Noise in the Urban Environment

Noise has so permeated and increased in urban environments, that to counter it for the sake of public health, governments and municipalities are limiting the output of the various sources. All means of transportation are being noise regulated, and some progress has already been made; but transportation is the city’s circulatory system, and how its net is designed will have much bearing on the urban pattern. Planners are thus confronted with a vital factor entering early schemes of their work, for — if they are to design human environments — consideration must be given to what is basic to them. And noise is an element that must be held in check. New towns separate their activities in a way that some serve as baffles to others. This concept entails as much a horizontal as a vertical distribution, proper stringent land-use zoning, and at the same time, a concerted effort to reduce to a minimum the noise of each causing source.