Abstract
June 2019 saw large-scale street protests in Hong Kong that impeded traffic flow along streets in areas around to the Legislative Council building. These had the potential to reduce overall air pollutant emissions from traffic and lower their concentrations. Two roadside monitoring stations relatively close to the Legislative Council reveal that measured concentrations of nitrogen dioxide declined during the protests compared with measurements from other sites by at least 50% on many occasions. There were only subtle changes in particulate loads and no evidence of any reduction in carbon monoxide concentrations. Pedestrianisation and bus route rationalisation are often seen as methods to reduce exposure in congested areas, but the observations here suggest that the substantial improvements in the nitrogen dioxide levels might not be matched by improvements in other pollutants. Plans for changes to street layouts to improve air quality need careful investigation before they are implemented.
Highlights
June 2019 saw large-scale street protests in Hong Kong that impeded traffic flow along streets in areas around to the Legislative Council building
Hong Kong residents are often seen as compliant, there have been several large-scale public protests since 1997, when it became a special administrative region of China. Such protests are mainly driven by concerns over the gradual erosion of autonomy granted to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as part of a historic agreement between China and the UK
This paper looks at the pollutant concentrations during some short-duration public protests in central areas of Hong Kong, using data available from Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (HKEPD) monitoring stations
Summary
June 2019 saw large-scale street protests in Hong Kong that impeded traffic flow along streets in areas around to the Legislative Council building. These had the potential to reduce overall air pollutant emissions from traffic and lower their concentrations. Hong Kong residents are often seen as compliant, there have been several large-scale public protests since 1997, when it became a special administrative region of China. Population density is high, allowing public transport to be very efficient This offers the potential for large crowds to gather rapidly, which in recent years has been enhanced by the prevalence of social media.
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