Acoustic Sustainability in Urban Residential Areas

Abstract

Many urban areas are densely populated, often resulting in increases in various types of environmental pollution. Correspondingly, urban acoustic sustainability has become an important concern, especially in urban residential areas. This study aims at systematically examining the urban acoustic sustainability, from three main and typical facets. Firstly, it focuses on people's perception, trying to understand the effects of behaviour/experience in residential areas. Secondly, a series of building life cycle analysis and building acoustic performances are examined in an integrative way, demonstrating that acoustic factors should be combined into the overall environmental sustainability consideration. Finally, a typical kind of renewable energy technique, wind farms, are studied from an acoustic viewpoint, showing that further attention should be paid to noise effects, especially at the planning stage. Overall, whilst the acoustic effects in the overall urban sustainability might not be always straightforward, longterm effects and multi-factors should be considered.