With half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, and rapid urbanization continuing apace, it is essential that the growth of urban areas is supported by the development of adequate and sustainable infrastructure. This work offers comprehensive coverage of critical issues on the highway and urban environment which are key to understanding sustainability in the world's expanding urban areas.
The 9th Highway and Urban Environment Symposium (9HUES) was held in Madrid, Spain, from 9-11 June 2008. HUES is run by Chalmers University of Technology within the Alliance for Global Sustainability (The AGS). HUES was initiated by Professor Ron Hamilton at Middlesex Polytechnic (now University) in the early 1980s and had the title "Highway Pollution". The initial aim was to measure and assess challenges in highway pollution, with a strong emphasis on urban photochemical smog, ozone formation and particle release. After the first symposium, the emphasis on air pollution issues continued through to Munich in 1989 where diesel particulate issues and the relevance to health through measurements of PM10 emerged. The focus on air quality issues was also strengthened. In parallel, the symposium started to receive an increasing number of scientific contributions from the area of urban run off, indeed to the extent that the title of the symposium was changed to "Highway and Urban Pollution". Since then the importance of science in support of policy became increasingly important as a key aspect of the symposium. 9HUES was held at TRANSyT- Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain to provide a professional and scientific forum on global examples of the science required to support pathways to a positive and sustainable future in the highway and urban environment.
Urban Transportation and Air Pollution synthesizes state-of-the-art methods on estimating near-road concentrations of roadway emissions. The book provides the information needed to make estimates using methods based on a minimal set of model inputs that can be applied by a wide range of users in many situations. Discussions include methods to estimate traffic emission under numerous urban driving conditions, the uncertainty of emission models, and the effects of road configurations, such as near-road solid barriers. Final sections present dispersion models that link traffic emissions with near road concentrations in urban environments. Addressing transportation-related environmental issues is extremely important as urban areas are constantly searching for ways to mitigate impacts from transportation sources. This book helps to explain dispersion models, a critical tool for estimating the impact of roadway emissions in cities. - Compiles and synthesizes the state-of-the-science methods for estimating roadway emissions - Demonstrates, with clear examples, how modeling methods reduce uncertainties in real-world problems - Emphasizes how local-scale, semi-empirical, steady-state modeling can be applied using only a small set of inputs - Offers an overview of the meteorology that governs air pollution dispersion in cities
As the world population grows, already burgeoning cities are becoming taxed in every conceivable way. One topic that receives few headlines, but significantly impacts an area's quality of health and economic development is the challenge to maintain sustainable urban drainage (SUD). Poor drainage can hamper transportation, add to problems of polluti
The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.
Traffic-Related Air Pollution synthesizes and maps TRAP and its impact on human health at the individual and population level. The book analyzes mitigating standards and regulations with a focus on cities. It provides the methods and tools for assessing and quantifying the associated road traffic emissions, air pollution, exposure and population-based health impacts, while also illuminating the mechanisms underlying health impacts through clinical and toxicological research. Real-world implications are set alongside policy options, emerging technologies and best practices. Finally, the book recommends ways to influence discourse and policy to better account for the health impacts of TRAP and its societal costs. - Overviews existing and emerging tools to assess TRAP's public health impacts - Examines TRAP's health effects at the population level - Explores the latest technologies and policies--alongside their potential effectiveness and adverse consequences--for mitigating TRAP - Guides on how methods and tools can leverage teaching, practice and policymaking to ameliorate TRAP and its effects
Introduction -- People before highways: stopping highways, building a regional social movement -- Battling desires: (re)defining progress -- Groundwork: imagining a highwayless future -- Planning for tomorrow not yesterday: "we were wrong"--New territory--city-making, searching for control -- Making victory stick: new dreams, new plans, new park
The first concerns that come to mind in relation to pollution from road vehicles are direct emissions of carbon dioxide and toxic air pollutants. These are, of course, important but the impacts of road traffic are altogether more substantial. This volume of the Issues in Environmental Science and Technology Series takes a broader view of the effects on the environment and human health, excluding only injury due to road traffic accidents. By looking across the environmental media, air, water and soil, and taking account also of noise pollution, the volume addresses far more than the conventional atmospheric issues. More importantly, however, it examines present and future vehicle technologies, the implications of more extensive use of batteries in electric vehicles and the consequences of recycling vehicles at the end of use. Finally, examples of life-cycle analysis as applied to road vehicles are reviewed. This book is a comprehensive source of authoritative information for students studying pollution, and for policy-makers concerned with vehicle emissions and road traffic impacts more generally.
