PM2.5 pollution poses severe health risks to urban residents in low and middle-income countries. Existing studies have shown that the problem is affected by multiple socioeconomic factors. However, the relative contribution of these factors is not well understood, which sometimes leads to controversial controlling measures. For example, Zhengzhou City limited electricity supply to residential areas in summer 2015 in an effort to cut down PM2.5 emission quickly. Taiyuan City banned all open-air barbecues since 2014. These controversial measures have led to a challenging question: do governments unfairly target people’s daily life in controlling PM2.5 pollution?

In this study, we quantified the relative contribution of different socioeconomic factors, including the city size, industrial activities, and residents’ activities, to PM2.5 pollution in urban China between 2014 and 2015 by using structural equation model (SEM). Our results showed that industrial activities contributed more to PM2.5 pollution than other factors. The city size and residents’ activities also had significant impacts on PM2.5 pollution. The combined influence of all socioeconomic factors could explain between 44% and 48% of variation in PM2.5 pollution, which indicated the existence of influences from other factors such as weather conditions and outside sources of pollutants.

As a response to the rising PM2.5 pollution, the Chinese central government issued the Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in September 2013, which is considered as the strictest PM2.5 pollution control policy in China’s history. One of the central focus of the plan is to reduce emissions from the industry sector. Our results showed that this is well-targeted. The plan also asks for reducing emission from transportation by developing public transit system and controlling the total number of cars. However, our results indicate that the plan’s goal of reducing urban PM2.5 pollution significantly in ten years or slightly longer may be difficult to achieve. China plans to add 100 million more people to cities by 2020. In order to satisfy the gigantic needs for consumption and energy of these new urban residents, more PM2.5 pollution emissions will be generated. Our findings show that residents’ consumption activities contribute to PM2.5 pollution significantly. Therefore, the policy on controlling PM2.5 pollution should not only focus on controlling sources of emission but also on changing urban residents’ behavior. Above all, one should realize that the control of PM2.5 pollution in cities needs time. Therefore, controlling measures that aim for long-term impacts should be included as well. For example, urban planning strategies such as walkable communities and mixed land-use development can have a sustainable impact on reducing emission in urban areas.

According to the Thomson Reuters 2016 Annual Report, the "Environmental Pollution" impact factor for 2016 was 5.099.

Link:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974911732105X