How low‑emission zones create healthier, more child‑friendly cities

Author: Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children

Low-emission zones, combined with complementary urban design measures, can dramatically improve the health and well-being of children worldwide. This blog offers practical examples and policy recommendations to create healthier, more inclusive urban environments for all city dwellers.

What are low-emission zones (LEZs)?

LEZs are city districts where vehicles that do not meet specified emission standards are restricted, charged, or banned. Cities commonly use technologies like cameras and license plate recognition to enforce these regulations and often supplement restrictions with cleaner transportation options and improved cycling/walking infrastructure.¹

Source: https://transformative-mobility.org/low-emission-zones/

Why do we need LEZs in cities?

Most of the world’s children are now growing up in cities. Yet urban areas contain some of the highest concentrations of air pollutants. Much of it is from vehicle exhaust. Traffic emissions release harmful toxins such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and benzene. These are all linked to serious respiratory and developmental impacts in children.

The image below shows how children are especially vulnerable because their lungs are still developing and they spend more time outdoors. As a result, they face a higher risk of asthma, cognitive delays, and long‑term lung disease.² LEZs directly reduce traffic emissions, leading to cleaner air, healthier residents, and a safer urban environment.³

Source: European Environment Agency

How do LEZs improve cities for children?

Low-emission zones that limit polluting vehicles near schools, parks, and playgrounds significantly reduce children’s exposure to harmful toxins. But just implementing LEZs is not enough. They must be accompanied by complementary actions, such as traffic restrictions, child-responsive urban planning, greening, and safer walking and cycling routes, to make cities healthier and safer environments for children.⁴

How 5 cities are implementing LEZs and complementary child-friendly city measures

This section highlights inspiring examples from cities worldwide that have successfully implemented low-emission zones alongside child-focused urban measures. These cases demonstrate how strategic policies can create cleaner, safer, and more inclusive environments where children can thrive.

1.  Beijing

Beijing was once known worldwide for its thick smog and polluted skyline, often shrouded in haze that affected residents’ health and daily life. To tackle this, the city launched a low-emission zone in 2017 that banned older, polluting heavy-duty freight vehicles from its core urban areas. As the figure below shows, Beijing made significant progress between 2013 and 2023 in reducing PM2.5 air pollution levels.⁵

Source: Clearing the skies: how Beijing tackled air pollution & what lies ahead

Beyond vehicle restrictions, Beijing improved its public transport by adding more clean-energy buses, creating safer walking and cycling paths for families, especially near schools and hospitals, and offering incentives to replace dirty vehicles with cleaner electric models. Public education campaigns raised awareness of pollution risks and health impacts, boosting support for these changes. Together, these efforts have transformed Beijing’s air quality, making the city healthier and safer for all.⁵

2. Guadalajara

Guadalajara’s AIRE LEZ, launched in the historic city centre, restricts polluting cars, motorcycles, and light trucks from entering a 2 sq km zone filled with schools, playgrounds, and busy intersections. Instead, walking, cycling, and public transport are prioritised. Park expansions, pedestrianisation, accessible routes for people with disabilities, and added green spaces make the air cleaner and the neighbourhood more inclusive, safer and healthier for children and families.⁶

The results are impressive: greenhouse gas emissions along the corridor have dropped by up to 90%, with a projected annual reduction of 40,280 tonnes of CO₂. Road crashes declined by 53%, while residents in the area are expected to live almost half a year longer thanks to improved air. Families report better school attendance and fewer asthma cases among children.

3. London

London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is the largest clean air zone globally, covering all 32 boroughs and benefiting around 9 million residents. Strict vehicle emissions standards and charges for older, more polluting cars have driven a dramatic shift toward cleaner vehicles. Since its full expansion in August 2023, the ULEZ has significantly reduced pollution by cutting the number of non-compliant vehicles by 58% daily. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) emissions dropped by up to 27% citywide, with particulate matter emissions falling by 31% in outer London.⁷

London congestion charge and Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) signs © citytransportinfo

Complementing the ULEZ, London has introduced multiple targeted interventions around schools to further protect children’s health. Over 200 schools located in deprived areas with high pollution are receiving HEPA air filters, reducing indoor PM2.5 by up to 68%.

School Streets that close roads to traffic during drop-off and pick-up times, improve walking and cycling infrastructure, greening near school boundaries, and walk/cycle promotion programs all further improve air quality near schools, and nudge children to embrace healthy behaviours. These initiatives collectively reduce children’s exposure to harmful pollutants in both indoor and outdoor school environments, supporting better respiratory health and well-being.⁸

4. Milan

Milan operates one of Italy’s most stringent LEZs, known as the Area B zone, which restricts access to older, more polluting vehicles across much of the city. Through traffic restrictions, congestion charges, and promotion of electric vehicles and public transport, Milan’s LEZ has achieved substantial reductions in nitrogen oxides and particulate pollution levels.⁹ Milan also integrates LEZ policies with initiatives promoting walking, cycling, and zero-emission public transit to foster sustainable urban mobility and healthier environments for residents.

