Perhaps, the main reason behind this premise is the growth of consumerism due to changes in the lifestyles of citizens. To illustrate this, as individuals’ income in these countries significantly increases so does the percentage of private vehicles. Accordingly, more emission is produced at an alarming degree from the use of cars, leading to serious air contamination. In addition, the lack of strict regulation exacerbates the situation as governments merely focus on infrastructure projects. Examples can be seen in the majority of Asian countries where buildings and roads are massively introduced while the availability of public transport remains insufficient, thus, unable to reduce the number of cars on roads.
Looking from another perspective, it seems true that developed countries also face environmental problems as they still produce pollution. Nonetheless, having consistently imposed strict regulations, these countries appear to have successfully prevented, or even eradicated, the highly damaging impacts of air pollution. However, the reality found in developing countries fails to reflect the same situation. Furthermore, prosperous countries have been deemed capable of providing facilities that support pollution-reducing programs. The Netherlands, as an illustration, facilitates its citizens with public bicycles and supporting lanes in order to provide alternatives to fossil-fuel-based vehicles. Meanwhile, the same circumstance is of no existence in emerging countries.
In a nutshell, it is logically necessary to conclude that air contamination and environmental issues appear inevitable for developed countries. This is because changes in individual lifestyles are not followed by the proper implementation of a strict policy to manage the problems.