A parametric study of urban ventilation corridors for improving air quality in compact cities
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Urban ventilation corridors are essential for improving air quality in compact city areas. Previous studies primarily focused on identifying the corridors in specific areas, with few investigations aimed at optimizing the ventilation efficiency of these corridors due to difficulties of clarifying the effects of each key parameter in complex urban environments. To address this challenge, a general compact urban model, consisting of one main corridor and two lateral-side canyons, is assumed as the computational domain. The impacts of the two main parameters (canyon widths and internal width variations of the corridors) on the urban ventilation are evaluated using numerical simulations. Results show that for uniform-width corridors, the polluted air from the lateral canyons is transported into the corridor. While this process helps reduce air pollution in the canyons, it weakens air movement in the corridor, leading to an increased air age of the corridor. When the canyons are of equal width to the corridor, the worst air condition occurs, with a 25% increase in air age for the corridor and a 97% for the whole urban compared to the canyon-free case. This poor air quality is maintained at small prevailing wind directions θ ≤ 15 o , but greatly improves for θ ≥ 22.5 o with a 32%–40% decrease in air age across the city. Moreover, the results show that when the corridor upstream section is wider than its downstream, the air quality can also be improved for the corridor itself and the overall city.
Source: Journal of Cleaner Production
Authors: Yiqi Wang, Mengxin Qi, Yihang Lu
Language: English
Topic: Wind and Air Flow Studies
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,660
Award: G963674636
OpenAlex ID: W4408426035