Issue highlights:

• Urban Air Care

• Cities in the News

• Exciting Things to Come…

Dear friends,

It’s about time we talk about urban air pollution. 99% of the world’s population (40% of US residents) lives with sub-par air quality. It’s not just an inconvenience. Exposure to particle pollution can induce coughing, wheezing, reduced lung function, asthma, and in severe cases even heart or lung disease. 

Dubbed ‘new tobacco’, it is estimated that particle pollution leads to 7 million premature deaths annually, a number projected to grow by more than 50% by 2050. 91% of those deaths occur in low and middle income countries. For perspective, nearly 18% of deaths in India in 2016 were due to air pollution, which is staggering in terms of loss of human life alone but also resulted in a loss of $36.8B (1.36% of India’s GDP) from decreasing labor productivity, higher health expenses, and lower agricultural outputs. 

So what causes air pollution? Answer: a build-up of ground-level ozone or particulate matter from volatile organics (re: fumes) and combustion processes (re: coal-powered energy generation, gas-fueled transport).

This month I’m pulling together solutions to reduce urban air pollution and build healthier cities. 

Hope this gets you thinking.
Kate

Choose Pollution-Absorbing Technologies

• Airlite street art in CDMX absorbs pollution from 60k cars/year [Mexico News Daily]

• 1-meter of these super plants can mop-up pollution from a 500-mile drive [Guardian]

• 3M’s photocatalytic roofing shingles remove smog [Fast Company]

• In-road vacuum reduces car pollution exposure by 91% [Roadavent]

Improve Regional Infrastructure

• Seoul’s “wind path forest” will channel air in and out of the city center, preventing pollution build-up [Cities-Today]

• Without waste infrastructure, trash burning is still a problem for low income countries [SciDevNet]

• COVID travel patterns cut transport-related pollution, now cities are setting congestion pricing to achieve the same results [C&EN]

Update National Air Quality Policies

• 124 countries have air quality standards, only 9% adhere to WHO guidelines [UNEP]

• 45 years after the Clean Air Act of 1970, emissions dropped by 70% in the US [Clean Air]

• Did you know- catalytic converters reduce toxic pollutants? Requiring car emissions check-ups ensures these are in working order [Kaiterra]

• It goes without saying- renewable energy production and cleaner industrial processes will slash pollution levels

Cities in the News

• Houston’s “housing first” approach cut homelessness by 63% over 11 years [NYTimes]

• 50% of the most sustainable cities are led by women [Corporate Knights]

• Potty Talk: when global artists redesign public loos [Tokyo Toilet]

• Micromobility as a wartime necessity in Ukraine [Bloomberg]

• Oceanix Buson, built from self healing biorock, will be the world’s first floating city [Newsweek] 

• BlackRock seeks partners for infrastructure fund, even as the market sinks [Institutional Asset Manager]

Exciting Things to Come…

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