IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3309-d1630393.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the Main Urban Density Factors and Their Heterogeneous Effects on PM 2.5 Concentrations in High-Density Historic Neighborhoods from a Social-Biophysical Perspective: A Case Study in Beijing

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Wang

    (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100021, China)

  • Haomiao Cheng

    (College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100021, China)

  • Bin Cai

    (Key Laboratory of Beijing on Regional Air Pollution Control, Faculty of Environment and Life, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Fanding Xiang

    (Development and Reform Bureau of Wenjiang District Chengdu, Chengdu 611130, China)

Abstract

The contradiction between urban density and sustainable environmental development is increasingly prominent. Although numerous studies have examined the impact of urban density on air pollution at the macro level, most previous research at the micro scale has either neglected socioeconomic factors, failed to analyze heterogeneous effects, or ignored historic neighborhoods where high pollution coexists with high density. By considering population, commercial buildings, vegetation, and road factors, an integrated social-biophysical perspective was introduced to evaluate how urban density influences PM 2.5 concentration in a historic neighborhood. The study area was divided into 56 units of 120 m × 150 m granularity, as determined by the precision of the LBS population data. The lasso regression and quantile regression were adopted to explore the main factors affecting PM 2.5 and their heterogeneous effects. The results showed that (1) building density was the most important driving factor of pollutants. It had a strong and consistent negative effect on PM 2.5 concentrations at all quantile levels, indicating the homogeneity effect. (2) Short-term human mobility represented by the visiting population density was the second main factor influencing pollutants, which has a significantly positive influence on PM 2.5 . The heterogeneous effects suggested that the areas with moderate pollution levels were the key areas to control PM 2.5 . (3) Vegetation Patch Shape Index was the third main factor, which has a positive influence on PM 2.5 , indicating the complex vegetation patterns are not conducive to PM 2.5 dispersion in historic neighborhoods. Its heterogeneous effect presented a curvilinear trend, peaking at the 50th quantile, indicating that moderately polluted areas are the most responsive to improvements in vegetation morphology for PM 2.5 reduction. These findings can provide effective support for the improvement of air quality in historical neighborhoods of the city’s central area.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Wang & Haomiao Cheng & Bin Cai & Fanding Xiang, 2025. "Identifying the Main Urban Density Factors and Their Heterogeneous Effects on PM 2.5 Concentrations in High-Density Historic Neighborhoods from a Social-Biophysical Perspective: A Case Study in Beijin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-27, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3309-:d:1630393
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3309/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3309/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Muhammad Shahbaz & Smile Dube & Ilhan Ozturk & Abdul Jalil, 2015. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in Portugal," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(2), pages 475-481.
    2. Zhang, Yingjie & Zhang, Tianzheng & Zeng, Yingxiang & Cheng, Baodong & Li, Hongxun, 2021. "Designating National Forest Cities in China: Does the policy improve the urban living environment?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Yan, Dan & Ren, Xiaohang & Kong, Ying & Ye, Bin & Liao, Zangyi, 2020. "The heterogeneous effects of socioeconomic determinants on PM2.5 concentrations using a two-step panel quantile regression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    4. Xu, Shuhua & Sun, Chuanwang & Wei, Haoyu & Hou, Xinshuo, 2023. "Road construction and air pollution: Analysis of road area ratio in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olusegun Peter Olaoye & Aderemi Timothy Ayomitunde & Nwagwu Chinedu John & Yvonne Jude-Okeke & Azuh Dominic Ezinwa, 2020. "Energy Consumption and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in Nigeria: An Empirical Perspective," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 491-496.
    2. Boulanouar, Zakaria & Essid, Lobna & Omri, Anis, 2024. "Achieving carbon neutrality in emerging markets: The dual impact of energy transition investments on economic growth and carbon emissions," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    3. Yuqing Zhou & Haibin Liu, 2023. "Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Ozone and Its Influencing Factors in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Ersin Yavuz & Emre Kilic & Abdullah Emre Caglar, 2024. "A new hypothesis for the unemployment-environment dilemma: is the environmental Phillips curve valid in the framework of load capacity factor in Turkiye?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 29475-29492, November.
    5. Sinha, Avik & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2018. "Estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2 emission: Role of renewable energy generation in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 703-711.
    6. Muhammad Uzair Ali & Zhimin Gong & Muhammad Ubaid Ali & Fahad Asmi & Rizwanullah Muhammad, 2022. "CO2 emission, economic development, fossil fuel consumption and population density in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: A panel investigation," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 18-31, January.
    7. Olimpia Neagu, 2019. "The Link between Economic Complexity and Carbon Emissions in the European Union Countries: A Model Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-27, August.
    8. B. Venkatraja, 2021. "Does China exhibit any evidence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve? An ARDL bounds testing approach," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 88-110,111-.
    9. Alvarez-Herranz, Agustin & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Cantos, José María, 2017. "Energy innovation and renewable energy consumption in the correction of air pollution levels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 386-397.
    10. Adhitya Wardhono & Panji Tirta Nirwana Putra & M. Abd. Nasir, 2016. "Causal study of macroeconomic indicators on carbon dioxide emission in ASEAN 5," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 15-31.
    11. Obadiah Ibrahim Damak & Hasan Güngör, 2023. "Globalization and energy consumption's effect on Japan's ecological imprint: Implications for environmental sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3881-3895, October.
    12. Hussein Moghaddam & Robert M. Kunst, 2023. "The Role of Natural Gas in Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis for Major Gas-Producing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Iorember, Paul Terhemba & Usman, Ojonugwa & Jelilov, Gylych, 2019. "Asymmetric Effects of Renewable Energy Consumption, Trade Openness and Economic Growth on Environmental Quality in Nigeria and South Africa," MPRA Paper 96333, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.
    14. Yi-Bin Chiu & Wenwen Zhang, 2023. "Moderating Effect of Financial Development on the Relationship between Renewable Energy and Carbon Emissions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Chizhi Ma & Weiming Song & Chang Xu, 2023. "Factors Influencing Resident Satisfaction with Afforestation in the Plains: Beijing as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Umut Uzar, 2022. "The connection between freedom of the press and environmental quality: An investigation on emerging market countries," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 21-38, February.
    17. Nan, Shijing & Huo, Yuchen & You, Wanhai & Guo, Yawei, 2022. "Globalization spatial spillover effects and carbon emissions: What is the role of economic complexity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    18. Chien, Fengsheng & Anwar, Ahsan & Hsu, Ching-Chi & Sharif, Arshian & Razzaq, Asif & Sinha, Avik, 2021. "The role of information and communication technology in encountering environmental degradation: Proposing an SDG framework for the BRICS countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    19. Eleftherios Filippiadis & Anastasia Litina, 2022. "A dynamic analysis of the income–pollution relationship in a two-country setting," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 775-801, May.
    20. Tanattrin Bunnag, 2023. "Analyzing Short-run and Long-run Causality Relationship among CO2 Emission, Energy Consumption, GDP, Square of GDP, and Foreign Direct Investment in Environmental Kuznets Curve for Thailand," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(2), pages 341-348, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3309-:d:1630393. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.