ABSTRACT
Pollution is a consequence of the past and present imbalance in the importance given to economic growth and technological advance on the one hand and safeguarding environmental quality on the other. Societies which favour decentralisation and small-scale technology may experience less pollution than those with extensive urbanisation and large-scale industries but differences between societies are being reduced as international and global pollution increases. Many national pollution control programmes lead to increased trans-boundary pollution as this effectively transfers the cost of the pollution to other countries. Air pollution was selected rather than land or water pollution as studies in urban communities during the past two decades have highlighted that air pollution was perceived as the prime pollution problem. The development of air pollution control in Britain was strongly influenced by the occurrence of London smog. This chapter examines development of approaches to pollution control in the United Kingdom, European Communities, United States of America, and Socialist countries such as China.
