I take the dog outside for a walk in the morning. Stepping out the door, I am greeted by a row of cars. With its cosy (heritage-protected) buildings and lots of (protected) greenery, my home street could be considered exemplary for its human scale. In reality, though, it is a transit route. The rows of vehicles that appear here every morning and evening are very much down to the life choices of the parents whose children attend one of the two local kindergartens.
It is 13 degrees outside. And yet, when some of the cars start moving, I hear the clacking sound of studded tyres. I head on to cross a traffic artery where the noise level is well over 75dB due to a constant flow of cars. After waiting for an eternity for my green light, I notice that a large linden tree across the street is about to succumb to the situation. In the last year, two of its large main branches had withered. Now, the tree has shed its leaves earlier than its adjacent conspecifics. Will it find the strength to return the next spring?
In addition to being home to trees, cities or urban environments are also home to 70% of the Estonian population—are these people not entitled to clean air as a human right?
What is spoiling the air?
Ambient air quality is particularly important for (urban) children, as their respiratory tract, brain, and immune system are still developing. Air quality is a major factor in determining their physical and mental health for the rest of their lives. The clean air necessary for a good growing environment means less pollution and less noise.
In a year, Estonia’s average greenhouse gas emissions per capita have gone up from 13.39 tons to 14.29 tons.1
The worst polluter in Estonia is the oil shale industry in Ida-Viru County. This also shows in the health data of the region—the county has higher respiratory disease rates than the Estonian average. Air pollution contributes to the development of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
In an urban environment, the main polluters are generally the transportation and construction sectors. The contribution of the construction sector is not easily noticed by a layperson, for the air-polluting and noisy cars are closer to one’s body. The nanoparticles in polluted air (e.g., the 10–20 nm3 particles emitted by a car engine) are so tiny that they can reach the brain through the bloodstream or olfactory nerve, increasing the risk of depression and anxiety while reducing intelligence and learning ability.2
According to the 2022 noise map of Tallinn, 12% of the city’s population lives in conditions where even indoor life is accompanied by traffic noise that exceeds the critical level of 55 dB. Traffic noise affects the efficiency of working people (and hence the whole economy), as constant environmental noise leads to stress and sleep disorders. In a noisy environment, our bodies constantly feel at risk—this can overload the organism and chronic diseases can ensue.
A space for children or a space for cars?
Based on the reduced traffic load during school breaks, it can be safely assumed that well over a quarter of road users are parents transporting their children. A vicious circle has developed—traffic makes the roads unsafe, so parents chauffeur their children everywhere. At the same time, the parent who brings the child to kindergarten or school by car degrades the quality of the environment where the child spends most of their day. Childcare and educational institutions surrounded by noise that exceeds the 70 dB level are located mainly in the centre of Tallinn or adjacent to traffic arteries.3
To steer the parents toward making better choices, the space needs to offer these choices in the first place and encourage them to use them. Spatial designers should be able to create spaces that are healthy and supportive for the user. Around the world, there are many examples of high-impact solutions that have been developed in collaboration with the public sector. For instance, there is the School Street Initiative4 in the UK, which consists in restricting vehicle traffic on streets around childcare facilities. Thanks to the implementation of this system, air pollution has decreased and children’s movement habits have improved—they travel more on foot and by bicycle, and this physical mobility supports their mental health. Furthermore, the spaces are safer and there are fewer traffic accidents. The parents grant more independence to the children, which also teaches them to notice their surroundings and navigate the urban space better. The street becomes a so-called third space—a social space for spending time outside school hours, thus providing more opportunities to strengthen social ties.
In Helsinki, where cycling infrastructure has been vigorously developed since 2020, the proportion of children among cyclists grew dramatically after this infrastructure was consolidated around schools and kindergartens. Health surveys confirm that in just four years, there has been a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease and body mass index, as well as an increase in overall physical activity among all cyclists.
Creating a general pedestrian-friendly space is also the focus of the Barcelona Superblock concept. By limiting transit traffic and reducing speeds, people have reclaimed the space from cars. Everyday mobility is covered by developing public transport and expanding the cycling infrastructure. A more spacious, cleaner and quieter street space for walking, playing, and just being enhances community spirit and promotes the locals’ health by reducing mental stress. More human-scale urban space in the city centre with cleaner air also curbs urban sprawl and the commuting that comes with it.
Traffic noise affects the efficiency of working people (and hence the whole economy), as constant environmental noise leads to stress and sleep disorders.
Vital greenery
Important tools for improving the air quality include plants and landscaping. In addition to the direct physical effects of greenery—plants produce oxygen, trap dust particles, regulate air temperature and humidity, and provide shelter from the hot sun or rain—humans benefit from it also through their other senses. Access to green spaces improves physical health and increases happiness, regardless of the socio-economic status of the citizen.5 Even a lone tree seen from the window can reduce stress and generate feelings of happiness—in fact, there are population groups whose quality of life is greatly influenced by the presence of such a tree. In an ageing society with many unrenovated apartment buildings, there is a growing number of people who are locked in their homes due to living on upper floors with no lift access.
We also should not ignore people with special needs. People who have lost one of their senses often compensate with an increased sensitivity of other senses. Thus, a blind person might perceive the smells or urban noise much more acutely. According to the statistics, 51.9% of people with disabilities do not go out to nature.6 But greenery and fresh air should be a natural part of everyday life rather than something that can be experienced only on a weekend getaway from the city. This holds true even if it can be seen and felt only through a window.
