The challenge
Lima had some of Latin America’s worst traffic air pollution and few monitors near young children.
The case
Lima’s municipal government launched ‘Aires Nuevos para la Infancia’ (New Air for Children). Its first phase installed 13 low-cost sensors at shelters, children’s health centres and schools, and published live readings on a public map. The city used the data to find the least polluted hours for outdoor play, ran 21 workshops on air quality, and redesigned spaces near a Fe y Alegría school in San Juan de Lurigancho with plants, dust control and play areas away from traffic. The city reports up to a 45% improvement in air quality there. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, the improved sites serve 8,000 children. The project was a 2022 C40 Bloomberg Awards finalist.
Why it worked
Placing sensors where children spend time turned general concern into specific local fixes, though the 45% gain is the city’s own figure for a few redesigned sites, not an independent evaluation.
Sources
- Bloomberg Philanthropies. Air Pollution: Installing low-cost sensors to spur improvements. Cities Idea Exchange.
- C40 Cities (2022). C40 Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards: Lima. C40 case study.
- Díaz Carrasco, K. M. (2022). New Air for Early Childhood Lima Project. Air Sensors International Conference, UC Davis.
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