Local Inequities in the Relative Production of and Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Los Angeles

Geoff Boeing, Yougeng Lu and Clemens Pilgram

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: Vehicular air pollution has created an ongoing air quality and public health crisis. Despite growing knowledge of racial injustice in exposure levels, less is known about the relationship between the production of and exposure to such pollution. This study assesses pollution burden by testing whether local populations' vehicular air pollution exposure is proportional to how much they drive. Through a Los Angeles, California case study we examine how this relates to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status -- and how these relationships vary across the region. We find that, all else equal, tracts whose residents drive less are exposed to more air pollution, as are tracts with a less-White population. Commuters from majority-White tracts disproportionately drive through non-White tracts, compared to the inverse. Decades of racially-motivated freeway infrastructure planning and residential segregation shape today's disparities in who produces vehicular air pollution and who is exposed to it, but opportunities exist for urban planning and transport policy to mitigate this injustice.

Date: 2023-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-tre and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Urban Studies, 2023

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Related works:
Journal Article: Local inequities in the relative production of and exposure to vehicular air pollution in Los Angeles (2023)
Working Paper: Local Inequities in the Relative Production of and Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Los Angeles (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arx:papers:2301.00440

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