A Study on Urban Sprawl and Air Quality in the United States

Abstract

Urban sprawl and density issues can raise problems related to public health, the environment, and transportation in metro areas. This study looks at urban sprawl levels in 60 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. It analyzes the relationships between air pollutants and transportation variables and if increasing sprawling development is associated with declines in air quality, and if air pollutants in sprawling cities are decreasing at a slower rate than less sprawled cities. It was discovered that while this relationship is significantly more complex than initially predicted, PM2.5 levels were able to support the hypothesis of that in MSAs that had increasing levels of sprawl, air pollution was higher. However, AQI and ozone levels behaved entirely differently than predicted. Based on these findings, many more questions arose around the relationships between these variables. Are the relationships more complicated than they appear? How can they be better defined?