Improve air circulation in the environment
By optimizing the air circulation you can better spread and dilute the air pollution, and thus improve the air quality.
You tackle the following challenges:
That's how you do it
In narrow streets with high buildings, the buildings impede the air circulation, so that the air pollution is trapped, as it were: the street canyon effect . Plants can also have a negative effect on air circulation and the dispersion of pollutants. An open planting can reduce the wind speed, a dense planting can cause turbulence due to the impoundment of the air mass.
Tips
- Avoid street canyons by making streets wide enough or by limiting the height of the buildings. If such a street canyon or row of buildings is broken through by a street, park or square, this ensures better air quality.
- Take the impact of planting into account. When the foliage forms a shielding roof, there is less exchange of traffic emissions with the relatively clean air.
- On a road, it is better to plant greenery on the central reservation than along the side.
- Prune regularly, choose a larger distance between trees and plant them some distance from the road edge if possible.
Knowing more
Street canyons are narrow streets with high buildings. In these streets, pollutants are diluted worse and air pollution can accumulate.
More information
- Greenery and air quality in urban environment (GGD Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
- Brochure “Clean air: Greenery and air quality in the city” (Department of Environment, Flanders)
- AirTech'byDesign: Technology and Urban Design together in the fight against air pollution in narrow streets (University of Antwerp, Flanders)
