Public Acceptability of Low Emission Zones: The Case of “Madrid Central”

Cities have intensified the adoption of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) to improve urban livability. Despite the high social controversy caused by LEZs in many cities, the scientific literature has paid little attention to study their public acceptability. This paper conducts a modelling approach explorin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-01, Vol.13 (6), p.3251
Main Authors: Tarriño-Ortiz, Javier, Soria-Lara, Julio A., Gómez, Juan, Vassallo, José Manuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceptability
Air pollution
Case studies
Cities
Demographic variables
Demographics
Demography
Emissions
Environmental awareness
Environmental impact
Literature reviews
Logit models
Metropolitan areas
Mobility
Outdoor air quality
Pollutants
Socioeconomics
Vehicles
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Summary:Cities have intensified the adoption of Low Emission Zones (LEZs) to improve urban livability. Despite the high social controversy caused by LEZs in many cities, the scientific literature has paid little attention to study their public acceptability. This paper conducts a modelling approach exploring the impact of four groups of variables on the public acceptability of LEZs: (i) socio-economic and demographic characteristics; (ii) personal attitudes; (iii) travel-related variables; and (iv) perceptions and mobility habits linked to LEZs. The city of Madrid, Spain, is a case study of great interest because a LEZ called “Madrid Central” has been recently implemented. A total of 799 individual questionnaires were used to calibrate an ordered logit model. Results indicate that socio-economic and demographic variables are weakly related to the level of public acceptability towards the LEZ. On the contrary, the political ideology of individuals, their environmental awareness, their primary transport mode, the use of shared mobility systems, and the frequency of access to “Madrid Central” have a higher explanatory power. The results may be useful for policy-makers to understand the factors that increase the public acceptability of LEZs.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su13063251