Local Political Measures to Improve the Air Quality in Urban Areas

in the Context of Sustainable Development

Ştefan Ţălu

and Anton D. Nazarov

The Directorate of Research, Development and Innovation Management (DMCDI), Technical University of Cluj-Napoca,

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Institute of management and information technologies, Ural State University of Economics, Russia

Keywords: Air Quality, Climate Change, Sustainable Development, Urban Areas.

Abstract: This article proposes a series of local political measures that can be applied in the context of sustainable

development in urban areas from Romania, considering the provisions of the Romanian legislation for the

evaluation of air quality under national and European Union standards. These measures can maintain the

ambient air quality in urban areas where there are limits provided by the actual legislation for air pollutants;

can improve the quality of the ambient air in the urban areas where it does not fall within the limits provided

by the actual legislation; as well as limit/eliminate negative effects on the environment.

1 INTRODUCTION

Sustainable development, as a notion, was historically

introduced to the international community after the

Conference on the Human Environment, held in

Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, a context in which the

problems of education for sustainable development

and environmental education were highlighted

(Yenchun Jim Wu and Ju-Peng Shen, 2016).

Lester R. Brown, a specialist in the development

of contemporary society, founded the World Watch

Institute in Washington in 1974, promoting articles,

studies, materialized in annual reports on the evolution

and progress of structuring a sustainable society.

Lester R. Brown in "Plan B 2.0" highlights the

conflict between industrial civilization and the

environment and presents issues such as the tendency

to deplete natural resources of energy, raw materials,

and food, the use of renewable resources at a rate

higher than their capacity regeneration,

physicochemical degradation, and pollution of vital

environmental factors: water, air, soil.

The involvement of the political factor in

explaining and resolving these issues has offered wide

international debates at a high level; for example, the

1975 Charter of Belgrade concluded that

environmental problems can be identified and

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1311-7657

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0109-6097

prevented, and/or resolved through an educational

process. In the same year, 1975, the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) launched the International Program on

Environmental Education (IEEP) internationally and

introduced a series of educational activities to lay the

foundations for a future. environmental education

plan.

This was followed by the Tbilisi Declaration

(UNESCO, 1978: 25), including in Recommendation

1 (3) the purpose and objectives of environmental

education: “The main objective of the environmental

education is to succeed in making individuals and

communities understand the complex nature of natural

and built environment resulting from the interaction of

biological, physical, social, economic and cultural

aspects and to acquire knowledge, values, attitudes

and practical skills, to participate responsibly and

efficiently in anticipating and solving environmental

problems and environmental quality management”.

In 1983, the World Commission on Environment

and Development (WCED), headed by Gro Bruntland,

was set up based on a resolution adopted by the United

Nations General Assembly.

The widespread definition of sustainable

development was promoted by the World

Commission on Environment and Development

Talu, S. and Nazarov, A.

Local Political Measures to Improve the Air Quality in Urban Areas in the Context of Sustainable Development.

DOI: 10.5220/0010585500230027

In Proceedings of the International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure (ISSDRI 2021), pages 23-27

ISBN: 978-989-758-519-7

(WCED) in its report "Our Common Future" under

the title Brundtland Report: "Sustainable

development is the development that seeks to meet

the needs of the present without compromising future

generations to meet their own needs".

On the other hand, the Brundtland Report clarified

that economic development is a continuous, evolving

process, but that the strategies applied to achieve the

objectives must be correlated to be adapted to the

ecological limits offered by the environment and the

planet's resources.

In 1987, under the auspices of UNESCO, an

international conference was held in Moscow on the

central theme of environmental education and the

importance of sustainability in environmental

education, which aimed to establish an international

action plan for environmental education and training

for the 1990s. It was proposed to form a system of

complex knowledge on the integrity of nature, on the

unity of man, society, and nature, through which to

form the respective competencies, value orientations,

conduct, and activity that would ensure a responsible

attitude towards nature, focused on ecological

education.

The "Earth Summit" took place in Rio de Janeiro

in 1992, bringing together representatives from about

170 states, which adopted a series of conventions on

climate change (reduction of methane and carbon

dioxide emissions), biological diversity (species

conservation), and stopping massive deforestation,

such that to not affect the biophysical balance of the

Earth, but without giving up social welfare.

In 1992, UNESCO's "Agenda 21" laid the formal

foundations for sustainability education to facilitate

the acquisition of knowledge that would allow

understanding of environmental issues in their depth

and complexity, ultimately leading to decision-

making based on environmental awareness, as well as

promoting opportunities to have direct experiences

with the natural environment.

The United Nations Summit was held in 2002 in

Johannesburg on the World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD), which formulated sustainable

development as a central element in international

politics, highlighting the multiple aspects of the

concept of sustainable development and the

connections between poverty, the environment and

the use of natural resources. The Johannesburg

Declaration promoted responsibility for economic

development, social development, and environmental

protection (at local, national, regional, and global)

and implied the development theory and practice.

