The research group uses innovative methods to measure emissions. IASS/Rolf Schulten

Headline: Urban Air Quality, Mobility, and Health

Urban areas are not only population centres, but also emission hotspots, with a substantial amount of air pollution originating from traffic. The choices we make about how we get around in a city influence both emissions and our exposure to the emitted pollutants. How can we reduce our exposure to air pollution? What policy options will be the most effective in reducing emissions? What synergies can we take advantage of to reduce air pollution and protect human health, while also minimising greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change? In a transdisciplinary approach that links scientific knowledge to the policy and social dimensions of the problem, the group conducts research in support of transformations towards more integrated policymaking on climate change mitigation and air quality.

The project's research activities focus on a range of issues relating to air quality in urban areas and explore the connections between air pollution, climate change, and mobility. The researchers also seek to foster greater awareness of these issues by establishing dialogues among policymakers, civil society actors and the scientific community, and by organising various activities, including exhibitions and citizen-science initiatives.

The research team uses innovative methods to measure emissions and the factors that influence exposure, as well as methods for quantifying the effectiveness of mobility policy options. Furthermore, through interdisciplinary collaboration, it examines public perceptions of air pollution and considers how these perceptions shape action on air quality at the individual level. These insights will enable researchers to gauge the feasibility of specific sustainable urban-planning measures to reduce emissions of air pollutants.

Projects

The transport sector is a major contributor to environmental degradation, including air and noise pollution, damage to ecosystems and human health. To monitor air and noise pollution and generate data that will aid in assessing their health impacts related to it, the new research project Net4Cities will develop research infrastructure in eleven European cities in ten countries. This research and infrastructure will support efforts to implement the Zero Pollution Action Plan as part of the European Green Deal. The project is coordinated by the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam.

The project explores the feasibility of specific sustainable urban planning measures to reduce emissions of air pollutants.

When it comes to air quality, practical action and critical thinking are needed not just in science and policymaking, but also in the everyday decisions of individuals. With its analyses and recommendations on urban air quality, this project contributes to the political discussion of this issue and thus supports the transformation of society towards sustainability.

The researchers use the "air bike" to carry out mobile air quality measurements.

In this project, RIFS researchers are working with the City of Berlin to accompany the implementation of a variety of mobility policies. They conduct measurement campaigns that assess changes in air quality, traffic, and user preferences and perceptions.

Completed Projects

Leipziger Straße in central Berlin: Many cyclists feel unsafe on this road.

In a survey conducted by the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in June and July 2023, around 80 per cent of the 64 cyclists surveyed stated that a speed limit of 30 km/h should be maintained on Leipziger Straße in the central Mitte district of Berlin. Pedestrians surveyed expressed similar views. There is also strong support for the creation of a bike lane that is physically separated from motorised traffic.

Cities in the Global South are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. Rising temperatures are worsening the effects of ozone pollution, for example. Like many other cities in the Global South, Santiago de Chile is highly segregated along socio-economic lines. RIFS scientist Tabish Ansari and a team of researchers have examined and compared the effects of heatwaves and ozone episodes in different areas of the city.

Cleaners are one source of NMVOC emissions.

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) have numerous adverse health and environmental impacts and are important ozone precursors. Despite this, these pollutants are both under-researched and inadequately addressed in policy. A new study compares measurements of NMVOCs with their representation in emission inventories. The researchers identify significant discrepancies in the data and recommend more measurements over a greater geographic area.

In the course of the pandemic many European cities seized the opportunity to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable urban mobility. Moving with the times, planners in Berlin created a number of pop-up bike lanes. IASS researchers have examined the impact of these innovations during the initial phase of the pandemic. Their findings show that the bike lanes are widely accepted and have encouraged cycling uptake. In addition, cyclists’ exposure to nitrogen dioxide decreased with the creation of the bike lanes.

How can courses at vocational schools encourage their students to work for climate mitigation despite the impeding economic change? Based on workshops with trainees in the German coal-mining region of Lusatia, a team from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) offers some guidelines on how to include civics and education for sustainable development in lesson plans.

