UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies

In this piece, we considered the effect of different building configurations on the concentrations of traffic-related or other pollution. For this study, we used a numerical model capable of reproducing the very complex airflows at small scales in urban areas (the Quick Urban and Industrial Complex model, QUIC). We then validated the model’s data against an extensive field dataset collected in an earlier study. Drawing from this dataset, we explored the value of open space interspersed with tall buildings, and of clustering buildings instead of spacing them evenly in dense urban areas.