Making Air Quality Count: Low-cost sensors, Public Health and Urban Planning

Abstract

Ambient air pollution is responsible for ~ 4.2 million premature deaths every year making it the world’s single largest environmental health risk. Although 90% of this burden is borne by countries in the Global South, effective air pollution governance and monitoring in many of these countries is lacking. As of 2019, 57 countries had no air quality standards and 108 countries did not have air pollution data in any form. This dissertation attempts to understand and address some of the factors that have resulted in these gaps in data and governance. Specifically, this work makes two main interventions: 1) Low-cost sensors and satellite instruments have immense potential to further our understanding of air pollution, especially in the Global South where little data is available. This thesis develops new methods to derive useful insights about air pollution levels and sources from these technologies. Throughout, it highlights inequalities in production and access to data and these technologies that need to be addressed. 2) Air pollution monitoring practices and governance are intertwined with data infrastructures, political economy conditions, and anticipation of political engagement. This thesis studies the gaps in the data infrastructures and political economy conditions that prevent air pollution science and data from leading to effective regulatory action in the Global South. It uses Kenya as a case study for this work.