Verkehrsschild in Berlin: Geringere Geschwindigkeit sorgt für bessere Luft.

People with respiratory diseases are more strongly affected by air pollution. They are at higher risk even in cities where limit values are only occasionally exceeded. In Berlin, a study found that the hospitalisation rate of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) increased with higher nitrogen dioxide concentrations.

The bicycle lane on Kottbusser Damm has reduced air pollution exposure for cyclists.

Berlin's Mobility Act aims to strengthen eco-mobility by improving conditions in the city for cyclists, pedestrian traffic, and public transport. How do changes in mobility infrastructure affect air quality? Researchers from the IASS have evaluated the impacts of two trials: a bicycle lane and a community street space. Their measurements show that air pollution decreased significantly during these traffic trials.

Die Pandemie hat gezeigt, wie wichtig eine gute Wissenschaft-Politik-Interaktion ist.

Science and policy are not worlds apart. They interact in countless ways and would both benefit from closer cooperation. This has become clearer than ever during the Covid-19 pandemic. A team of researchers has now investigated deficiencies on the science side and shown how science-policy can be done better.

Combines harvest soybeans in Brazil: Higher ozone concentrations reduces the yields of many crops.

Whether the air that we breathe will be cleaner or dirtier in the future will largely be determined by two key factors: pollutant emissions and climate change. In a new publication, the authors analyze projections of future air quality and compare their various effects on human health, crops, and ecosystems. The research reveals that emissions reductions beyond those required under current legislation will be needed if we wish to see significant improvements. Policymakers should also seek to couple air pollution control and climate policy more effectively.

The Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection in Berlin will close Friedrichstrasse to vehicles for five months. A section of this major thoroughfare is to be transformed into a car-free zone from 29 August. Experts anticipate increases in pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Researchers will study how the closure affects air quality, with scientists from the IASS helping to measure and evaluate its impact on air pollution levels.

Wide, well-kept, flanked by greenery: An ideal bicycle lane looks something like this.

As well as helping to make sustainable mobility more visible, the STADTRADELN campaign exposes the weak links in Potsdam’s cycling infrastructure. As an online IASS survey reveals, the campaign only managed to convert a few people to cycling: nearly all of the participants were already regular bike-users.

Team Schneidemesser Luftqualitätsmessungen ©IASS/ G. Westrich

The cause of millions of premature deaths annually, air pollution is a global challenge. It affects both developing and developed countries, with cities, in particular, struggling to meet air quality standards. A new study by a team of researchers at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) investigates air pollutant concentrations in urban areas and the factors that affect air quality. The study includes a number of recommendations that will interest urban planners and citizens alike.

Das IASS präsentiert bei der Bauzaun-Ausstellung ein Projekt zu Klimawandel und Luftqualität.

In our daily lives we tend to hurry past construction sites. But the fence surrounding a major building site on Friedrich-Ebert-Straße in Potsdam has been attracting attention following the launch of a hugely interesting open-air exhibition on Saturday, 19 January. The exhibition showcases the range of research projects based in the city and explores its diverse research landscape.

Nine internationally renowned Potsdam-based research institutes want to support the city’s climate protection efforts.

The City of Potsdam has set itself an ambitious climate protection goal: It wants to reduce its CO2 emissions to practically zero by the year 2050. A new long-term partnership between the city and Potsdam-based research institutes is intended to pave the way for this.

Many people are happy about the new bicycle lane on Potsdam's Zeppelinstraße.

Due to excessive air pollution, in July 2017 the City of Potsdam reallocated space on the very busy Zeppelinstraße in an attempt to reduce car traffic and encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport. While they welcome the fact that this measure has made cycling safer, participants in an online survey conducted by the IASS are critical of other effects, claiming that life has become more difficult for commuters, and air and noise pollution have only been reduced in a small area – to the detriment of side streets.

Luftschadstoffe aus dem Straßenverkehr schaden der Gesundheit.

