Common pollutants present in cities, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), can cause a variety of adverse human health outcomes. Urban form (e.g., land cover and its spatial patterns) is a crucial factor contributing to air quality. There have been efforts investigating the effects of urban form on air quality. However, urban form is typically quantified at coarse resolution (e.g., 30 m) that is too broad to capture the spatial patterns of land cover in highly heterogeneous urban environments. Moreover, most of the efforts are limited to one single or only a few cities, leading to inconsistent or even contradictory findings among the studies. This project proposes utilizing 1-m resolution land cover maps to accurately capture fine-scale urban patterns in 22 major cities across the U.S., investigate their relationship with NO2, and analyze the relationship variation across seasons and urban neighborhoods over diverse geographic regions in the country. The study bridges a gap in understanding the effects of highly heterogeneous urban land cover and its spatial patterns on air quality and can help urban planners and practitioners make informed decisions in the development of smart and sustainable cities.
