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Dübendorf ZH – People who can see the greenery of an urban park or a mountain range on the horizon are less sensitive to the noise created by cars and trains. However, green spaces increase the perceived noise pollution from aircraft. These are the results of a meta-analysis by Empa.

A view of a nearby park, a pond or a mountain range on the horizon means that urban noise pollution disturbs us less. What’s more, the nearer the recreation area to our own home, the lower the subjective disturbance by noise. Researchers from the Department of Acoustics/Noise Control at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) have drawn these conclusions from a meta-analysis. According to a press release from the Empa, they conducted this study together with experts from the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, and the University of Basel.

What’s more surprising than the psychological sound-absorbing effect of green spaces is the realization that this does not apply to aircraft noise. On the contrary: the greener the area, the more disturbed we feel by aircraft noise. Beat Schäffer from the Empa explains that this is likely to be linked to a feeling of helplessness as unlike with traffic noise, a few meters of distance will have no effect on the roar created by aircraft turbines. A second point is incongruity: “In a park, we expect it to be quiet. If this silence is then disturbed by something that we cannot influence, we perceive this noise as far more disturbing.”

The researchers now hope to look closer at the mental and, in particular, the physiological aspects of noise. The Swiss National Science Foundation’s RESTORE study has just been initiated together with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. It will run for four years and aims to integrate factors for optimal stress reduction in future urban planning.