Developers and planners need to draw up strategic plans to reduce air and noise pollution to create greener cities, says consultancy firm Arup
Consultant Arup has called on developers and planners to focus on greening cities. The firm said it was imperative strategic plans are created to cut air pollution and reduce the level of noise.
In its report ‘Cities Alive: Green Building Envelope’, Arup examined green infrastructure schemes in five cities across the world. This comprised of London, Los Angeles, Berlin, Melbourne, and Hong Kong.
The consultancy firm investigated the benefits of “green building envelopes”–reducing urbanisation by implementing green spaces in cities. This can be achieved through living walls and green roofs, both of which can create a cleaner, healthier environment in major cities.
The report from 15 top engineers revealed green building envelopes have the power to reduce fine filter dust on the street, soak up storm water surges, and reduce increasing heat levels caused by urbanisation. In fact, it can reduce street level air pollution by 20 per cent and lower traffic noise by up to 10 decibels in some cases.
Tom Armour, Global Landscape Architecture Leader at Arup said: “Tackling rising air pollution is a priority to help improve people’s health.
“As our cities continue to become built up, ‘grey’ structures, such as walls and roofs, are a source of untapped potential for adapting into green spaces.
“When well-designed, green envelopes can have a positive impact on tackling air pollution, but can also deliver a wide range of social, economic and environmental benefits to make cities more attractive and healthier places to be.”
