Urban air pollution is an increasing problem in cities in the developing world. There is weak institutional capacity to address the issue in an integrated manner. There is usually little in the way of an organized knowledge base or development or application of analytical tools that may help support decision making in this regard.

Presented here is a prototype of a simple tool for air quality management that could help in cities in the developing world with limited information and institutional capacity. It provides an integrated framework to begin to analyze, in an integrated manner, information about different pollutant sources distributed spatially, their effect on ambient levels, their impact on populations exposed, the resulting health impacts and different types of valuation of these impacts. A key element of this approach is the use of interactive and visual tools to illustrate the environmental and economic implications of various types of policy, economic, institutional and technical management options. Tools for optimization, simulation and senstitivity analysis have also been included to help assist in decision making and in determining the value of additional information.

More information, including Excel file and background paper, are available on CAI Global .

You may also visit: http://www.sim-air.org/

SIM Air Flyer

Simple Interactive Model for Air (SIM-Air)

The World Bank and CAI-Asia Center organized a training session on Simple Interactive Model for Air (SIM-AIR) last June 11 in Bangkok. Nineteen (19) participants from different Asian cities were able to experience hands-on training on the SIM-AIR tool.

The SIM-AIR is a Microsoft Excel-based program which aims to assist in the rapid assessment of the environmental, economic and health impacts of various air quality management options by making use of the best available information at hand.

The participants are encouraged to study the SIM-AIR tool further and estimate the impacts of various options towards improving air quality in their cities. Progress and challenges in using the tool shall be discussed during BAQ 2008. For more information about the SIM-AIR, please visit http://www.sim-air.org