Mitigating PM2.5 exposure with vegetation barrier and building designs in urban open-road environments based on numerical simulations

Vegetation barriers (VB) are commonly regarded as an effective strategy in urban planning for mitigating traffic-induced airborne pollutants and associated exposure of road-users and nearby urban dwellers. Locally verified evidence is needed to better understand the nexus between VB designs and PM2.5 dispersion and provide practical insights for the creation of a healthy urban environment. This study constructs a 3D numerical model using in-situ measurements via field campaign, and then simulates PM2.5 dispersion in an open-road environment in Shanghai, China, characterized by varying VB designs (short vs. tall bushes in different location and coverage) and building structure (present vs. absent). The simulation results reveal the effectiveness of VB in PM2.5 mitigation in the sidewalk canyon, regardless the presence of building structure. Bushes at the windward side, regardless their size, tend to be more effective than arbors. The building structure flanked the sidewalk also contribute to PM2.5 mitigation in the sidewalk canyon. Various scenarios using short bushes consistently reduce PM(2.)5 concentrations along building facade, which might be attributed to the formation of vortex circulations in the sidewalk canyon. In contrast, a greater tall-bush coverage (2/3 and above, regardless of their location) tends to exacerbate PM2.5 pollution along building facade. Thus, constructing VB with a large proportion of short bushes could be a practical solution to minimizing the exposure of both sidewalk users and building inhabitants to traffic-induced PM2.5 in open-road environments.

Automated summary

Vegetation barriers are an effective strategy in urban planning to mitigate traffic-induced air pollution and reduce exposure. This study uses field measurements and numerical modeling to show that constructing vegetation barriers with short bushes can effectively reduce PM2.5 pollution in open-road environments, while higher coverage of tall bushes may worsen the pollution.