European Efforts to Improve Air Quality
As an anthropologist, I've been interested in diverse aspects of environment and health, including the relationship between air quality, green space, and related inequalities.
As an anthropologist, I've been interested in diverse aspects of environment and health. One of the more recent topics I’m exploring is the relationship between air quality, green space, and related inequalities. I’m specifically thinking about cities across Germany and Europe, focusing on social determinants, politics, and technology. For example, I've been reflecting on how air quality is measured through the Air Quality Index (AQI), and how green spaces improve air quality, and other related topics.
In this article my focus is on certain regions in Germany, including Münstertal and Cottbus. I’m wondering about the struggles with air pollution, and the impact of local infrastructure and geography. Of course, I’m also discussing my interest in the broader context of Europe. My goal is to find countries that have good air quality, as well as those who suffer from toxic air. The focus is also on the importance of political will and community efforts in influencing air quality.
The AQI and Its Role
I’m often asking questions about air quality, green space and breathing inequalities within and across cities in Germany and Europe. So how can you measure air quality? What is an AQI or air quality index? Well, air quality is measured by tracking pollutants. For example, small particles in air known as PM 2.5, PM 10 and toxic gas, such as nitrogen oxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. These pollutants come from many different sources like vehicles, factories and fires. The Air Quality Index, AQI, turns these measures into a score from 0 to 500. The higher the number, the worse the air quality. So scores from 0 to 50 means good, while 300 to 500 are hazardous. And AQI is actually a tool to make complex data easy to understand. And it helps people know when air is safe or harmful to breathe. Governments, individuals and collectives can use the AQI to plan actions and protect public health, especially for vulnerable groups, for example, people with existing lung conditions.
But the question is, what do you do when you realize that the air is not safe to breathe? Get involved in what is happening. For example, the European Union is addressing specific air pollution issues, including indoor air quality and the impact of wildfires, through its Zero Pollution Action Plan, which seeks to reduce pollution levels and their effects on health and ecosystems (EVIA, 2022).
Green Spaces and Air Quality in Cities
Another question that occupies my mind connects air quality, green space and breathing. Now, what is the relationship between air quality, green space or air and plants, for example? According to many different sources and especially the recent report by European Environment Agency (EEA, 2022), green spaces help improve air quality in cities. Trees and plants absorb harmful particles like nitrogen oxide, ozone and fine particles. They also cool the air, which lowers the ozone levels that are formed in the heat. So parks and urban forests act as natural air filters, and areas with more green space usually have cleaner air and fewer health risks.
But the effect depends on, of course, plant types, their numbers and the care they require to flourish in toxic urban spaces. All green spaces influence air quality, but well-planned green spaces with a focus on density and diversity of plants can reduce air pollution significantly and support public health. The question is not only how much green space do we need to tackle air pollution, or if all plants are equally suitable, but also how we can take into consideration the health of these plants themselves? Because there is a limit to the extent plants can mitigate air pollution. Plant health is affected adversely if toxic air is pervading the urban atmosphere.
Plants in Urban Air Quality
As you see, thoughts about this topic recur in my mind. Based on how people talk about the human-focused air quality index, I wonder, what about other indices for other than humans? For example, there is another parameter or another measurement which is called air pollution tolerance index, the APTI. So the APTI shows how plants react to pollution, especially air pollution, because some plants are more sensitive than others, and pollution can really damage their leaves and reduce photosynthesis, while other plants are more tolerant, stay relatively healthy in polluted air. But there is a limit, because although tree leaves help by trapping these harmful particles from air or dust, bigger cities with worsening air quality often show very high level of APTI.
Another use of the APTI is that it can also guide the choice of trees for cities and when used with the Air Quality Index - AQI, the APTI, the Air Pollution Tolerance Index, can be a useful tool because it supports better pollution monitoring and helps design green urban space appropriately. The core point is that air pollution induces vegetation stress. And so APTI may be a quick tool for city health evaluation, but one needs to understand that human health and plant health are connected. And across the cities in Germany and Europe, not all cities are equally having a green infrastructure and have varying levels of toxicity affecting human and any health.
A Regional Breakdown
Another topic that involves air-human-plant relationship and breathing is that we need to take a closer look across cities in Germany and Europe. Which city has the best and the worst air quality in Germany, you might ask. According to the German Environment Agency, the Umweltbundesamt, Münstertal in Baden-Württemberg had some of the cleanest air in 2024 (Umweltbundesamt, 2024). Because of its rural location, forests, low traffic, they help keep air pollution levels low.
In contrast, Cottbus in Brandenburg, which is a province near Berlin, had some of the worst air with high levels of fine dust or PM2.5. And this is likely due to industry, traffic, and fewer green spaces.
Overall, it seems that Germany met the European Union air quality limits in 2024, and for the very first time, showing nationwide improvement. But these findings highlight that sometimes city size, land use, and local infrastructure affect air quality. The question is, how is this quality of air measured and are they uniform? The idea of the "best" and the "worst" is only a very general indicator. We need to look at the context and study specific sites in-depth to understand how and where air becomes polluted and what can be done.
Air Quality Across Europe
My persistent curiosity about air, green space and breathing in and across Germany and other European cities lead me to ask, which country has the best or the worst quality in Europe and why? According to the European Environment Agency in 2024, it's very surprising, but it seems that not the rich northern and Western European countries are topping the list, but it is Estonia, which actually has some of the best air quality, largely due to their efforts to clean energy, low population density, and vast forests that cover the area and absorb air pollutants. And coupled with that strict enforcement of the EU environmental law, plays a key role. In contrast, North Macedonia has the worst air quality with PM2.5 levels far above EU and WHO prescribed limits. And this is driven by the widespread use of solid fuels for heating, outdated industrial practices, and also the geography of the valley that traps air pollutant materials. Also, environmental laws haven't been enforced strictly.
Some of these factors explain the best or worst air quality, but the question is how much it has to do with political will, and how much it has to do with climate and the geography. Contexts also matter, and how people come together with technoscientific interventions and apply their own lived experiences shape how they sense toxic air and consider nurturing urban trees and forests as a way to mitigate air pollution, among other measures.
Concluding Remarks
I’m struck by how interconnected air quality, green spaces, and our health are in cities across Germany and Europe. How the Air Quality Index (AQI) works as a popular measure of air and how it helps people recognize when air becomes hazardous, especially for those with existing health conditions. In addition to other proven measures, the idea that green spaces—like parks and forests—may absorb pollutants and improve air quality makes sense, even if it seems many politicians hadn’t thought about how pollution can also affect plant health. On a broader scale, it’s interesting to see how some countries work toward excellent air quality while others struggle with pollution. Political will, environmental laws, and community efforts matter when it comes to improving air quality, nurturing green space, and how such factors shape how we breathe in urban contexts.
References
EEA. (2022). Who benefits from nature in cities? Social inequalities in access to urban green and blue spaces across Europe. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/who-benefits-from-nature-in-cities-social-inequalities-in-access-to-urban-green-and-blue-spaces-across-europe
EVIA. (2022). Why the EU needs to take action on Indoor Air Quality. https://www.evia.eu/events/1950/
Umweltbundesamt. (2024). 2024 erstmals alle Grenzwerte zur Luftqualität eingehalten.
Dr. Nasima Selim is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in medicine, public health and anthropology. She is a breathworker, writer, researcher, and educator. Her books include “Breathing Hearts” (Berghahn 2024), an open-access ethnography, and "Ways of Breathing and Knowing" (Routledge, forthcoming), a volume of 12 interdisciplinary essays she co-edited with Dr. Judith Albrecht.
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