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1 – 10 of over 33000Kazuaki Miyamoto, Surya Raj Acharya, Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Jean-Michel Cusset, Tien Fang Fwa, Haluk Gerçek, Ali S. Huzayyin, Bruce James, Hirokazu Kato, Hanh Dam Le, Sungwon Lee, Francisco J. Martinez, Dominique Mignot, Kazuaki Miyamoto, Janos Monigl, Antonio N. Musso, Fumihiko Nakamura, Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Omar Osman, Antonio Páez, Rodrigo Quijada, Wolfgang Schade, Yordphol Tanaboriboon, Micheal A. P. Taylor, Karl N. Vergel, Zhongzhen Yang and Rocco Zito
Michael J. McCord, Sean MacIntyre, Paul Bidanset, Daniel Lo and Peadar Davis
Air quality, noise and proximity to urban infrastructure can arguably have an important impact on the quality of life. Environmental quality (the price of good health) has become…
Abstract
Purpose
Air quality, noise and proximity to urban infrastructure can arguably have an important impact on the quality of life. Environmental quality (the price of good health) has become a central tenet for consumer choice in urban locales when deciding on a residential neighbourhood. Unlike the market for most tangible goods, the market for environmental quality does not yield an observable per unit price effect. As no explicit price exists for a unit of environmental quality, this paper aims to use the housing market to derive its implicit price and test whether these constituent elements of health and well-being are indeed capitalised into property prices and thus implicitly priced in the market place.
Design/methodology/approach
A considerable number of studies have used hedonic pricing models by incorporating spatial effects to assess the impact of air quality, noise and proximity to noise pollutants on property market pricing. This study presents a spatial analysis of air quality and noise pollution and their association with house prices, using 2,501 sale transactions for the period 2013. To assess the impact of the pollutants, three different spatial modelling approaches are used, namely, ordinary least squares using spatial dummies, a geographically weighted regression (GWR) and a spatial lag model (SLM).
Findings
The findings suggest that air quality pollutants have an adverse impact on house prices, which fluctuate across the urban area. The analysis suggests that the noise level does matter, although this varies significantly over the urban setting and varies by source.
Originality/value
Air quality and environmental noise pollution are important concerns for health and well-being. Noise impact seems to depend not only on the noise intensity to which dwellings are exposed but also on the nature of the noise source. This may suggest the presence of other externalities that arouse social aversion. This research presents an original study utilising advanced spatial modelling approaches. The research has value in further understanding the market impact of environmental factors and in providing findings to support local air zone management strategies, noise abatement and management strategies and is of value to the wider urban planning and public health disciplines.
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Lalit Bhagat, Gunjan Goyal, Dinesh C.S. Bisht, Mangey Ram and Yigit Kazancoglu
The purpose of this paper is to provide a better method for quality management to maintain an essential level of quality in different fields like product quality, service quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a better method for quality management to maintain an essential level of quality in different fields like product quality, service quality, air quality, etc.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a hybrid adaptive time-variant fuzzy time series (FTS) model with genetic algorithm (GA) has been applied to predict the air pollution index. Fuzzification of data is optimized by GAs. Heuristic value selection algorithm is used for selecting the window size. Two algorithms are proposed for forecasting. First algorithm is used in training phase to compute forecasted values according to the heuristic value selection algorithm. Thus, obtained sequence of heuristics is used for second algorithm in which forecasted values are selected with the help of defined rules.
Findings
The proposed model is able to predict AQI more accurately when an appropriate heuristic value is chosen for the FTS model. It is tested and evaluated on real time air pollution data of two popular tourism cities of India. In the experimental results, it is observed that the proposed model performs better than the existing models.
Practical implications
The management and prediction of air quality have become essential in our day-to-day life because air quality affects not only the health of human beings but also the health of monuments. This research predicts the air quality index (AQI) of a place.
Originality/value
The proposed method is an improved version of the adaptive time-variant FTS model. Further, a nature-inspired algorithm has been integrated for the selection and optimization of fuzzy intervals.
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Jorge Alejandro Silva Rodríguez de San Miguel
The purpose of this paper is to review the management of air pollution in Mexico and strategies that have been considered to correct the issues, including potential future…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the management of air pollution in Mexico and strategies that have been considered to correct the issues, including potential future directions to further improve air quality for Mexico’s environment and people.
Design/methodology/approach
Different serious academic databases were searched for material regarding the issue of air pollution in Mexico, such as Scopus and Social Science Citation Index. Regional concern was an important factor that was considered in this review. Material was considered based on its recency, academic importance and veracity. The studies selected mainly ranged from the mid-1990s to 2018.
