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Pedestrians’ perception of environmental stimuli through field surveys: focus on particulate pollution

Nikolopoulou, Marialena, Kleissl, Jan, Linden, P.F., Lykoudis, Spyros (2011) Pedestrians’ perception of environmental stimuli through field surveys: focus on particulate pollution. Science of the Total Environment, 409 (13). pp. 2493-2502. ISSN 0048-9697. (doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.02.002) (KAR id:28349)

Abstract

The connection between perception of individual exposure to different environmental stimuli; microclimate, noise and especially particulate matter (PM) was examined. Microclimate, noise and PM were monitored during field surveys with 260 questionnaire-guided interviews at a road construction site and a traffic site on the UC San Diego campus. The overall comfort was determined primarily by the thermal environment. The air quality was considered to be poor by 42% of the interviewees at the construction site, which was burdened with higher PM counts and sound levels. Overall, higher PM concentrations were correlated with perception of poor air quality. Similarity between the overall air quality and how dusty it feels suggests that visual clues of PM, such as dust, affect the perception of air quality and pollution. The effect of medical or smoking history on the perceived air quality was also examined. People with a medical history of hay fever voted more frequently for poor air quality conditions than those without, whereas current smokers were the least sensitive to ambient air quality conditions. Through the exposure-response relationships between the various perception votes and PM, it was possible to predict perceived air cleanness using the PM count. Understanding the human assessment of environmental stimuli could inform the design and development of urban spaces, in relation to the allocation of uses and activities, along with air quality management schemes.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.02.002
Subjects: N Visual Arts > NA Architecture
T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
T Technology > TH Building construction
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > Kent School of Architecture and Planning
Funders: SETsquared Partnership (https://ror.org/022d92k39)
Depositing User: Marialena Nikolopoulou
Date Deposited: 03 Nov 2011 14:03 UTC
Last Modified: 12 Jul 2022 10:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/28349 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Nikolopoulou, Marialena.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0528-2145
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