European City Ranking 2015
Best practices for clean air in urban transport

Air pollution causes nearly half a million premature deaths each year in the European Union. In busy cities, air quality is usually at its worst, with high concentrations of particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone. The average life expectancy of people living in the EU’s most polluted areas is reduced by over two years as a consequence of this. A lot can be done at a local level to avoid these emissions.

Air pollution not only damages human health but also affects our natural environment, by causing acidification and eutrophication. Furthermore, soot, or black carbon (a part of PM10), emitted largely by diesel cars, contributes to global warming by reducing the reflection of sunlight when deposited on snow and ice. The ambient air quality directive (2008/50/EC) demands that local authorities comply with short term and annual limit values of PM10 and NO2. Municipalities have adopt measures to reduce air pollution and to comply with the above mentioned air quality limit values.

What measures have been designed and implemented in some of Europe’s most polluted cities? With this ranking we aim to answer this question and demonstrate that local solutions to reduce air pollution exist. We identify which cities are best at it, and what others can learn from them.