Diesel cars are the main source of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in urban areas, an increasingly pressing problem that some German cities are seeking to solve by imposing diesel bans. But that won’t be enough. A new IASS Policy Brief makes recommendations to policymakers on how to deal with diesel emissions.

Dr. Seán Schmitz

Recently, the team of the “Climate Change and Air Pollution” (ClimPol) project published an article in Environmental Research Letters detailing the results of a measurement campaign conducted along Kottbusser Damm in Berlin-Kreuzberg. In short, we found that the implementation of a protected pop-up bike-lane along the street reduced the amount of air pollution cyclists were exposed to by 22%. On its own this is a significant, but perhaps not unexpected result. However, to set these results in their proper context, first we need to rewind back to 2018.

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

The current death toll from Covid-19 is just over 800,000 people worldwide. This is likely to be a conservative estimate. To provide some perspective, in 2017, around 56 million people died, with the largest cause of death being cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for about 32% of deaths. 4.2 million people die every year as a result of exposure to outdoor air pollution. If we consider the rankings of risk factors for death, air pollution is number 4 on the list. 4!! Why am I suddenly bringing air pollution into this? Initial research has shown that there is a link between air pollution and Covid-19 cases.

Dr. Seán Schmitz

In Berlin, one unique change that has continued to develop over the past few months is the installation of “Pop-up” bike lanes on busy streets around the city. Citing the pandemic, city officials have been fast-tracking plans for new, protected bike lanes in order to allow citizens to travel safely by bike and avoid overcrowding in public transport. A recent IASS Study shows that these new bike lanes are strongly supported by people who identify primarily as cyclists, pedestrians, or users of public transport, but are disliked by those who identify as car drivers. While these results are unsurprising, they capture Berlin’s quite recent citizen-led shift in transport policy, ultimately culminating in the recent Mobility Law of 2018. That does not mean, however, that these new bike lanes are without criticism.

Dr. Kathleen A. Mar

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

New research links air pollution to severe Covid-19 progression. This should prompt a re-evaluation of German commitments to safeguarding and improving air quality. Clean air deserves a more prominent place in Germany’s Strategy for Sustainable Development.

Prof. Dr. Mark Lawrence

The current outbreak of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) will affect virtually every person on Earth, either directly or indirectly. Many people will die of the infectious disease caused by this coronavirus (Covid-19), and others will lose people close to them. Many more will suffer other extreme hardships – psychological, social and financial – due to the extensive physical distancing measures that are reducing the spread of the virus. While there may be some perceived “silver linings”, such as temporarily reduced air pollution and CO2 emissions, and for some an opportunity to slow down and contemplate their ways of living, in the balance the effects are already tremendously challenging for the world, and are likely to get much worse before the pandemic is over.

Dr. Seán Schmitz

Jonathan Franzen’s essay on the “climate apocalypse” has drawn a lot of criticism. His fatalistic attitude is uncomfortable, but it may be more inspiring for our thinking and acting than unrealistic optimism.

Headline: Urban Air Quality, Mobility, and Health

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

Prof. Dr. Mark Lawrence

Projects

Real-Time Monitoring Networks for Tailored Pollution Action Plans (Net4Cities)

Climate Change and Air Pollution: Research Needs and Pathways to Policy Implementation

Air Quality Effects from Mobility Measures

Completed Projects

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

Dr. Jörn Quedenau

Dr. Seán Schmitz

Dr. Alexandre Caseiro

Dario Ritter

Cordula Granderath

Prof. Dr. Mark Lawrence

Dr. Seán Schmitz

A win-win for cyclists – measuring effects of the transport transition on air quality

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

Where is the policy response to air pollution deaths?

Dr. Seán Schmitz

Cycling through times of change

Dr. Kathleen A. Mar

Dr. Erika von Schneidemesser

Build Resilience with Cleaner Air: Learning from Covid-19

Prof. Dr. Mark Lawrence

The “Wicked Problem” of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Dr. Seán Schmitz

Giving up false hope: Why climate fatalism is hard to swallow, but necessary