Evaluating the level of public participation in reducing air pollution and socio-economic factors affecting it (Case study: Distract NO. 1 of Mashhad city)
Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran
2 Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
3 Department of Environmental Planning, Management and Education, School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran
Abstract
Air pollution is mainly the result of urbanization and industrialization, which is more effective with the development of cities and their transformation into metropolises. This phenomenon has caused many problems for health of humans living in these cities. Increasing people's participation in solving environmental issues in general and air pollution in particular requires understanding people’s attitudes of people, as the most important target group affected by the consequences of air pollution. The present study was conducted based on a social survey with the aim of assessing the level of participation of Mashhad citizens in reducing air pollution and identifying underlying factors affecting their participation in region one of Mashhad. The results showed that citizens' awareness of the consequences of air pollution was significantly higher than average. Citizens' participation and interaction in reducing air pollution was significantly higher than average and the most cooperation was related to separating reusable materials and on-site purchase with a frequency of 33.9%. Among the factors evaluated, only two indicators, awareness of the consequences of air pollution and education, have had the greatest impact on participation in reducing air pollution. There was no significant relationship between other demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, monthly income, number of household members, etc. with the level of participation in reducing air pollution. Findings show that citizen participation in reducing air pollution requires public education, improving infrastructure and selecting proper policies.
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