In Brussels, poorer neighbourhoods have a lower air quality

A massive study into the air quality of the Belgian capital revealed large disparities between districts

Last week, authorities in Brussels published a study on the air quality in the city, revealing a clear disparity between socio-economic background and pollution. According to the data, less affluent areas were impacted more severely by traffic-related emissions, despite residents in those areas owning fewer personal vehicles.

The study was carried out largely by citizen volunteers, working in tandem with Brussels Environment. CurieuzenAir, as it is called, covered around 3,000 data collection points in the city, making it the largest citizen survey in the Belgian capital to date.

Mapping air quality

Around 3,000 citizens in Brussels took part in the air quality survey, by putting up measuring equipment on their property between 25 September and 23 October 2021. The survey focused primarily on nitrogen dioxide emissions (NO2) – a gas that can be damaging to the human body and is generated mainly from burning fuel.

According to the overall data from CurieuzenAir, the air quality in Brussels is quite diverse, ranging from extremely good to extremely poor. At the same time, though, researchers have also said that the situation is improving. However, the favourable readings could be a result of less traffic due to the pandemic measures in place at the time.

The data suggests that only 1.4% of people in Brussels, or 17,000, are exposed to air pollution exceeding the EU’s health standards of 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Yet 98% of citizens, or 1.2 million people, live or work in areas with pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation’s new threshold of 10 micrograms per cubic metre.

Nevertheless, Professor Filip Meysman, a coordinator at CurieuzenAir, explained that this is still good news. He continued by pointing out that Brussels citizens exposed to air quality below the EU’s health standard were estimated at 10% two years ago and at 50% ten years ago.

He attributed this radical shift to the pandemic and lockdowns, but also to home office arrangements and to the rise of cycling as a popular mode of transportation in the city.

The various imbalances and micro-climates within the city

Apart from there being a link between the less affluent regions in the city and a higher chance of pollution, researchers have also found that sometimes there are disparities on the same streets. This is due to what is called the canyon effect – where high-rise buildings on both sides of the road would create a sort of canyon trapping pollutants.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, neighbourhoods on the edges of the city are far less polluted than their counterparts in the heart of the Belgian capital. At the same time, according to Dirk Jacobs, professor of Sociology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, highly populated areas tend to have significantly more pollution. Additionally, there is a clear link between income and air quality.

Professor Jacobs was quoted in a press release explaining: “Ironically, this also means that in neighbourhoods where the number of cars per household is lower, the air quality is still worse due to the impact of nearby traffic.”