Air Quality Effects of Urban Forms in China

The Chinese urban population face serious health issues due to the increasing concentration of air pollutants. Research has shown that air quality was influenced by urban forms, and that special combinations of city characteristics could contribute to sustainable urban development. This study aims to determine how urban forms affected air quality in Chinese cities. In this context, urban forms are the characteristics of cities that influence their local environment. Based on a review of the literature on air quality and urban forms, a panel dataset of 14 Chinese cities was collected and the Fixed Effects model was used in order to execute the analysis. The results indicate that cities with an efficient transport system noticed lower PM10 concentration, while greater population density and higher per capita road values suggested an increasing level of PM10. Furthermore, the study surprisingly shows a positive relation between green land and particulate concentration, however, it does not imply causation. These findings indicate a strong relationship between urban forms and air pollutants in China and the study advances previous research by examining a more comprehensive combination of urban characteristics