Exploring the relationship between children's use of everyday places and outdoor particulate matter in heating season: The case of Ankara

Date

2025-8-29

Author

Güler, Aydan

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Children's everyday places have changed significantly with urbanization, restricting them to their homes, schools, and nearby parks. Air pollution, as another outcome of urbanization, is one of the most significant environmental problems. Due to their developmental stage and higher air intake compared to adults, children are highly vulnerable to polluted air. Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most dangerous air pollutants that is known to affect children’s health negatively. This study examines the relationship between the duration of children’s presence in different places and PM2.5 / PM10 concentrations. It analyzes how micro-scale features influence these concentrations in parks. The research was conducted during the heating season in seven neighborhoods of Ankara with 1,073 participants aged 9–14. Children completed one-week activity diaries to record visited places and duration. PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were measured in the places where children spent the most time. Two datasets were combined for investigating the relationships between children’s place use and outdoor air pollution. In the next stage, among the parks most used by children, those with the highest and lowest PM concentrations were selected, and the relationships between identified micro-scale physical features and PM values were examined. By integrating children’s activity diary data with PM measurements, this study provides a comprehensive dataset linking children’s use of places with air pollution exposure. Furthermore, it expands the scope of child-focused air quality research, which traditionally emphasized homes and schools, to include neighborhood environments and micro-scale design features.

Subject Keywords

Children, Particulate Matter (PM), Activity Diary, Park, Micro-scale

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116096

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis