Regional collaborative urban air quality management: Case studies across Great Britain N.K. Woodfield a, * , J.W.S. Longhurst a , C.I. Beattie a , T. Chatterton a , D.P.H. Laxen b a Air Quality Research Group, Faculty of Applied Science, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK b Air Quality Consultants Ltd., 12 St. Oswalds Road, Bristol BS6 7HT, UK Received 27 July 2003; received in revised form 12 May 2004; accepted 14 May 2004 Available online 15 July 2005 Abstract Almost a third of local authorities across Great Britain have declared air quality management areas (AQMAs), which are the focus of concerted actions to reduce unacceptably high concentrations of prescribed air pollutants by a date specified in regulations. Local government has been provided with guidance from central governments on the use of modelling and monitoring tools, as part of a local air quality review and assessment process. Use of the various tools and the interpretation of the findings have not been consistent across Great Britain. As a result, AQMAs are neither uniform in shape nor in the decision-making processes leading to their declaration. Local authorities have collaborated in many parts of the country, using working groups to share experiences and resources. This paper examines groupings from three regions of Great Britain; London, the West Midlands and the former-Avon area of Southwest England. An examination of the methods and tools used collaboratively has illustrated variation in local air quality management decision-making and AQMA designation. This has implications for delivering the necessary improvements to achieve the UK’s national air quality objectives. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Air Quality Management Areas; Decision-making; Modelling; Collaboration 1. Introduction Across Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) 130 of the 403 local authorities have identified pollution hot spots where members of the public may be at risk in future from elevated concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulates (PM 10 ) or sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ). To arrive at this position, local government has undertaken a rigorous scientific assessment over recent years, using complex modelling and monitoring tools to locate specific locations where national air quality objectives may be at risk (Beattie et al., 2001; Woodfield et al., 2001; Marsden and Bell, 2001). Where such hot spots exist, local authorities must designate air quality management areas (AQMAs), for which an air quality action plan must be derived and implemented so as to work towards achieving the health- based air quality objectives (DETR et al., 2000a). All declared AQMAs can be reviewed at http://laburnum. aeat.co.uk/archive/laqm/laqm.php. Air quality stand- ards, as benchmarks for setting the national air quality objectives, are set with regard to scientific and medical evidence on the effects of particular pollutants on health (and in the case of NO 2 and SO 2 for protecting vegetation and ecosystems also) (DETR et al., 2000a). * Corresponding author. Tel.: C44 117 344 2929. E-mail address: nicky.woodfield@uwe.ac.uk (N.K. Woodfield). 1364-8152/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2004.05.010 www.elsevier.com/locate/envsoft Environmental Modelling & Software 21 (2006) 595–599