Planning Structure As A Road Traffic Pollution Differentiation Factor: A Case Study Of Nur-Sultan

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of spatial differentiation of road transport pollution due to the planning structure changes in the new capital of Kazakhstan. The purpose of the work is to study territorial differences in from vehicles Nur-Sultan from vehicles and to identify the role of embodied planning measures among the main factors of its differentiation. The research methodology included the analysis of 1) the city functions and planning structure transformation as well as the buildings and road network density and concentration; 2) traffic speed and intensity, emissions and their distribution areas for each street.The analysis showed that since 1997, when Nur-Sultan received the capital status, it has grown 3 times in the area, 3.5 times in population, and 6 times in the level of motorization. However, the volume of traffic emissions in the city increased only 2 times, largely due to the development of the planning structure and configuration of the road network. The development of a second center in the new part of the city along with the decrease in the barrier function of the river and transport transit because of the faster construction of transport infrastructure led to an increase in the density of the road network by more than 2 times while reducing the density of emissions in the city center by 2.25 times. For the rest of the territory, despite different growth rates in the road network density, the density of emissions steadily decreases from the center to the periphery. However, several locations with a high level of pollution are still present in the middle part, while on the outskirts of the city there are blocks of estate-type houses with low-quality roads, which hinder the development of public transport.