Sustainable development (SD) has become a

ubiquitous development paradigm that proposes a

stable theoretical framework in human-environment

decisions (environment, economic environment, or

social environment). The concept of sustainable

development sums up economic, social, and

environmental concepts that can evolve in

interdependence, supporting each other.

Within the European Union, since 2006, the

concept of sustainable development has been

implemented in the Strategy for an enlarged Europe,

based on a unitary strategic vision, for the continuous

improvement of the quality of life for present and

future generations, for the creation of sustainable,

capable communities to manage and use resources

efficiently and to exploit the potential of ecological

and social innovation of the economy, to ensure social

cohesion, prosperity, and environmental protection

(Țălu, 2019; Ţălu and Nazarov, 2020; Velasco et. al.,

2021).

In 2010, as a process of further sustainable

development of the EU, the Europe 2020 Strategy

was adopted which identifies through concrete

actions the objectives of promoting smart growth

(education, research, innovation), sustainable

(renewable resources, energy efficiency, reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions). carbon) and inclusive

(prosperous savings, job creation, poverty reduction,

etc.).

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20-22, 2012, the

UN Conference on Sustainable Development "Rio +

20" was held with the objectives of promoting green

economic development, sustainable development,

and poverty reduction, as well as assessing progress

to present and existing gaps in implementation

measures and obtaining results from previous

summits. However, the most important goal was to

identify and prevent new global challenges and

threats to sustainable development. The documents

adopted at the conference stressed that states must

align and make joint efforts in implementing "green

economy" methods to help sustainable development.

States can also turn to renewable energy resources,

promoting policies that reduce the global poverty

rate, protect the environment, and, most importantly,

effectively manage cultivation, distribution, and

consumption of the planet's resources (Mensah et al.,

2019).

The Development Summit in September 2015

adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development, which covers both developed and

developing countries and includes the 17 Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs), informally brought

together under the name of Sustainable Development

Goals. Global for the next 15 years to eradicate

ISSDRI 2021 - International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure

extreme poverty, combat inequality and injustice and

protect the planet by 2030.

On 22 November 2016, the European

Commission presented the Communication "Next

steps for a sustainable European future" in which it is

committed to sustainable development.

Today, about 55% of the world's population lives

in urban areas, and in the coming decades it is

expected that this process will increase. Clean cities

with green spaces harmoniously located are more

attractive offering environmental benefits, but also

substantial economic benefits and social co-benefits

(Bulkeley and Betsill, 2005; Nuţă et. al., 2015;

Rainald and Schrauth, 2021).

Romania strives for the implementation of the

2030 Agenda by local institutions, in line with the

needs, interests, and concerns of citizens, by defining

local and national development strategies.

An appropriate strategy on economies and urban

environments is addressed through the Urban

Development Strategies supported by the Alliance of

Cities, in which environmental issues are seriously

and sustainably analyzed. Considered important as a

whole, these experiences highlight the process of

urban governance for solving and improving the

environmental conditions in cities.

In this article are shown the main solutions

approached in urban areas in Romania by developing

innovative tools for urban impact assessments to

support air quality and climate change, by analyzing

technological and non-technological measures and

local administrative policy options.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this study, a set of questions was proposed:

1) What are the policies of local governments that

can be effectively applied to improve air quality and

reduce air pollution, depending on local urban

conditions?

2) How the responses of environmental factors are

integrated through planning and management in

urban areas in Romania?

3 DISCUSSION

In recent decades, the impact of air pollution on

health has been intensively studied by researchers and

has highlighted the correlation between high levels of

air pollution and conditions such as allergies,

respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.

This effect is particularly prevalent in urban centers,

where there has been an increase in mortality rates

and a reduction in life expectancy, as well as high

economic costs for cities and health systems

(Goodsite et al., 2021).

At the first WHO global conference on air

pollution and health in 2018, air pollution was

described as a "silent public health emergency".

Medical motivation is statistically expressed by the 7

million premature deaths annually due to the effects

of air pollution, of which about 4 million are due to

air pollution (outside). Besides, to reduce life

expectancy, air pollution has a clear negative impact

on our daily lives, triggering respiratory illness,

medical leave, hospitalizations, and loss of education

and careers. In general, children are more vulnerable

to air pollution: because exposure to air pollution in

early childhood, in a phase of lung development,

crystallizes in the reduction of lung capacity that

persists into adulthood (Goyal et. al. 2020; Rao et al.,

2014).

Among the key pollutants of short duration, which

has a negative influence on human health, we

highlight:

a) Black carbon (BC, also known as soot) which

is part of the composition of fine particles (particulate

matter - PM, especially 2.5 μm - PM2.5), which is the

air pollutant with the most harmful effect on human

health and the main initiator of mortality caused by

air pollutants. Also, PM is related to genotoxicity and

mutations.

b) Methane (CH4) is a precursor to ground-level

ozone, which is the cause of asthma and other

respiratory diseases, leading to premature deaths

related to air pollution. Ozone also harms plants,

resulting in crop losses of $ 11-18 billion annually

(Yan et. al, 2018).

