Spatial attenuation of noise and PM2.5 in roadside pocket parks

Spatial attenuation of noise and PM2.5 in roadside pocket parks | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Spatial attenuation of noise and PM 2.5 in roadside pocket parks Wanqi Gao, Xinhao Yang, Yao Fu, Xiaodong Lu, Yuan Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8817022/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Pocket parks are a prevalent green infrastructure form in high-density cities, yet quantitative evidence of their buffering efficacy is scarce. This study selected 12 roadside pocket parks in Shenyang, China, collecting 544 paired, synchronous noise and PM 2.5 measurements along 5–50 m distance gradients. Traffic-noise attenuation was significant: the core slope was − 1.21 dB per 10 m (95% CI: −1.61 to − 0.83), with linearity supported within the observed range. Each additional 1,000 m² of park area improved the slope by 0.21 dB per 10 m, whereas two small parks exhibited high probability of buffering failure. ROC analysis placed the quietness cutoff at 30–40 m, though compliance beyond 40 m remained low (14–24%). By contrast, the PM 2.5 distance effect was only marginally significant and model performance unstable. These findings support a "selective environmental barrier" perspective: pocket parks provide quantifiable noise buffering but should not be positioned as air-quality refuges. Architecture, Design and Planning pocket park spatial attenuation traffic noise PM2.5 urban green infrastructure mixed-effects model Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8817022","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":587511493,"identity":"c80c2761-0ce3-4a34-a7d8-508a678b615a","order_by":0,"name":"Wanqi Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shenyang Jianzhu University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wanqi","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":587511494,"identity":"039957df-7854-4557-aae4-baa9c08cb325","order_by":1,"name":"Xinhao Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shenyang Jianzhu 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University","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"pocket park, spatial attenuation, traffic noise, PM2.5, urban green infrastructure, mixed-effects model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8817022/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8817022/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePocket parks are a prevalent green infrastructure form in high-density cities, yet quantitative evidence of their buffering efficacy is scarce. This study selected 12 roadside pocket parks in Shenyang, China, collecting 544 paired, synchronous noise and PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e measurements along 5\u0026ndash;50 m distance gradients. Traffic-noise attenuation was significant: the core slope was \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1.21 dB per 10 m (95% CI: \u0026minus;1.61 to \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.83), with linearity supported within the observed range. Each additional 1,000 m\u0026sup2; of park area improved the slope by 0.21 dB per 10 m, whereas two small parks exhibited high probability of buffering failure. ROC analysis placed the quietness cutoff at 30\u0026ndash;40 m, though compliance beyond 40 m remained low (14\u0026ndash;24%). By contrast, the PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e distance effect was only marginally significant and model performance unstable. These findings support a \"selective environmental barrier\" perspective: pocket parks provide quantifiable noise buffering but should not be positioned as air-quality refuges.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Spatial attenuation of noise and PM2.5 in roadside pocket parks","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-10 06:11:32","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8817022/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0215b4b3-6dad-4ad1-a322-44f7fd67d92a","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 10th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":62632719,"name":"Architecture, Design and Planning"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-10T06:11:33+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-10 06:11:32","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8817022","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8817022","identity":"rs-8817022","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}