Erschienen:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023
Erschienen in:
City and Built Environment, 1 (2023) 1
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1007/s44213-023-00013-0
ISSN:
2435-7936
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
AbstractCOVID-19 has significantly impacted people's daily lives worldwide in the past three years. During the COVID-19 lockdown in China, people's activities were restricted, private cars were banned, and some factories were shut down. It is expected that air pollution would be mitigated due to the reduction of automobile exhaust and factory pollution gas emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown. In this study, a city-level comparative study was investigated to quantify the impact of lockdown on air pollution in China. The concentration changes of air pollutants (NO2, SO2, CO, PM2.5, PM10) caused by the lockdown are studied covering 345 cities in China. The sensitivity analysis method was adopted to explore the variation scale of pollutant concentration in typical cities. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of pollutant changes between 2019 and 2020 and typical months are discussed using a composite index. The results showed that NO2, SO2 and PM10 concentrations had a significant reduction due to the lockdown, ranging from 15 to 30%. Pollutant emissions of 321 cities in February and March 2020 fell noticeably, and 272 cities showed a rebound of pollutant emissions after April 2020 when work and production resumed. The lessons learned from COVID-19 lockdowns offer valuable insights into how cities can better prepare for future crises and improve their resilience and adaptability.