Special Issue "Sustainable Living Environments: Holistic Noise Pollution Management"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Timothy Van Renterghem
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Information Technology, WAVES Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, iGent-Technologiepark 126, B 9052 Gent-Zwijnaarde, Belgium
Interests: urban planning; environmental noise; road traffic noise; prediction schemes; green noise abatement; outdoor sound propagation; sound perception

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exposure to environmental noise is typically considered as the second most important environmental concern in the built-up area. Although its negative impact on the health and well-being of citizens is strong and well recognized, noise pollution management is still most often applied as a post-hoc measure. As a result, such solutions (like e.g. a traditional concrete noise walls) not only have a negative visual impact on the landscape, but could also lead to poor overall abatement efficiencies.

This special issue seeks for intervention studies, methodologies and conceptual frameworks, showing how environmental noise concerns can be included (early) in the urban design process. Since human perception is essentially multi-sensorial, a holistic approach to the perceived living environment is mandatory. Among others, audio-visual interactions can be strong and could be a key concern. Continued research is needed here; a main question is how this translates to the urban planning process and the final decision-making, where conflicting demands might appear. While multi-criteria design of the urban environment, including environmental noise, is the primary goal of this special issue, more basic research aiming at increased understanding of any of the topics mentioned here is welcome as well.

Prof. Dr. Timothy Van Renterghem
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental noise
  • audio-visual interactions
  • noise perception
  • holistic urban design
  • environmental perception
  • multi-criteria decision making

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Changes in the Soundscape of the Public Space Close to a Highway by a Noise Control Intervention
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 5284; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13095284 - 09 May 2021
Viewed by 634
Abstract
The deployment of measures to mitigate sound during propagation outdoors is most often a compromise between the acoustic design, practical limitations, and visual preferences regarding the landscape. The current study of a raised berm next to a highway shows a number of common [...] Read more.
The deployment of measures to mitigate sound during propagation outdoors is most often a compromise between the acoustic design, practical limitations, and visual preferences regarding the landscape. The current study of a raised berm next to a highway shows a number of common issues like the impact of the limited length of the noise shielding device, initially non-dominant sounds becoming noticeable, local drops in efficiency when the barrier is not fully continuous, and overall limited abatement efficiencies. Detailed assessments of both the objective and subjective effect of the intervention, both before and after the intervention was deployed, using the same methodology, showed that especially the more noise sensitive persons benefit from the noise abatement. Reducing the highest exposure levels did not result anymore in a different perception compared to more noise insensitive persons. People do react to spatial variation in exposure and abatement efficiency. Although level reductions might not be excessive in many real-life complex multi-source situations, they do improve the perception of the acoustic environment in the public space. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Living Environments: Holistic Noise Pollution Management)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop