Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 13(6), pp. 4613 - 4639
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130634
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Modeling the Impact of Green Infrastructure and Wind Flow on Heavy Traffic-Related PM_2.5 Dispersion in New Cairo-Government Housing Areas

Shaimaa Ahmed Omar Mansour ^1,2,*, Alaa Mohamed Shams Eldein Eleshy ², Ahmed El-Tantawy El-Maidawy ^2
1 Department of Architecture, Mansoura Higher Institute of Engineering and Technology, Egypt
² Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Exposure to PM_2.5 particulate matter associated with heavy traffic poses serious short and long-term threats to human health. While green infrastructure (GI) has been widely demonstrated to improve urban air quality, limited studies have investigated the effect of combined GI configurations on PM_2.5 dispersion in densely populated cities. This study evaluates the impact of different GI configurations on traffic-related PM_2.5 dispersion, and determines the most effective designs in reducing particle concentrations in Egypt's government housing areas. ENVI-met model is used for simulating a government housing area in Katameya, New Cairo as a case study. After validating the model's performance via field measurements, the effect of different individual GI scenarios on PM_2.5 levels was assessed for three simple sectors. Results compared with the base case indicate that at pedestrian level, green walls (GW) with 25% to 75% coverage are effective at reducing PM_2.5 concentrations by 14.2% to 15%; green roofs have a slight impact of 3.7% to 5.5 %; and hedges of 2.7% to 12%. Housing unit design, in terms of its length-to-width ratio and facade profile, impacted airflow, wind speed, and, consequently, particle distribution. While the combined GI model's simulation resulted in a reduction in PM_2.5 concentrations within canyons, at pedestrian height by 5.2% for (green roof + green wall), by 2.1% for (green roof + Trees + Hedges), by 1.9% for (green roof + green wall + Hedges), and by 0.7% for (green roof + Trees) to BC scenario.

KEYWORDS
Green Infrastructure, Government Housing, Katameya-New Cairo, PM_2.5 Concentrations, Wind Flow, ENVI-met Simulation

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Shaimaa Ahmed Omar Mansour , Alaa Mohamed Shams Eldein Eleshy , Ahmed El-Tantawy El-Maidawy , "Modeling the Impact of Green Infrastructure and Wind Flow on Heavy Traffic-Related PM_2.5 Dispersion in New Cairo-Government Housing Areas," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 4613 - 4639, 2025. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130634.

(b). APA Format:
Shaimaa Ahmed Omar Mansour , Alaa Mohamed Shams Eldein Eleshy , Ahmed El-Tantawy El-Maidawy (2025). Modeling the Impact of Green Infrastructure and Wind Flow on Heavy Traffic-Related PM_2.5 Dispersion in New Cairo-Government Housing Areas. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 13(6), 4613 - 4639. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130634.