Location and history
The largest city in the Netherlands,
Amsterdam is a world famous city
with a population of 850,000 and
over 3.5 million visitors every year.
Amsterdam is well-known for its
bicycles, with nearly 60% of the
population cycling daily. This wasn’t
always the case though: until the
1970s the city was car dominated,
and it was only through a public
campaign about child road deaths
that investment in bike
infrastructure began. Now, the city
has more bikes than residents and
over 760km of bike lanes.
Hello Amsterdam
Our final partner area is Amsterdam in the
Netherlands. Famous for bicycles, there is more to
Amsterdam’s air quality than meets the eye.
Carbon footprint Air quality
Despite an increasing population,
Amsterdam has managed to
maintain its CO 2 emissions which is
good news for the expanding urban
area. In recent years, using natural
gas for heating has become a
political topic with the city aiming to
go “gas-free” in buildings by 2050. Amsterdam’s air quality is affected
by regional and international
sources as well as local hotspots
around transport. The city breaches
EU guidelines for the annual mean
average for nitrogen dioxide in
several locations, especially near
big roads. The Particulate Matter
situation is better, with all areas in
the city staying below legal limits.
As well as road transport, large
ships at Amsterdam’s port have an
impact on air quality.
For more information about
Amsterdam’s air quality and
actions, see our Policy Baseline
Report www.claircity.eu/reports
Pollution as social injustice
Alongside being showcased by the
World Health Organisation as part
of their “health equity” focus,
colleagues from the ClairCity
project have been highlighting how
poverty intersects with air
pollution.
Recent research from UWE Bristol
has shown the unfair distribution of
air pollution. In the UK, wealthier
people are producing more
transport-related air pollution than
poorer citizens, but poorer people
are more likely to live in areas with
worse pollution. However, the
social injustice goes further.
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At an EU level, Dr Jo Barnes and
Dr Laura De Vito from UWE Bristol
contributed to an European
Environment Agency report looking
at the links between socioeconomic
status and both air and noise
pollution. The report, produced by
UWE Bristol, Trinomics, Barcelona
University and RIVM, found that
not only are poorer communities
likely to live with worse air and
noise pollution, they are also more
likely to suffer because of it.
People from poorer areas are more
likely to have health problems
related to air (or noise) pollution
than wealthier people experiencing
the same level of pollution. It is
not clear whether this is because
people from lower socioeconomic
backgrounds are more sensitive
(e.g. higher rates of underlying
health conditions, higher stress
levels) or because more affluent
citizens can protect themselves
(e.g. better healthcare,
employment that exposes them to
less pollution).