Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Humanities

Second Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Zhang, Jing

Area of Concentration

Chinese Language and Culture and Environmental Studies

Abstract

Despite many studies on air pollution in Shanghai, little research has been done with the role that green spaces hold in providing both social and air pollution mitigating ecosystem services. In this paper, not only do I explore these ecosystem services, I also contextualize the economic, historical, political, and cultural factors that have created the environmental crisis in China and the air pollution problem in Shanghai. Using data analysis from AQI monitoring stations near green spaces and comparing it to the average AQI for each district, I am able to demonstrate in Shanghai’s Pudong, Chongming, and Fengxian Districts, areas near green spaces actually have healthier air quality overall. Furthermore, I also elaborate on the potential for pollution mitigation by relying on the community roles and ecological value that green spaces represent, especially in how resilience thinking and infrastructure improvements can be made to improve the effectiveness of these green spaces.

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