Making cities feel quieter

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From the BBC World Service, this is People Fixing the World, a show that shines a light on individuals who are solving old problems with new ideas. And this week, we're talking about something very familiar. Whether it's the rattling of train tracks, the persistent honking of horns on a busy road, or the roar of a plane overhead, today we'll be finding out about, or should I say hearing about, ways to tackle noise.

Now it may feel like something that you've just learned to live with, especially if you work in a busy city like me, but not Can have serious long term effects on us. The World Health Organization reports that by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people in the world will have some degree of And more than 700 million will require hearing rehabilitation.

Because of several reasons, including loud noises. Beyond that, prolonged exposure to noise has been linked to stress, high blood pressure, anxiety, and cardiovascular issues. Now, sound is measured in decibels. And just to give you some context, if I were to whisper in your ear, that would come in at around 30 decibels. But if you're at a rock concert, would be more than a hundred decibels.

Ooh, thanks for turning that down. So, how do you bring down loud noise levels in public places? Well, if we're gonna find solutions anywhere, let's start in one of the noisiest countries in the world, India. Well that's what you'd hear on a daily basis if you were living in Mumbai on the west coast of India. It's a city where the noise levels regularly hit 75 or 85 decibels.

That's over 20 decibels higher than what the World Health Organization recommends for environmental noise levels during the day. Our reporter, Chavi Sachhthev, just happens to be based in Mumbai. Chavi, I'm wondering how does it feel to live with this? All the time. Oh Myra, I mean India in general is just really loud. We are a loud people. We dress loud, we talk loud, we celebrate loud, we watch movies loud. What we heard just before is what we would typically hear living in any city.

In India. Isn't it a lot chavi? Uh to be honest, Myra, it wasn't until I left the country and lived elsewhere that I realized just how noisy all of India really is. When people ask me what I miss w about like living abroad, I tell them it's the quiet because after twelve years of living in the US and Europe. When I got back I realized I couldn't handle it anymore. I'd gotten used to lower levels of noise. Do you think that other people living in Mumbai are aware of how loud it is?

I think our ears are really good at acclimatizing and people can tune out the noise, but what they don't realize is that even if they block it, the noise still has an effect on our bodies and of course our hearing. So while I was looking into this problem I actually spoke to people on the streets about it. How do you feel when you see all this noise around you that uh do you feel like you can do anything about it? I don't think so. We should be doing it but

But then like people are not that aware and I don't think even if we tell them to take precautions and you know, measures to curb it, whether they will listen to us or not eh. Hm sounds like a mindset thing as well.

So Chavi, how does someone tackle such a big issue? So I've been covering this topic here in India for quite a while now because it's a matter close to my heart and ears. Of course. And it's a really tough one to crack. But I've heard about a bunch of organizations across the country who are trying to tackle it by raising awareness about the problem, and one of them is in a city called Pune, about four hours away from Mumbai.

Hi, I'm Dr. Garima Kauthikar, founder and director of Nisarga Srishti Welfare Foundation. I founded this organization in 2023 with a mission to reduce noise pollution in India to make Indian cities quieter and healthier for future generations. Garima is someone who leads awareness activities in the community. We are working to change behavior patterns. It's a thing uh that people are not consciously thinking what is the impact of unnecessary honking nowadays in India.

So we tell them, we educate drivers and uh we educate students in schools and colleges. So we are telling them what is the safety level. How we can reduce this noise pollution. You'd sent me some uh videos. So I was looking at this activity that you did in a classroom. Can you tell me what is happening? Like what do you do here? We split our session into

In first part, we are creating awareness. We are giving them some data or showing them through our presentation what is the harmful effect of noise pollution, its sources, and its impact on human beings, animals and birds. Okay. But that is not enough actually. After that we take demo session. I'm showing them how decibel meter is looking and after that. We have some fun session like in our team, one is uh Mimikri artist, showing them how birds sound, animal sounds.

what is the decibel level we measure right so 90 Ninety six, ninety-eight. Okay, interesting. And so they you he does the mimicry or he he makes the bird calls and then you measure the decibels. Then uh students are like they are having fun as well as awareness. So we are not just telling them numbers, we are showing them. Through our workshops like uh these are the decibel reading for birds, animals and something.

