Quiet City: Smart Solution for Noise Pollution

Cities are noisy. With various social activities and traffic, noise level in urban areas can reach a point where it is detrimental to our physical and mental wellbeing. The Municipality of Berlin developed a tool to help its citizens locate places of quiet in their neighbourhood, called Hush City Mobile Lab. Further, this project addresses the issue of noise pollution, creating urban policy that encourages better planning and design of urban spaces that have better acoustic comfort. This mobile apps have detected more than 1400 quiet areas with descriptions of noise level, visual quality, and accessibility of the area. As one of the main physical stressor in urban areas, this smart solution to noise pollution offers the people a glimpse of tranquillity in the bustling urban environment. 

Reference:

Antonella Radicchi, Pınar Cevikayak Yelmi, Andy Chung, Pamela Jordan, Sharon Stewart, Aggelos Tsaligopoulos, Lindsay McCunn & Marcus Grant (2021) Sound and the healthy city, Cities & Health, 5:1-2, 1-13, DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2020.1821980

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