Architectural contributions to air pollution and design-based mitigation in Enugu, Nigeria: a typological review

Abstract

Air pollution is usually discussed as a problem of industry, transport and energy supply, yet the built environment also shapes emissions, pollutant dispersion and occupant exposure. This paper reframes architecture as an active mediator of air pollution in rapidly urbanising Nigerian cities, using Enugu as a contextually grounded case. The study adopts a narrative literature review combined with typological analysis of common urban building forms observed in Enugu, including street-front commercial buildings, sealed office blocks, mixed-use buildings, residential compounds and flats, institutional buildings and industrial sheds. The paper develops a micro-macro space framework to explain how design decisions at individual sites accumulate into neighbourhood- and city-scale air-quality outcomes. The review suggests that architecture may contribute to air-pollution exposure through three interrelated pathways: urban form and microclimate, building systems and materials, and construction and operational practices. In Enugu, these pathways are intensified by generator dependence, road-facing commercial frontages, poor intake placement, weak ventilation design, high-emission finishes, inadequate waste zoning and dusty construction processes. The paper contributes a building-typology exposure matrix and an architecture-led mitigation framework covering site planning, vegetation buffers, passive cooling, mixed-mode ventilation, filtration, low-emission materials, generator zoning, construction dust control and post-occupancy air-quality checks. The study argues that air-pollution mitigation should be integrated into architectural design review and building approval processes, not treated solely as an environmental-management issue after construction. The paper contributes a coherent conceptual basis for integrating air-quality concerns into architectural site planning, building design and regulatory review in Enugu and comparable hot-humid African cities.