And after second session, means after three months, when we are going back, student as well as teachers are giving us feedback that uh students uh are now more conscious about noise pollution and they are telling us, Mom, don't clap. No and don't clap much and don't shout or something like that. So this is a positive feedback that we are getting after two or three times.

Garimha also told me that they've visited around 30 schools and educated more than 10,000 students. Along with that, they've reached over a hundred thousand citizens virtually through campaigns, workshops, and digital outreach.

I should also mention that during my deep dive into a noise pollution solution in India, I came across another project which aims to tackle the noise from our busy streets. So Myra, in Mumbai particularly, you're not supposed to honk or make any noise within a hundred meters of hospitals and educational institutions. But from personal experience I can tell you this is not being respected.

So it was really interesting to meet Savitar Rao, who is the founder of the Quiet India movement, who's trying to specifically tackle this issue. We have recently collaborated with a navigation software called Mapmy India. The idea is that when people are driving on road, uh that is when they need real-time cues to not honk. So at our suggestion Mapmy India is working on a feature where when the vehicle is in a silent zone, which is in the vicinity of a hospital or a school or a court

And a few other places, the app will show a no honk icon. So this will help the motorist in real time. To make the choice to not honk. I want to point out that Mapmy India is not the navigation system most people use here, but it is a star. By alerting drivers to silent zones, Savita and the MapMindia team are trying to make people aware of their attitudes towards noise.

And they are hopeful that if drivers are reminded that they're passing through a silent zone, they'll think twice about honking? Mm. It sounds like awareness is really a big part of trying to solve this issue. But is this the best way to tackle the problem? I think there's a recognition from everyone I've spoken to that real change requires institutional buy in and a change in policy. So there's definitely still a ways to go.

Well hopefully Xavi we will continue to hear about more solutions uh around the noise issue. But thank you so much for what we've had today. And now I know if I ever have to send you anything, it will be earplugs. Thank you. I will add them to my growing collection.

Now it's clear that behaviour change and awareness can play a big role in helping to reduce loud noises in public spaces. But something else that researchers, architects, and city developers are considering is soundscaping, a way of designing public spaces so that they sound and feel more relaxing. So I recently went out to see what this is all about. It's a busy and windy day here out in East London. I don't know if you can hear but in the background

There's a school on my left, kids are having their lunch break. On the other side I can see apartment blocks, people moving about, typical London really. And that noise actually feeds into what we're doing today. We're going to be learning about soundscaping. What is it? How can it help? And in order to do so I'm going to meet the man behind a project at the University College of London. Let's go. Hi, Myra. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Tim Oberman is a senior research fellow at the university's institute for environmental design and engineering, where he focuses on soundscaping. Basically it w it works with environmental sounds. but it looks at everything that happens in the environment in a holistic way but also trying to find like ways to appreciate positive sounds and see how all the sounds interact. With each other. I'm here to do an experiment about how people perceive noise levels.

This is part of ongoing research that can be used to help busy cities make changes to reduce noise levels in public spaces. We've come into what appears to be a studio, but it seems From outside it's soundproof but what c I can see is from speakers that you have hoisted around the centre of the room, it's a way of controlling the kind of sounds that you can play. Um and in the middle of the room is this high seat that I am going to be on.

VR virtual reality basically almost like these fancy techie goggles that send you into a virtual world. Um and in this case I'm entering a space where the things I see and the way I respond will be taken down as data that is then used for purposes of the research. Now Tin tells me that the sound levels that will come from the speakers are exactly as I would hear them if I was actually in the locations I'll see through my goggles.

