Urban mobility and air quality

Airquality is a serious public health issue and therefore action must be taken. In the 28 European countries overall there are around 374,000 premature deaths annually attributable to the chronic and acute health effects of PM2.5, 68,000 to NO2 and 14,000 to O-3. Traffic is responsible for 60-70% of human exposure to NO2 and 25-35% to PM2.5 in urban environments, so it is obvious that to improve air quality and lessen the health impact the number of circulating urban vehicles needs to be reduced. The characterisation of mobility in cities is fundamental for this, allowing us to bring together information on demography, location of services, spatial economy, geography, aspects of physics, mathematics, engineering and, in general, data science. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed not only how healthier a city can be with less traffic contamination, but has also underlined the great value of data generated by personal electronic devices for the public management of an emergency and for future urban planning. Air quality improvement plans in cities not only seek to reduce annual premature deaths, but also to improve the quality of life with healthier and more pleasant cities to live in. It is important to achieve greater collaboration between cities, administrations and citizens, as well as to integrate the needs and challenges of air quality with those of mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Integrated approaches will constitute the roadmap that will lead to a better quality of life in cities.