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Title:	Urban air environmental health indicators for Malaysian cities : a case of Kuala Lumpur
Authors:	Oliver Ling Hoon Leh (P41799)
Supervisor:	Shaharuddin Ahmad, Prof. Dato' Dr.
Keywords:	Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Malaysia Air quality -- Malaysia City planning -- Environmental aspects Sustainable urban development Urban pollution -- Malaysia
Issue Date:	1-Jan-2012
Description:	Urbanisation is potentially affecting the quality of the environment and human health. One of the major effects of environmental degradation in urban areas is air quality. Scientific evidence and research findings show that air pollutants do have a negative impact on human health. People with pre-existing cardiovascular or respiratory diseases, the elderly, and young children are more susceptible to air pollutants. The conceptual framework of the study was obtained from the cause and effect relationships between human activities/urbanisation, air quality and human health. The aims of the study are (1) to define urban air environmental health and formulate the indicators; (2) to examine the air environmental health level of Kuala Lumpur; (3) to refine and propose urban air environmental health indicators for Kuala Lumpur; and (4) to analyse and identify the implication of the findings in relation to the planning policies of Kuala Lumpur. In this study, air environmental health is defined operationally as a combination of 'air quality' and 'air-related health' indicators. A preliminary set of indicators was formulated and used in Kuala Lumpur before they were refined at the end of the study. Ambient air quality data was gathered through a field survey as well as from secondary sources. Additionally, a questionnaire survey was carried out to identify the socio-economic background of the respondents and their air-related health conditions. Household members of 563 units of house were chosen as respondents using a stratified random sampling technique. The results showed that Kuala Lumpur had a 'moderate level' of air quality with one zone considered as unhealthy, four as moderate, and one as a zone with good air quality. The number of unhealthy/hazardous air quality days was positively related to temporal urban land use, population and traffic volume data. Acute respiratory infection and asthma cases were found to be higher in more developed or in higher density zones as compared to other zones. Besides, cases of health problems showed a significant correlation to the exposure to polluted air experienced by the respondents. The findings reconfirmed the relationship between urbanisation/land uses, air quality and health. The implications on city planning polices were identified, with proposals for smart growth strategies for Kuala Lumpur. The preliminary indicators were refined and proposed for Malaysian cities.,Certification of Master's / Doctoral Thesis" is not available
Pages:	289
Call Number:	HT243.M4L537 2012 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

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