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Urban Sprawl and Air Quality in European Cities: an Empirical Assessment

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  • Cappelli, Federica
  • Guastella, Gianni
  • Pareglio, Stefano

Abstract

In this paper we estimate the relationship between urban sprawl and a measure of air quality, namely the number of days in which the PM10 concentration exceeds safeguard limits in European Union cities. Building on a multidimensional representation of sprawl, the paper employs several indicators to account for built-up area development, population density, and residential discontinuity. The paper employs generalised additive models to disentangle the non-linear effects in the variables and the interaction effects of the three sprawl dimensions. A significant and robust effect of urban morphology emerges after controlling for socio-economic, demographic, and climatic factors and the geographical location of the city. We find that urban sprawl impacts positively on pollutant concentration, but the effect is highly context-specific because of threshold effects and interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Cappelli, Federica & Guastella, Gianni & Pareglio, Stefano, 2021. "Urban Sprawl and Air Quality in European Cities: an Empirical Assessment," FEEM Working Papers 309920, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemwp:309920
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.309920
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community/Rural/Urban Development;

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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