air quality, is its land use model and street and building typologies. The city of Barcelona and the surround- ing towns have a high population and vehicle density, concentrating pollut- ant emissions in a small area. The other factor that complicates
the pollution problem in Barcelona and its surroundings is the type of inner-city urban development, with narrow streets and relatively high buildings, making it more difficult for pollutants to be dispersed by the wind and natural air currents. For several years,
air pollution
in Barcelona has exceeded World Health Organisation (WHO) limits for safety. An estimated 3500 peo- ple die prematurely each year in the metropolitan area from air pollution- related illnesses. A study released by the Environmental Epidemiology Agency determined that about 1200 deaths could have been avoided if Barcelona conurbation met the air quality standards recommended by the European Union. The 2008 European Air Quality
Directive allowed Member States to have, under strict conditions, time extensions for meeting the air qual- ity standards for PM10
, NO2 and ben-
zene. Since those time extensions have expired, Barcelona will start facing serious fines if the city con- tinues to exceed the limits. Although the PM10
have remained below the
limits in recent years thanks to the implementation of the measures of the 2007-2014 Air Quality Plan, as
well as the economic crisis, the NO2 levels continue to exceed them. The updated Inventory of pollutant emissions in the Special Atmospheric Environment Protection Area (SPA) of 2011 provides the necessary infor- mation to identify emissions of the main pollutants
disaggregated by
emissions (Graph 1). The main causes are the high volume of traffic,
pollutant and by sector. The Inventory highlights that road transport gen- erates almost half of the NOX and PM10
TAKING ACTION: THE AIR QUALITY ACTION PLAN, HORIZON 2020 The Air Quality Action Plan in Special Atmospheric Environment Protection Areas approved by the Catalan gov- ernment in September 2014, is the new instrument for planning, foster- ing and regulating actions aimed at improving air quality in the special atmospheric environment protection area consisting of Barcelona and the 39 municipalities comprising its agglomeration. The purpose of
the plan is to
improve air quality and to guaran- tee compliance with the European air quality directives. It is a compre- hensive legislative document which stipulates actions for the sectors of Transport and Mobility, the Specific
Emissions in the
conurbation of Barcelona in 2011 by pollutant and by sector
the growth in the number of vehicles and the growing proportion of diesel vehicles, reaching values as high as 70 per cent of the circulating vehicles in Barcelona city.
Logistics Areas, the Industry and Energy sectors, and the Domestic and Residential sectors. The Plan encompasses key areas such as vehi- cle traffic, the port and airport, citi- zen awareness and taxation, among others, and establishes responsi- bilities, indicators and implementa- tion timelines. Full attainment of its objectives shall take place by 2020. It also provides guidelines for the municipalities included in the Plan, particularly for those with more than 100,000 inhabitants. An interesting point in the plan is
that it creates an economic policy instrument by providing a series of tax measures which will be pooled into a fund to finance air quality improvement actions and, in particu- lar, actions to improve public trans- port. The Atmospheric Environment Protection Fund that
will be put
in operation will also be used to improve noise quality and to prevent atmospheric pollution. Some of the most essential aspects
63
Social and Economic Impacts of Transport
BARCELONA
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