Noise Levels Associated with Urban Land Use

作者：King Gavin; Roland Mieszkowski Marek; Jason Timothy; Rainham Daniel G^*

来源：Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 2012, 89(6): 1017-1030.

DOI：10.1007/s11524-012-9721-7

• Noise
• Land use
• Urban
• Geographic information systems
• Sound level meter

Recent trends towards the intensification of urban development to increase urban densities and avoid sprawl should be accompanied by research into the potential for related health impacts from environmental exposure. The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of the built environment and land use on levels of environmental noise. Two different study areas were selected using a combination of small area census geography, land use information, air photography, and ground-truthing. The first study area represented residential land use and consisted of two- to three-story single-family homes. The second study area was characteristic of mixed-use urban planning with apartment buildings as well as commercial and institutional development. Study areas were subdivided into six grids, and a location was randomly selected within each grid for noise monitoring. Each location was sampled four times over a 24-h day, resulting in a total of 24 samples for each of the two areas. Results showed significant variability in noise within study areas and significantly higher levels of environmental noise in the mixed-use area. Both study areas exceeded recommended noise limits when evaluated against World Health Organization guidelines and yielded average noise events values in the moderate to serious annoyance range with the potential to obscure normal conversation and cause sleep disturbance.

• 出版日期2012-12