Progress with air quality management in the 60 years since the UK clean air act, 1956. Lessons, failures, challenges and opportunities

Longhurst, J. W.S.; Chatterton, T. J.; Hayes, E. T.; Williams, W. B.; Longhurst, James; Chatterton, Tim; Hayes, Enda T; Williams, Ben; Barnes, J. H.

Abstract

© 2016 WIT Press, www.witpress.com. This paper explores the challenges, opportunities and progress made with managing air quality since the United Kingdom parliament passed the Clean Air Act, 1956. It seeks to identify the factors contributing to successful management of air quality and the factors that have acted, or continue to do so, as barriers to progress. The public health catastrophe of the 1952 London Smog created the political momentum for the 1956 Act to be passed. The nature of the contemporary air pollution challenge is reviewed in terms of the public health burden, the economic cost and the governmental response. The contemporary response is considered inadequate for the scale and intensity of the problem.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 30, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 26, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 14, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning
• Print ISSN: 1743-7601
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-761X
• Publisher: WIT Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 491-499
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2495/SDP-V11-N4-491-499
• Keywords: air pollution, air quality management, public health, policy, regulation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/920881
• Publisher URL: http://www.witpress.com/elibrary/sdp-volumes/11/4/1325
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is the accepted version of an article in International Journal of Sustainable Development & Planning. The final version is available online at http://www.witpress.com/elibrary/sdp-volumes/11/4/1325
• Contract Date: Sep 26, 2016