A Questionnaire Case Study to Investigate Public Awareness of Smog Pollution in China’s Rural Areas

Li Jiang,Liandong Zhu,Erkki Hiltunen,Xianglin He

doi:10.3390/su8111111

Li Jiang, Liandong Zhu + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su8111111

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Abstract

Smog pollution is one of China’s most pressing public health issues today and has therefore received significant attention worldwide. Not only cities but also villages in China are suffering from smog pollution, especially since 2013. However, there is limited information available about public awareness on smog pollution in China, especially for where it concerns the residents living in villages. Based on a questionnaire survey, this study aims to help fill this gap. The results of the study show that the income of the majority of respondents comes from working in the city, accounting for 31.6% of the total income. The percentages for respondents related to access to smog information from various channels are as follows: TV (28.5%), radio (24.2%), neighbors (13.5%), Internet (9.8%), newspapers (8.3%) and others (7.8%). As for attitudes regarding the severity degree and main cause of smog pollution, most respondents (33.7%) thought smog pollution in villages was somewhat severe, while 26.3% agreed that the main contributor to smog pollution was industrial emissions, followed by coal burning at power plants (20.9%) and vehicle emissions (17.7%). The results also indicate that most of the respondents were satisfied with the government’s performance in terms of smog control. However, 67.9% of respondents indicated they would remain silent and not intervene when confronted by an activity that causes smog pollution. This study can help to improve an understanding of public awareness regarding smog pollution in China’s rural areas and thereby activate positive public participation in smog pollution prevention and management in the search for sustainable development.

Highlights

Since China established reforms and introduced its opening-up policy in 1978, the country has shown significant achievements in economic growth at a rate of 9.8%
Respondents aged over 55 accounted for 31.1%, which was the highest proportion. This is in accordance with the phenomenon that persons aged between 20 and 50 in most villages in China generally choose to work in cities to earn a better income [13]
The demographic results show that the dominant portion of respondents was from the group of those people aged over 55, accounting for 31.1%, while the respondents who had primary school education or who lacked any education made up the highest proportion of respondents, accounting for 38.2% of the total

Summary

Introduction

Since China established reforms and introduced its opening-up policy in 1978, the country has shown significant achievements in economic growth at a rate of 9.8%. This phenomenon of economic progress is often referred to as the “Chinese miracle” [1]. Economic growth in China encompasses high investment, high energy consumption and high pollutant emissions [2]. Smog is a type of air pollution with high atmospheric particulate matter (PM) concentrations. Waste gas from vehicles and industrial emissions during fuel combustion can react with sunlight in the atmosphere to form secondary pollutants.

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