Toxic air and inequality in a London borough

Version 1.1 by Hyunji Cho on 2021/12/20 11:01

Entry No	EcoWise 15
Strategic area(s)	Air pollution and decarbonisation
Name of partner	EcoWise
Resource / link	Toxic air and inequality in a London borough https://earlychildhoodmatters.online/2021/toxic-air-and-inequality-in-a-london-borough/
Location, Description of intervention/project	London, Lewisham
Geographical scale of the project	Street level air pollution data/neighbourhood level data
Background information	Recent research shows that 25% of UK pupils attend schools where air pollution is over the World Health Organization’s limit, and the problem is most severe in London (Earthsense, 2021; Global Action Plan, 2021). But within a city, there is often a significant difference in pollution levels from one street to the next.
Objectives defined	research on air quality and health
Metrics used	street-level maps of air pollution and other kinds of environmental stressors (Centric Lab, a public health research organisation in London, produces). levels of deprivation numbers of residents aged 5 years and younger location of services.
Diversity dimension and findings	The overlapping air pollution and deprivation and age data
Result summary	Overlaying information helped create a better understanding and enable a more nuanced evaluation of the neighbourhood in terms of urban health with a focus on young children. The maps revealed that a large number of early years providers and primary schools are in highly polluted areas, illustrating the unequal distribution of exposure to pollutants, a concept described by the Centric Lab as “biological inequality”.
Input for DivAirCity and action items	The consideration in method to combine multiple indicators The overlapping air pollution and deprivation and age data