Integrated assessment

The integrated index of urban environment was assessed for

VIII. Integrated assessment of the state of urban environment (example of Minsk)

situation the following scale was used: < 2.0 – favourable (I); 2.0–2.5 – quite favourable (II); 2.5–3 – rather adverse (III); 3.0–3.5 – adverse (IV); > 3.5 – the most adverse (V).

Figure 40: Ecological situation of the territory of Minsk: 1. favourable, 2. rather favourable, 3. rather adverse, 4. adverse, 5. the most adverse

Source: calculation of the authors

The results have shown that the most adverse ecological situation characterizes 13 functional zones located in the southeast part of the city. In total, the share of zones with the most adverse situation is 5.2 percent of the total urban area. Predominantly these are industrial zones, though there are also residential as well as landscape–recreational zones among them.

An adverse ecological situation has evolved in the central part of Minsk. This territory consists of 25 functional zones, including 9 industrial, 6 residential, 4 landscape–recreational and 5 public zones, plus 1 special purpose zone. The total urban area with an adverse ecological situation occupies 7.6 percent of the city territory.

Among the residential zones where the ecological situation is considered to be adverse, it is necessary to mention one zone which is practically surrounded from all sides by considerable emission sources (bus and railway stations in the north, the airport and aircraft repair factory in the south, and a freight yard and car-repair factory in the west).

Relatively adverse ecological situation has been observed in 27 urban planning districts, including 10 residential, 6 landscape–

recreational, 2 public and 9 industrial zones. The majority of them are next to zones belonging to the adverse or the most adverse category.

Within the city of Minsk, 12.6 percent of the total city area belongs to the rather adverse ecological category.

85 functional zones belong to the quite favourable ecological category, including 36 inhabited, 23 landscape–recreational, 10 public, 12 industrial and 4 special territories. They occupy about 32 percent of the total urban area.

An optimum ecological situation characterizes the city outskirts in its western, northwestern and southwestern parts. There are 87 functional zones occupying 43 percent of the total area of the city within its perspective borders.

For Minsk as a whole, within its perspective borders in 58 percent of the area of residential zones the ecological situation is estimated as favourable, in 25 percent it is quite favourable, in 9 percent rather adverse, in 5 percent adverse and in 3 percent of the area it is the most adverse. Among the landscape–recreational zones the most adverse and adverse situation characterizes 2 percent of the area of the city, while quite adverse situation prevails in 12 percent of the total city area. The zones with favourable and quite favourable situation are predominant, constituting 37 percent and 49 percent of the city area respectively.

The analysis has shown that about 80 thousand people live in zones belonging to the most adverse category, which accounts for 4.5 percent of the total population of Minsk within the borders of

VIII. Integrated assessment of the state of urban environment (example of Minsk)

VIII.4. Conclusion

For the first time for a large city of Belarus (by the example of Minsk) a series of large-scale maps which describe the state of an ambient air, soils, waters and vegetation using integrated indices by functional areas was prepared. It showed that the application of functional areas for the state of urban environment mapping is a perspective methodological approach, as it allows to describe the ecological situation in a city by comparatively homogenous areas and the share of population which suffer several unfavourable impacts.

The obtained spatially differentiated integrated assessment of the urban environment, taking into account natural and technogenic factors of its formation, has served as a basis for urban planning, technical, technological and organizational actions aimed at the realization of planning decisions and ecological regulations according to the General Plan of Minsk City and the development of priority actions for the optimization of the environment in zones belonging to the most adverse ecological category.

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IX. Ecological frame of environmental