The City of London Corporation has launched an opportunity for residents to measure their local air quality.
Alongside the social enterprise Mapping for Change, the City of London Corporation in a year-long study starting in March.
Mapping for Change (MfC) will work with the community to measure air pollution at a multiple locations over the course of a year.
The project aims to show improvements in air quality, compared to the original Citizen Science programme that took place seven years ago. However, the value of community input is underlined throughout this scheme, seeking to tackle local environmental issues together.
Since 2014, the feedback made by residents during the initial project have been implemented in order to improve air quality in the area.
This includes a three-year Low Emission Neighbourhood programme which saw the implementation of electric vehicle charging points, green infrastructure, cargo bikes and a zero-emission street pilot.
The City of London is characterised by dense roads and high buildings, meaning air quality is challenging. Research has shown that half of London’s air pollution comes from road transport, while almost 50 per cent of the coronavirus lockdown could be cycled within ten minutes.
‘We are very excited to be running this community citizen science project,’ commented Keith Bottomley, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Environmental Services Committee. ‘We’re working closely with our local community, raising awareness around air pollution and how to reduce exposure, and we’ve rolled out several bold and practical measures which have improved local air quality.’
‘But there is still work to do, and this project is another important step forward towards cleaner air in the City.’