Air pollution with various pollutants comes from

a wide variety of sources, such as road transport,

agriculture, thermal power plants, industry, and

households. In urban centers, vehicles are a primary

source of mobile pollution. The development and

implementation of local policies, at different levels,

to address these phenomena in their complexity is a

difficult task, given the different geographical

locations and economic activity, which converge on

the idea that there is no universal solution to combat

pollution air. However, to reduce exposure and

subsequent adverse effects, local authorities through

effective and long-term measures must limit local

pollutants, such as sources, demographics, transport

infrastructure and the local economy.

In the literature are presented many sets of tools

and methodologies for the use of city authorities in

Local Political Measures to Improve the Air Quality in Urban Areas in the Context of Sustainable Development

environmental planning and management (Bălănică,

et. al, 2019; Iordache, and Dunea, 2013; Năstase et

al.,2018; Paraschiv and Paraschiv, 2019; Oncioiu et

al., 2020; Charini et al., 2021).

Real-time air quality parameters are evaluated

using 100 stations in Romania by the National Air

Quality Monitoring Network (RNMCA, 2021), in the

process of air quality assessment is performed by

performing measurements at fixed points or by

applying numerical methods by mathematical

modeling following the dispersion in time of

pollutants emitted into the atmosphere.

In Romania, there are three types of regimes: A, B,

and C associated with the zones and agglomerations

for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen

oxides, suspended particles, lead, benzene, carbon

monoxide, ozone, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel,

and benzo(a)pyrene. In the case of zone A, the

evaluation of the ambient air quality is performed by

performing measurements at fixed points, but in

exceptional cases, mathematical modeling and/or

indicative measurements can be applied. For zone B

the assessment of ambient air quality involves the

application of fixed-point measurements and

modeling and/or indicative measurement procedures.

In the case of zone C, the assessment of ambient air

quality is done only by modeling procedures or

objective estimation techniques.

The directions of action proposed by the National

Strategy for Sustainable Development of Romania for

the period 2030, propose an overall political vision of

the measures to be implemented at a national level.

In the case of urban areas in Romania, we consider

that they can be applied extensively with efficiency in

the policies of local administrations for the

improvement of air quality and the reduction of air

pollution, the following measures depending on local

conditions:

 improving the sanitation activity of urban

areas;

 expanding pedestrian areas and encouraging

cycling;

 compliance with the provisions of the building

permits, with all the documentation related to

the environmental agreement, and of other

specialized approvals for the completion of the

investment objectives;

 compliance with the provisions of

environmental legislation and the conditions

stipulated in the regulatory acts for

construction sites;

 observance of the maximum time limit

approved for the execution of municipal works

(repair works of public roads and restoration of

green spaces);

 location of hypermarkets in the peripheral areas

of urban areas;

 extensive application of integrated air quality

management programs for urban

agglomerations and ensuring public access to

real, online information on air quality;

 increasing the number of thermally

rehabilitated homes and blocks of flats;

 finding solutions for upgraded variants of some

district thermal power plants with high

efficiencies;

 modernization of public transport lines with

electric vehicles;

 introduction of the intelligent traffic light

system and arrangement of above-ground and

underground parking lots;

 implementation of some bypasses of the urban

areas, through the ring roads;

 application of an efficient national program for

decommissioning of old vehicles;

 the location of the locations of the large

industrial platforms on the outskirts of the city,

in the opposite direction from which the wind

acts with predilection;

 implementation of new non-polluting

economic activities in the services sector and

closure of highly polluting systems;

 application of ecological projects and programs

correlated with the socio-economic

development strategy;

 attracting private investors for the exploitation

of alternative energy resources (technology

parks) and the introduction of renewable

energy sources (especially hydropower and

solar energy);

 projects for national and international

financing programs in the field of use of

renewable resources.

 intensifying collaborations with institutions

specialized in urban issues;

 increasing the areas of green spaces compared

to the spaces occupied by constructions;

 the application of ecological anti-skid material

in order not to favor its resuspension in the

ambient air at the contact with the wheels of the

motor vehicles;

 rehabilitation of the used road network and

efficiency of the road traffic;

 modernization of the car park (means of public

transport, e.g. vehicles with power supply);

 promoting public transport;

 limiting the influx of cars in the central area,

ISSDRI 2021 - International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure

 efficient recovery of renewable energy sources;

 attracting private investors who use clean

technologies and developing "green"

technology centers and parks;

 application of "greenhouse" type programs, by

promoting systems that use solar, geothermal,

wind energy, and other systems that lead to

improved air quality.

4 CONCLUSIONS

In this article were proposed a series of local political

measures that can be applied in the context of

sustainable development in urban areas from

Romania, considering the provisions of the Romanian

legislation for the evaluation of air quality under

national and European Union standards.

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Local Political Measures to Improve the Air Quality in Urban Areas in the Context of Sustainable Development