Findings
Air pollution in Mexico has been a primary issue for the country’s administration and that of Mexico’s North American neighbour, the USA. It has contributed significantly to climate change and has had detrimental effects on both the environment and on the health of Mexican citizens in various ways. While efforts to ameliorate the situation have been relatively strong, it is hoped that ongoing cooperation between Mexico, the USA and Canada will influence the development of stricter emissions standards.
Originality/value
This paper considers current circumstances and whether enough has been done to mitigate Mexico’s significant air pollution problem. It also considers several recommendations made by commentators as to potential future directions to rectify the issues, as no similar review has been made for a developing Country.
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Sara Zanni, Matteo Mura, Mariolina Longo, Gabriella Motta and Davide Caiulo
This study aims to provide a comprehensive framework for the study of indoor air quality (IAQ) in hospitality premises. The goal is to identify the drivers of air pollution, both…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide a comprehensive framework for the study of indoor air quality (IAQ) in hospitality premises. The goal is to identify the drivers of air pollution, both at the exogenous and endogenous level, to generate insights for facility managers.
Design/methodology/approach
The complexity of hospitality premises requires an integrated approach to properly investigate IAQ. The authors develop an overarching framework encompassing a monitoring method, based on real-time sensors, a technological standard and a set of statistical analyses for the assessment of both IAQ performance and drivers, based on correlation analyses, analysis of variance and multivariate regressions.
Findings
The findings suggest that the main drivers of IAQ differ depending on the area monitored: areas in contact with the outdoors or with high ventilation rates, such as halls, are affected by outdoor air quality more than guestrooms or fitness areas, where human activities are the main sources of contamination.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that the integration of IAQ indicators into control dashboards would support management decisions, both in defining protocols to support resilience of the sector in a postpandemic world and in directing investments on the premises. This would also address guests’ pressing demands for a broader approach to cleanliness and safety and support their satisfaction and intention to return.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study developing a comprehensive framework to systematically address IAQ and its drivers, based on a standard and real-time monitoring. The framework has been applied across the longest period of monitoring for a hospitality premise thus far and over an entire hotel facility.
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Puneet Sharma, Arpita Ghosh and Pradipta Patra
The current study investigates the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions on air quality in an industrial town in Himachal Pradesh (HP) (India…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study investigates the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions on air quality in an industrial town in Himachal Pradesh (HP) (India) and recommends policies and strategies for mitigating air pollution.
Design/methodology/approach
The air quality parameters under study are particulate matter10 (PM10), PM2.5, SO2 and NO2. One-way ANOVA with post-hoc analysis and non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test, and multiple linear regression analysis are used to validate the data analysis results.
Findings
The findings indicate that the lockdown and post-lockdown periods affected pollutant levels even after considering the meteorological conditions. Except for SO2, all other air quality parameters dropped significantly throughout the lockdown period. Further, the industrial and transportation sectors are the primary sources of air pollution in Paonta Sahib.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should include other industrial locations in the state to understand the relationship between regional air pollution levels and climate change. The findings of this study may add to the discussion on the role of adopting clean technologies and also provide directions for future research on improving air quality in the emerging industrial towns in India.
Originality/value
Very few studies have examined how the pandemic-induced lockdowns impacted air pollution levels in emerging industrial towns in India while also considering the confounding meteorological factors.
Graphical abstract
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This study contains an assessment of air pollution levels in Trafalgar Road, Greenwich. This is a congested road on a main route into central London, which has achieved notoriety…
Abstract
This study contains an assessment of air pollution levels in Trafalgar Road, Greenwich. This is a congested road on a main route into central London, which has achieved notoriety since its residents took legal action in an attempt to restrict traffic. The four types of dispersion model used in the assessment are briefly described. All four models show that there is a likelihood that air quality standards for a number of pollutants, particularly PM10, will be exceeded in the vicinity of busy congested roads in London. Zones where standards are exceeded are restricted to regions within 10m or so from the road. Any assessment has to take account of concentrations on a very fine scale (at distances of 10m from a road).
