Environmental Considerations for Urban Planning Standards

The second half of the last century witnessed numerous pollution and ecological crises in many cities around the world. Some of these phenomena even encompassed large geographical areas and several countries. This led to a significant increase in environmental awareness among different categories of society. Fear and panic sometimes prevailed due to the deterioration of environmental conditions both locally and globally, and the impact this would have on the future of civilization and the lives of future generations. The accelerated scientific progress in the field of ecological studies and the innovation of various ecological technologies to stop pollution at the source have effectively limited the spread of pollutants and enabled their control, but at a high cost. International agreements and local environmental legislation have played a major role in establishing a legal framework for environmental protection and setting specific standards for air, water and soil pollution levels to ensure a safe and healthy environment for people. Among the methods and measures that can be used to avoid pollution problems in cities and reduce the amount of pollutants to levels below permissible levels is the introduction of environmental standards within the framework of urban planning standards so that they can be taken into account in the future when developing existing cities or when preparing new urban plans. This paper presents the most important environmental problems in cities and urban areas, as well as environmental considerations that must be included in urban and urban planning standards in order to avoid environmental problems as much as possible, using appropriate equipment and technical means to reduce pollutants at their sources