After going through different parts of the experiment, I will then fill in a questionnaire about my experience with the noise levels. So I've started the experiment, it says this is the front view. And I'm going to press play and I'm bracing myself for the sound that's coming. So here we go. I'm uh a pallock. Right in front of me are some.

I can hear birds flapping about. I think I just saw a squirrel in the big Right next to one of the benches and actually the main attraction on left is what appears to be a little pond. And I think. Possibly a duck or a swan somewhere. It's always nice being at the park. I will know. Go through the questionnaire. I enjoyed that. And let's see what the next experience has. Oh my poor ears.

Um this feels like being in the middle of London somewhere. It's very unpleasant. Um there's also someone who's decided to bless us with their music as it sounds like a club in the middle of the day and there's just like hundreds of people everywhere. I think it's definitely time to fill in this questionnaire. Let's see. Pleasant, ha no. Chaotic. Absolutely. Vibrant. It is very vibrant. Not in a

Also the other thing I feel like the moment the sound started playing I was clenching my fists almost like you know like I had to protect myself from something. Yeah, let's get out of this space. Okay, ready for the next one? Let's go. In the virtual world I visit different places. I mean one moment I'm standing across the Andalusian mountains of Spain, and the next I'm navigating Camden Town, a busy area in London.

This goes on for about twenty minutes or so before the experiment comes to an end. Is it safe to say that my results matched everyone else's? Or am I just in love with noise? Yes, we can say that uh your results fall within the fiftieth percentile of the most people that took the experiment. I'm just trying to understand if soundscaping is included in urban development What are the benefits of soundscaping?

It's an additional argument for planting more trees in a sense. What do trees do? Do they block sound, absorb it how do they help? Um well I mean the other Kind of funny thing is that people when they see trees They tolerate more noise? Hmm. You know, there'll be people listening thinking, we might like to see what we can try in our own locations. Are there any other practical things people could do? Having flowing water Also helps you relax a lot. And there are studies trying out

Environmental sounds in offices, right? Mm-hmm. So it's like s adding speakers that will be playing bird song or playing some calming music. Many of us are playing ocean sounds. The plan is to use the data to understand sound better and create a soundscape indicator based on how people actually experience noise. The long-term aim is to help public spaces and cities be less noisy and more pleasant. Ja, skol från riker.

Jag har fått in lär om det för full att barn. Hej, Alexandra Rappad här. Jag spelar Veronika Gren i serien Veronika. Jag undrar om du har sett milj. Du är inte fattar. Vilket är det vi har att göra med. Den här utredningen som ni håller på med, den börjar bli lite problematisk för oss. Streamar Veronika Säson Trén nu, bara på Sky Showtime.

You're listening to People Fixing the World from the BBC World Service, and today we are making noise about noise. We're staying with soundscaping, the idea that certain sounds Busy environment. In Canada, that's actually doing this. Natasha, tell me more about this. Well Myra, before I tell you, have a listen to this. Okay. the sea. Uh you can kind of hear the waves and birds and I think a seagull, I'm imagining maybe in the background.

Um, it makes me think of being by the coast. Yeah, exactly, but you might actually be surprised to hear that these coastal sounds are being played in a city park in Montreal, one of the biggest cities in Canada. It all started back in 2022 when a sound artist called Charles Montambeau went on a trip to a Canadian archipelago called the Magdalene Islands.

The sand and the Magdalene Island can sing. When you walk into the sound firmly, the sand makes some squeaky sounds. So that's one sound that is kinda funny, kinda special. Charles was blown away by the vast and beautiful sandy settings. The landscape and the soundscapes are really uh impressive uh out there. Uh the Magdalene Islands are sand islands and so it They're very fragile at first. Everywhere you go by the river the view is spectacular.