Nehal Elshaboury, Eslam Mohammed Abdelkader and Abobakr Al-Sakkaf
Modern human society has continuous advancements that have a negative impact on the quality of the air. Daily transportation, industrial and residential operations churn up…
Abstract
Purpose
Modern human society has continuous advancements that have a negative impact on the quality of the air. Daily transportation, industrial and residential operations churn up dangerous contaminants in our surroundings. Addressing air pollution issues is critical for human health and ecosystems, particularly in developing countries such as Egypt. Excessive levels of pollutants have been linked to a variety of circulatory, respiratory and nervous illnesses. To this end, the purpose of this research paper is to forecast air pollution concentrations in Egypt based on time series analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Deep learning models are leveraged to analyze air quality time series in the 6th of October City, Egypt. In this regard, convolutional neural network (CNN), long short-term memory network and multilayer perceptron neural network models are used to forecast the overall concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter 10 µm in diameter (PM10). The models are trained and validated by using monthly data available from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency between December 2014 and July 2020. The performance measures such as determination coefficient, root mean square error and mean absolute error are used to evaluate the outcomes of models.
Findings
The CNN model exhibits the best performance in terms of forecasting pollutant concentrations 3, 6, 9 and 12 months ahead. Finally, using data from December 2014 to July 2021, the CNN model is used to anticipate the pollutant concentrations 12 months ahead. In July 2022, the overall concentrations of SO2 and PM10 are expected to reach 10 and 127 µg/m3, respectively. The developed model could aid decision-makers, practitioners and local authorities in planning and implementing various interventions to mitigate their negative influences on the population and environment.
Originality/value
This research introduces the development of an efficient time-series model that can project the future concentrations of particulate and gaseous air pollutants in Egypt. This research study offers the first time application of deep learning models to forecast the air quality in Egypt. This research study examines the performance of machine learning approaches and deep learning techniques to forecast sulfur dioxide and particular matter concentrations using standard performance metrics.
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Celeste Eusébio, Maria João Carneiro, Mara Madaleno, Margarita Robaina, Vítor Rodrigues, Michael Russo, Hélder Relvas, Carla Gama, Myriam Lopes, Vania Seixas, Carlos Borrego and Alexandra Monteiro
Tourism may have important positive and negative economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts. However, cultural and natural resources are also the base to the development…
Abstract
Purpose
Tourism may have important positive and negative economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts. However, cultural and natural resources are also the base to the development of competitive destinations and changes in these resources can have an important impact on tourism development. Despite the considerable literature regarding the impacts of tourism, a limited number of studies examine the impact of the environment on tourism, specifically the impact of air quality (AQ). Therefore, this paper aims to review what is known about the impact of AQ on tourism demand, analysing the different methods and approaches used, as well as the results obtained.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review method was used to examine the state of the art in this topic and identify research gaps and new research directions. Only 26 papers were identified that examine the impact of AQ on tourism demand.
Findings
The majority of the studies were carried out in China and investigate the impact of AQ on tourism from the perspective of tourism demand. Both global (tourism demand) and individual (tourist perceptions) approaches have been used to investigate the impact of AQ on tourism.
Originality/value
This is the first systematic literature review on the impact of outdoor AQ on tourism demand. Moreover, this paper analyses the methods and approaches that have been used in the literature to examine the impact of outdoor AQ on tourism demand. The paper ends with a discussion on the identified research gaps concerning the influence of AQ on tourism development.
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Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based…
Abstract
Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based advocacy organization, raised concerns that emissions trading in the South Coast Air Basin, the most polluted region in Southern California, would result in environmental injustice. The organizations concerns received mixed responses from regulators. Historical analysis is used to assess the clash between emissions trading and environmental justice (EJ).
Methodology/approach – Emissions trading and EJ arose side by side between the 1960s and the 1990s, yet they disagree on how to clean the air. Historical analysis of legal documents, presidential addresses, letters, working papers, reports, and the like offers a better understanding of the development of emissions trading and EJ, and their intersection in environmental policy.
Findings – Emissions trading was grafted onto Clean Air Act policies not inherently designed for their incorporation. As a result, emissions trading came into direct philosophical opposition with EJ as political pressures calling for both economically efficient antiregulatory-ism and environmental equity forced their intersection. Formally, regional and national government accepted EJ as part of law. However, in principle, emissions trading undermined this acceptance. As a result, CBE could not easily win or explicitly lose its battle against emissions trading.
Originality/value of paper – Previous work on the relationship between emissions trading and EJ tend to focus on legal analysis and normative implications of emissions trading. Putting emissions trading and environment justice into historical perspective helps to illuminate larger questions about EJ activism and policy. Also, as California, the United States, and Europe turn to emissions trading to combat not only air pollution but also climate change, important lessons can be learned from the histories and collision of emissions trading and EJ.
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