution; net urban density; green open spaces; dispersion
▼
Show Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License
MDPI and ACS Style
Cho, H.-S.; Choi, M.J. Effects of Compact Urban Development on Air Pollution: Empirical Evidence from Korea. Sustainability 2014, 6, 5968-5982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6095968
AMA Style
Cho H-S, Choi MJ. Effects of Compact Urban Development on Air Pollution: Empirical Evidence from Korea. Sustainability. 2014; 6(9):5968-5982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6095968
Chicago/Turabian StyleCho, Hee-Sun; Choi, Mack J. 2014. "Effects of Compact Urban Development on Air Pollution: Empirical Evidence from Korea" Sustainability 6, no. 9: 5968-5982. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6095968
Find Other Styles
Search more from Scilit