Air Pollution
London Plan Takes a Bold Stand Against Parking
The new 25-tear London Plan would ban the construction of parking in large swatches of the city. It's just one component of an ambitious policy agenda presented by London Mayor Sadiq Khan this week.
Southern California Air Quality Paradox: Air Quality Worsens While Emissions Drop
Ozone pollution is worsening in five counties in Southern California, and the Air Quality Management District doesn't know why.
Smog So Bad United Airlines Won't Fly There
It's not the poor visibility but the air quality, ten times worse than Beijing, that has caused the airline to stop flying to New Delhi.
Urban Planning Helps to Control Air Quality for Chinese Cities
Yuan Man guest blogs about a recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
California to Implement Wood Smoke Reduction Program
The program is voluntary, providing incentives to replace older, uncertified wood stoves for cleaner replacements or alternatives. In addition to decreasing air pollution, it reduces emissions of a "super climate pollutant," black carbon.
Putting a Dollar Value on Urban Trees
According to this study, existing "leafy infrastructure" in ten of the world's largest cities confers an estimated $505 million in benefits. Planting more could magnify the effect.
Building Along Busy Corridors? Public Health Experts Urge Caution
Plans to densify a busy Vancouver corridor have prompted concern among public health experts.
Connecting the Dots Between Air Pollution and Congestion
Some of the San Francisco neighborhoods with the worst air quality are also the San Francisco neighborhoods with the most development.
Study on Health Effects of Strip Mining Stopped by Trump Administration
The mining industry felt some of the National Academies of Sciences' studies were biased against them, and its studies were unfair in the way they documented the health problems among workers.
Clean Energy's Impact on Public Health
Because of the coal power it displaces, solar and wind energy generated in the Mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest has an outsized impact.
Lax Regulation of Texas Air Polluters
Regular "emissions events" at Texas heavy industrial facilities cause a lot of unauthorized pollution. But few consequences mean the companies responsible don't have to crack down.
A Logistics Warehouse Near an Elementary School Raises Questions
Some are worried about the truck traffic and air pollution likely to follow after a logistics warehouse gets built within visual distance of a San Bernardino school.
Another Nail in the Coffin of the Internal Combustion Engine?
Is the movement away from gasoline and diesel-powered cars unstoppable? In response to air pollution litigation, the British government announced on July 26 that sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles would be banned by 2040.
Los Angeles Metro to Go Fully Electric by 2030
The move is risky. The agency has no electric buses now, and the last ones it operated performed so badly they had to be returned. The plan is to make the transition in phases, and hope that battery technology improves.
Inadequate Diesel Vehicle Testing Results in 38,000 Global Fatalities Annually
While the study stems from research that found Volkswagen diesel cars had used 'defeat devices' to pass emissions tests, the new study points to inadequacies in the tests themselves, resulting in 50 percent higher pollution than testing permits.
Big, Expensive Idea: Bury Six Miles of Expressway Under Brooklyn
The Gowanus Expressway is a big polluter and a traffic nightmare. Some see putting the road underground as a solution.
The Environmental Trade-Off for Raising California's Fuel Taxes
Come November 1, gasoline and diesel taxes will increase by 12 and 20 cents per gallon, respectively, in California, providing badly needed revenue to repair roads, bridges, and improve transit, but truck pollution loophole will still foul the air.
Air Quality and Environmental Justice Lead to Push for Zero-Emission Locomotives
The California Air Resources Board has petitioned the U.S. EPA to adopt more stringent emissions standards for locomotives in order to improve air quality at rail yards, many of which are located adjacent to disadvantaged communities.
City Councils Considering Removing Speed Bumps to Reduce Air Pollution Should Slow Down
According to a report in The Telegraph, some U.K. cities want to use air pollution as a reason to remove speed bumps, Peter Walker argues this idea is ludicrous.
In Building Homes Near Highways, L.A. Ignores a Public Health Issue
Los Angeles seems primed for a development boom, but when developments are built near highways there can be serious health consequences.
Placer County
City of Morganton
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
City of Waukesha, WI
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Indiana Borough
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
