PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Air pollution post the largest environmental health risk to EU citizens, with a significant share (75%) of the EU population exposed to sub-standard air quality (WHO, HEI). This share is expected to 85% in 2050. Areas with intensive traffic, such as large cities and ports, such as Antwerp and Rotterdam, are most at risk. Road transport accounts for 70% of excess NO₂ and 30% of PM. More than 400 000 premature deaths due to air pollution (70 000 due to NO₂) are estimated to occur in the EU annually, while loss of working of days costs around €10 billion annually.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated its guidelines on ambient air quality, increasing the challenge for policy-makers. Meeting current standards can result in 100 000 fewer premature deaths and an increase in GDP of 0.5 to 2.5% (OECD). The Urban Agenda partnership has emphasised that multilevel governance cooperation and alignment of plans is required to fully implement the Ambient Air Quality Directive. Its analysis shows that local plans are rarely dedicated to tackling air pollution directly, a finding supported by the Flanders City of Things project.
Local policy, which takes account of specific circumstances, can play an effective role in reducing air pollution. However, support among local populations for public measures is low, and public engagement in monitoring efforts is required to boost acceptance and raise awareness.
OBJECTIVES
The CityTRAQ project aims to bring together Flemish regional and local authorities to strengthen the capacity of local policy-makers across Flanders to adopt adequate measures.
It will focus on improving local monitoring of air quality and traffic, and developing tools that combine relevant data sources for identifying air quality challenges. The project furthermore aims to enhance the planning capacity of local and regional authorities through tools and processes identifying challenges and facilitating the development of solutions and policy plans. The project will also demonstrate the applicability of air quality traffic data, models and tools in diverse city use-cases. It will engage schools and the wider public in setting up monitoring networks to raise awareness of air pollution and to increase support for policy, while enabling the transfer of project outcomes to other EU regions.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Collation of relevant air quality information into a single, coherent local perspective that can guide municipalities in identifying local hotspots and possible solutions;
- Scenario tools to quantify mobility and emission-driven interventions, thus allowing policy-makers to draw up appropriate measures;
- A governance and information system that informs local policy, leading to municipalities cooperating on shared approach;
- Monitoring in areas where traffic and air quality measures are being implemented (e.g. bus routes and school streets);
- Improved mobility, air quality assessment and planning tools; and
- Better localised underlying data that address current knowledge and capacity obstacles, such as the lack of representative local traffic data and easy-to-use decision-making tools.