It's really quiet also. There's not a lot of trees, so the wind is very strong. And so it's really a magical place because it's Everywhere is beautiful. When he returned, he realized that the area of Montreal that he lived in actually had a big connection to the beautiful islands he had just visited. It turns out a lot of Magdalene Islanders had moved there during the twentieth century. And so the idea came to him he would go back to the islands, capture some of these amazing sounds.

his local park. It is a very small park and it it is kind of noisy. You have very frequented roads. Inside this small park surrounded by busy roads, Charles and his team set up an immersive sound and select So the the installation was really to make this park a little quieter by adding some quiet noises. So It's counterintuitive, but you can make a park less noisy by adding some calmer sounds.

So by bringing in the park some sounds that m put you in that state, so wind sounds, wave sounds, and birds. You can put people into that contemplative hearing disposition and this makes the place more uh quiet because people feel more tranquil and calm.

Valerian Fress is a researcher at McGill University in Montreal who's been working with Shell to find out the impact the sound installation was having on park users. They ask 25 members of the community to come to their sound studios and give their opinions on the sounds Shell collected from the islands. When they're in the studio, Valerian plays the participants the sounds of the park on a regular day and asks them what they think.

People were primarily uh marked by the presence of traffic. For instance the participants saying the motorcycle, yeah, the vehicle that rambles. That's what strikes me. So they basically describe the space as quite unpleasant, even sometimes stressful or uncomfortable, or even disruptive. Then, after that, Sherl and Valerian isolated sound groups from the island. So they could find out which sounds the locals most resonated with. So typically we would have

three main families of sound, those related to animals and specifically coastal birds. The other family is related to wide-band sounds such as waves. our wind and w finally we have sounds related to port activity. And what was people's responses to the predominantly bird sounding sound installation? Some people Enjoy the seagulls a lot because it's highly evocative of the installation. But for some other they just associate it with

other animals and one participant associated them with trash, the trash that these birds tend to feed on, you know? So that brings me on to the sound of waves, for example, or wind. When you think about waves, lots of people find them really soothing. So I imagine that their waves probably had quite a calming effect, is that right? People mostly had positive connotation with the different waves or wind sound they heard in an experiment.

when they identified it properly and this is important, they would perceive it as pleasant, soothing, uh or even explicitly say that this could Help mask traffic noise. And then we haven't gone over port activity but I would be interested to hear what were people's responses to this. The boathorn was quite interesting because it was the sound that was the most evocative of the three. For instance, the participants actually uh lived in a porteria in this childhood and then

as soon as they heard the old sound, they were highly nostalgic. The study helped inform a new iteration of the sound installation. So the installation was already deployed, then we ran the experiment and thanks to the result Charles did modify his composition to reflect on the experiment's result. So Myra, the insulation is now permanent in the Parc de Madelineau in Verdun, Montreal. Valeria made it clear to me that the experiment they did was just with twenty five people.

He says the next step for the team is to set up a survey to find out if the park is being used more as a result of the installation. Natasha, all this sounds lovely. I mean I'd love to go visit this park. But you have to admit that it's only a small community that it's helping. Yeah, true. But there are many other examples of ways soundscaping is being applied elsewhere. For example, in Antwerp in Belgium, a noise cancelling fountain has been put up in a park to block out traffic noise.

In Japan's capital Tokyo, nostalgic music is being played in train stations. to reduce anxiety and in Barcelona in Spain, a lot of street planning has gone into making residential areas quieter. There's clearly a lot happening here. Maybe one that we will hear more about on a different programme. Thank you, Natasha. Thanks, Myra. Now, do you live near a noisy area? Or maybe you're one of those people who actually enjoys living in busy environments.

Let me know by sending a voice note to the water. That's all from me today, but join me again next week for more than Yeah. Ja, skor från riker. Jag har fått in lemon med på skönhet barn. Hej, Alexandra Rapport här. Jag spelar Veronika Gren i serien Veronica. Jag undrar om du har sett milj. Du är inte fattar. Vilket det är det har att göra med. Den här utredningen som jag håller på med, den börjar bli lite problematisk för oss. Streamar Veronika Säsong 3 nu, bara på Sky Showtime.