The air in big cities is a victim of high-rise construction – Tejaratnews

According to Tejarat News, when air pollution darkens the face of the city and the number of breaths decreases, discussions and controversies about pollution and its causes also rise.

One of the topics that is very controversial in this regard and especially in the mid-90s was the place of discussion between two groups of officials in the government and the municipality, is the effect of high-rise buildings on air pollution.

At that time, the governments believed that the construction of high-rises plays a role in air pollution and this phenomenon has affected the aggravation of air pollution in the city of Tehran, in front of the municipal officials and the air quality control company, they denied it.

Controversies over the impact of high-rise construction on air pollution in the capital

For example, the then head of the Meteorological Organization believed that local winds exist in any region, depending on the conditions of the region, and since these winds are formed locally, they do not have a high speed; Therefore, if the constructions are in such a way as to block the local winds, it is obvious that it will have a negative effect on the natural ventilation of the city.

According to the studies, the 22nd district of Tehran is located in the path of the prevailing wind flow to the city, and the tall towers built in this area have blocked the movement and entry of the wind into the city of Tehran and do not allow natural ventilation.

On the other hand, the CEO of Tehran Air Quality Control Company at the time said that tall buildings affect the surrounding areas and change the wind pattern, including wind speed and intensity, but these effects are in the area around the buildings and the claim that the buildings cause air pollution It can be an unscientific claim and it can be said with certainty that high-rise buildings have nothing to do with Tehran’s pollution issue.

Controversies about the impact of high-rise buildings on air pollution intensified at this time; As the president of the time said about this: “The government wants the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Supreme Council of Urban Development to monitor high-rise construction in some urban areas. “There should be a solution for towers and high-rise buildings, especially those located in the air movement corridor, and at least from now on they should be prevented from being built in such areas.”

Reduction of wind speed due to tower construction in the region 22

These discussions led to more studies in this regard in the country. Of course, before this, global studies have proven that tall buildings cause an increase in air pollution in big cities due to changes in the wind and its direction.

Ali Nuzarpour, the former mayor of the 22nd district of Tehran, has spoken about the results of the research that the Tehran Municipality gave to the Faculty of Geography of the University of Tehran on the topic of “research, evaluation and simulation of the effects of physical development in the 22nd district of Tehran, emphasizing the speed of winds passing through the region and providing solutions to increase Climatic comfort” had ordered.

Among these results is that “simultaneous processing of wind speed data of input and output stations located inside the region and outside of it shows the speed difference between them.” And also “the effect of urban mass and constructions on reducing wind speed is more evident in moderate and strong winds (more than 5.5 meters per second).”

Finally, he says that high-rise construction in Tehran’s 22nd district has reduced the wind speed at the entrance and exit of the area; But this issue should not be considered the main and ultimate cause of Tehran’s air pollution.

Air pollution in Mashhad and Isfahan and its relationship with high-rise buildings

In addition to Tehran, this issue has also been raised in other metropolises and big cities of the country. At the same time, the director general of environment of Khorasan Razavi said in the meeting of Mashhad’s environmental challenges that the presence of tall buildings causes the death of the winds, and more detailed studies should be done on the location and technical characteristics of these buildings so that their construction is a disturbance in the environmental process. Don’t have a city.

Or the head of the Urban Services, Health, Health and Environment Commission of the Mashhad City Council, who said: “Based on the studies conducted, the direction of the winds in Mashhad is from the southeast to the northwest, so no actions should be taken to change this process.” to give.”

He said: “It seems that the reason for the occurrence of some problems in this area, including the construction of high-rise structures in the direction of these winds, should be sought in the urban planning plans of a few decades ago; Because at that time, during the compilation of the relevant plans, for various reasons, technical information related to the role of tall buildings in air movement was not seen.

Regarding the city of Isfahan, the issue of building high-rises and its connection with the city’s polluted air has been discussed, as last year Navid Haji Babaei, deputy director of development and forecasting of the General Directorate of Meteorology of Isfahan province, said: “Given that the city of Isfahan is located in a region which mainly has limited wind conditions and in addition to rains, wind and atmospheric currents are also weak, high-rise buildings can definitely have a negative effect and cause the wind to be less than its usual state and Heat islands and temperature minima increase more than their long-term.”

Preventing Tehran from breathing by granting permission for high-rise construction

According to the many scientific evidences and studies conducted in this field, there is no room for debate that the density of sales and the construction of tall towers in the country’s metropolises, along with neglecting the proper placement of high-rise buildings in different areas of the cities, lead to many environmental problems such as severe air pollution in the metropolises. has been

In the same context, Mohammad Manan Raisi, head of Tehran Municipality’s Planning and Studies Center, believes that when we legalize the construction of high-rises and give this permission that it is possible to build towers in the north, south, east, west and center of the capital, it means a natural windfall. We influence the city of Tehran.

Manan Raisi says: “In the last 50 years, some respiratory corridors of Tehran have been completely blocked; The north-south axis of Tehran used to be the main axis of Golbad, the capital, but now this axis is blocked due to high-rise construction in area one, which has blocked the wind channel from north to south of Tehran and caused extensive environmental damage.

Increasing damages of air pollution with unprincipled urban development

Although polluting particles are produced and released in the air throughout the year; But these particles will not be able to move in the winter due to the temperature inversion and the calming of the atmosphere, and their concentration increases by being trapped in the air of the surface of the cities.

In fact, it is the high concentration of pollutants and their condensation that causes air pollution, for this reason, high-rise construction that prevents the movement of wind and air movement greatly increases air pollution in big cities.

Currently, air pollution has caused a lot of damage to the country, including the death of thousands of people and billions of dollars in economic damage. And the resulting social problems will be a natural thing that will not be avoided in the future.

Therefore, the Supreme Council of Urban Development is expected to learn from the problems that have arisen due to high-rise construction in the past.

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