Lines of trees have their place in the city—in certain sections, rows of exemplary same-aged trees rising from the pavement are aesthetically and practically the best choice. But there should also be more places for more interesting landscaping, designed as a set—trees, shrubs, grasses. In this way, they can form a biotic community where trees provide shade while the roots of shrubs and grasses ensure better moisture and air conditions. Insects and butterflies would have a more diverse menu that would last longer each season, and there would be more space for soil life. More diverse landscaping significantly enhances the walkability of the street. The colours and shapes of the greenery offer views that captivate already from a distance, the route itself feels shorter and more interesting, the flowers and berries allow for nature observation, the scents provide a sensory experience—such an environment is sure to be more pleasing to a child walking home from the kindergarten with a parent. Furthermore, shrubbery creates a good visual boundary between the road and the pavement that also acts as a barrier for noise and pollution.
More human-scale urban space in the city centre with cleaner air also curbs urban sprawl and the commuting that comes with it.
Uninterrupted networks and plant health
From the viewpoint of nature and biodiversity, urban greenery should be as uninterrupted as the pipelines for water or heating. A connected green network ensures better health for plants and soil life. Healthier plants are also more resistant to diseases and pests, which are unfortunately on the rise due to climate change, especially with the rising temperature, and increasing CO2 emissions. If green areas feature different species, there is a greater chance that less than the entire area or park will be affected when a disease occurs. Ash dieback and Dutch elm disease have occurred in several places around Estonia.
Just as with children, changing growing conditions mean that young greenery needs to be given a better starting position. An urban tree planted in the middle of the last century spent its ‘childhood’ in different conditions than those planted today. Increasingly high temperatures and a changed water regime in covered areas are causing additional stress also to already existing greenery. Due to the falling groundwater level, natural ecosystems will be destroyed, water supplies will be depleted, clean drinking water will become less available, and the ground will sink, causing damage to buildings. Every new traffic route or underground car park lowers the groundwater level so much that 60–70-year old trees might wither in a few years. An overabundance of covered areas stops the rainwater from seeping into the ground, while torrential rains that cause flooding are becoming only more frequent. Although plants would not mind if the CO2 content in the air would be higher (more food!), other changing conditions are not conducive to a good and healthy life. For example, when there are a lot of dust particles in the air (which are also generated by electric cars), they begin to clog the stomata of leaves.
Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki developed a method for restoring mature natural forests that has also been applied in urban areas. With this method, plants are provided with excellent soil conditions and food for many years. Dense planting causes them to grow taller and extend their roots deeper. This method of planting provides more greenery in a shorter time. In this way, plants become independent faster, just like a child growing up in a safe environment, and later on, there is no need for excessive care such as watering or fertilising.
From the viewpoint of nature and biodiversity, urban greenery should be as uninterrupted as the pipelines for water and heating.
Today’s choice, tomorrow’s impact
An architect can see the end result of their work immediately when a building is completed, whereas in (urban) landscape architecture, the waiting period is longer. The impact of trees planted in urban spaces today can be felt only years, if not decades, later. If it is decided today to plant a narrow-crowned aspen instead of a wide-crowned oak with a dense wood mass, then this also means that in 30 years’ time, this tree will absorb only 10 kg of CO2 instead of 40 kg in the urban space. By deciding on the species of the tree, we also decide whether the tree will in the future provide shade for third and fourth-floor residents during heatwaves, or whether it is simply nice to look at for one week in the spring, or whether you can find shelter under it during a drizzle.
Air quality and health are so closely linked that we must not fail to act. Breaking out of the vicious circle to improve the quality of the urban environment does not depend only on big and small political decisions of the state or the municipality, but also on the contribution of each and every local citizen. Will cities have the courage to take the necessary steps in the interest of children’s health, at the very least by lowering the speed limits near childcare facilities and expanding car-free zones, or by creating green buffer zones? Or will the individual decide to leave the car at home on some days and rather cycle, walk, talk, discuss, observe, encounter others, and cultivate a sense of place in oneself? Could a developer dedicate themselves to, say, building a façade with 400,000 plants that would capture eight tons of CO2 emissions and produce six tons of oxygen in a year merely out of love? Or should the new taxes that are being introduced right now also include a rainwater tax that would be reduced based on how much soft landscaping is included in the design?
LIINA-KAI RAIVET is a designer and landscape architect, who considers high-quality space a necessary condition for our improvement—as individuals, as communities, and as parts of nature.
FROM THE TITLE: pun on the Estonian idiom ‘paljast õhust ja armastusest elama’, literally ‘to live
on mere air and love’, which means surviving with meagre means of subsistence.—Trans.
PHOTOS by Liina-Kai Raivet
PUBLISHED: MAJA 4-2024 (118) with main topic AIR
1 Statistics Estonia, www.stat.ee
2 According to the 2018 survey of Health Behaviour among School-aged Children (HBSC) in Estonia, mental health-related complaints have become more frequent among Estonian youth compared to the year 2014. Students more frequently suffer from headaches, depression and sadness, irritability and bad moods, sleep disorders and nervousness. Of the 11- to 15-year-old youths who participated in the HBSC survey, depression symptoms were present in 26% of boys and 40% of girls. The symptoms became more frequent with increasing age.
3 The Estonian Health Board, https://www.terviseamet.ee
4 School Streets Initiative, https://schoolstreets.org.uk
5 Matthias Braubach et al., ‘Effects of Urban Green Space on Environmental Health, Equity and Resilience’, in Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas, ed. Nadja Kabisch et al. (SpringerOpen, 2017), pp. 187–205.
6 According to a survey conducted in 2009–2010, people with disabilities make up 8.9% of the population of Estonia. 51.9% of them did not go out to nature even once.
