Too quiet

Posted by runmin on April 28th, 2019

With the expansion of urbanization, the world is facing a problem, that is, how to deal with the noise caused by dense population?</p><p>According to a forecast issued by the United Nations in 2018, two-thirds of the population will live in cities by 2050. Urban residents in India are expected to increase by 416 million, of which China will increase by 255 million and Nigeria by 189 million.</p><p>As more and more people become urban residents, people are more and more difficult to cope with noise. For example, the Government's latest National Noise Attitudes Survey found that the proportion of respondents reporting interference from road traffic, neighbours, aircraft and construction had "increased significantly in statistics".</p><p>And the poor face more serious noise. In the United States, a 2017 study showed that noise levels in relatively poor urban neighborhoods were nearly two decibels higher than those in affluent areas. Noise pollution is also closely related to social segregation. The study also found that in American cities such as Detroit and Chicago, blacks, Latino Americans and Asians account for a higher proportion of communities, and noise levels are higher than those in other communities.</p><p>Recent studies have shown that noise is not only an annoying thing, but also has a terrible impact on people's health. In addition to diseases thought to be associated with long-term exposure to urban noise - hypertension, heart disease and type 2 diabetes - the European Environment Agency points out that 10,000 people die prematurely each year from noise in Europe.</p><p>In the cities of the 21st century, we must deal with the sound of cars, electric drills, shouts, roars, barks, moans, noises and floor crashes, which are separated by a wall. What can we do to stop this noise?</p><p>An article in the Guardian gives some ideas, and argues that "quietness" is a high-end consumption.</p><p>In New York, tens of thousands of dollars can be spent on sound insulation renovation of roofs or noise reduction of radiator tubes with sound insulation cotton. In Mumbai, acoustical consultants at cinemas are selling sound insulation walls for family use at prices only affordable to the wealthy.</p><p>Britain's new building energy-saving regulations require that houses be highly insulated and enclosed. These environmental measures seem to be able to better isolate external noise, but not entirely. The same energy-saving measures can keep warm in winter, but it is difficult to heat in summer, which means that people have more time to open windows in a year.</p><p>Dr Anthony Chilton, senior partner of environmental engineering firm Max Fordham, said: "This is particularly evident at night in terms of health effects. Because at night residents have to choose between being uncomfortably hot or being disturbed by noise." One solution is to close the windows and open the air conditioning, but this leads to social polarization: when you can afford and afford air conditioning, the tenants living next door in social security housing can't afford it.</p><p>However, city dwellers seem to be accustomed to moderate noise. The silence of agricultural society is not suitable for contemporary human beings. If you really try to shield city voices, "too quiet" can be disturbing.