More people, less pollution in our City Centre

Air pollution in Auckland has been trending down for many years now.  That’s good news.  Even better news is that some of the most rapid improvement is in the City Centre, where dense pedestrian movements and high occupancy of large office buildings mean large numbers of people are benefitting from the air quality improvement.

In this case, by air pollution we mean measured levels of nitrogen oxides.  These aren’t the only air pollutants measured by Auckland Council, but they have the largest effect in terms of human health.  The primary source of the nitrogen oxides is diesel powered motor vehicles.

How big a problem is air pollution?  Well, even in the relatively clear airs of Auckland it’s a surprisingly big problem.  The most recent “Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand” report attributes 3,239 premature adult deaths to air pollution with 68% of these due to motor vehicle pollution.  Auckland’s share of these premature deaths is 900 people.

Across the region the presence of nitrogen oxides has been falling by 10% per annum.  City Centre levels, however, have been falling significantly faster than this.  Queens Street’s nitrogen oxides readings have been falling by 20% year on year from 2020 to 2024 .  The key drivers for this additional reduction are attributed to reductions in vehicle traffic and the faster introduction of electric buses in the City Centre.

So, given the large numbers of people present in our City Centre, air quality improvements are very welcome.

The reduction in vehicle sourced pollution comes at a time when City Centre pedestrian traffic is increasing, as Auckland finds its new post-covid “normal”.  Pedestrian counts have increased from around 32 million in 2021 to around 50 million in 2025.

You can read more about our air quality reporting here.