Milan’s Piazze Aperte initiative is a citywide tactical urbanism program that aims to reclaim and repurpose urban spaces, especially around schools, to reduce car traffic and promote sustainable mobility. Through pedestrianisation, expansion of public squares, and traffic-calming measures such as 30 km/h speed limits, Piazze Aperte reduces vehicle emissions near schools.

5. Paris

Paris has implemented a comprehensive low-emission zone (Zone à Faibles Émissions or ZFE) covering 77 municipalities. Introduced in stages since 2016, the zone has progressively tightened restrictions on older, higher-polluting vehicles, especially diesel cars.

Since Mayor Anne Hidalgo took office in 2014, she made transformative changes like removing thousands of parking spots, adding hundreds of bike lanes, and pedestrianising major roads, which have contributed to a further drop in air pollution. In the last 20 years, pollution levels have dropped by 50%.¹⁰ Additionally, child-focused initiatives like school streets and greening schoolyards are being scaled up city-wide to ensure children benefit from more walkable and greener living environments.

A pedestrianised school street in Paris © Scarabocchio, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Common Challenges and Social Impacts of LEZs

Low-emission zones have brought many benefits but also revealed some common challenges across cities. In London, Paris, and Guadalajara, low-income residents faced financial burdens due to the costs of upgrading vehicles or limited access to cleaner vehicles.¹¹  Milan struggled with high vehicle replacement costs for small businesses, while in Beijing, rapid changes made affordable vehicle access difficult for some groups.

Many cities, including Beijing and Paris, saw traffic congestion increase just outside LEZ boundaries as drivers rerouted, causing localized pollution concerns. Enforcement complexities and initial public resistance, including protests in London, were also common. Businesses in Paris and Milan feared customer loss near restricted zones, highlighting the need for balanced economic and environmental approaches.

Five Actionable Policy Recommendations

1. Proactively Engage Communities in Inclusive Planning: Engage residents, businesses, vulnerable groups, and children early, using workshops, surveys, and participatory consultations. This fosters trust and ensures policies reflect lived experiences and needs.
2. Design and Fund Equitable Financial Supports: Implement subsidies, scrappage schemes, and incentives aimed at easing costs for low-income families and small enterprises, ensuring no one is left behind in the transition to clean air.
3. Integrate LEZs with Child-Friendly Urban Design and Policies: Pair LEZ measures with greening projects, safe school zones, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, traffic calming, and open streets initiatives to create stimulating, healthy environments for active urban childhoods.
4. Ensure Transparent, Consistent, and Fair Enforcement: Establish clear, equitable rules with accessible penalties, easy payments, and appeal routes. Effective enforcement builds public confidence and compliance while minimising hardship.
5. Implement Robust Monitoring: Continuously assess environmental, social, and health impacts and adapt to mitigate issues like traffic displacement and hardships encountered by low-income residents and other vulnerable groups. Include checks on economic impacts to adjacent businesses to ensure they are not adversely affected.

By following these recommendations, cities can balance air quality improvements with social and spatial equity, ensuring that LEZs create healthier, happier environments, especially for children.

Endnotes

1. Behr H (2024) Low-emission zones: Managing air quality in cities » TUMI. In: TUMI. Available at: https://transformative-mobility.org/low-emission-zones/ (accessed 19 November 2025).
2. European Environment Agency (2023). Air Pollution and Children’s Health. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/air-pollution-and-childrens-health
3. International Council on Clean Transportation (2024). [ICCT Low Emission Zones]. Available at: https://theicct.org/
4. ICCT (2024). Enabling low-emission zones around schools. Available at: https://theicct.org/
5. Beijing Environmental Reports (2024). Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China; https://www.weforum.org/videos/beijingc-cut-air-pollution/
6. C40 Cities (2025). Guadalajara Air Quality Initiatives. Available at: https://www.c40.org/
7. Taylor M (2025) Dramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion. The Guardian, 7 March. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/07/london-air-pollution-down-since-ulez-expansion-study (accessed 19 November 2025).
8. More than 1,000 London schools have struck ‘Gold’ with TfL programme to increase walking and cycling (n.d.). Available at: https://tfl-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/more-than-1-000-london-schools-have-struck-gold-with-tfl-programme-to-increase-walking-and-cycling (accessed 19 November 2025).
9. ICCT (2024). Milan’s tactical urbanism case study.
10. Air pollution is falling in 2024 in Île-de-France, with still significant impacts on our health | Airparif (n.d.). Available at: https://www.airparif.fr/actualite/2025/la-pollution-de-lair-en-baisse-en-2024-en-ile-de-france-avec-encore-des-impacts (accessed 19 November 2025).
11. https://itdp.org/publication/sta-2023-spotlight-paris-france/

About the Author 

This blog was written by Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children. Many thanks to Constant Cap from the United Nations Environment Program for reviewing earlier versions of this blog and providing valuable suggestions. 

The Ideas for Action Series showcases ideas for action, innovation, programmes, policies and practices that make public spaces child-friendly. Read more of our blogs here. 

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