Relationships between noise complaints and socio-economic factors in England

Abstract

Environmental noise has significant effects on urban sustainable development and quality of life. The reporting of noise complaints is carried out in England as a part of environment legislation, providing data for government decision-making. The relationships between noise complaints, a part of urban conflicts, and socio-economic spatial inequalities are significant. This study explores the relationships between noise complaints and socio-economic factors at the city/region level. The noise complaints and socio-economic datasets from the government’s open source data provide input for statistical analysis across all districts and unitary local authorities in England. The results suggest that the impacts of socio-economic factors – including demographic, job-related, property, and deprivation aspects – on noise complaints are generally significant. In addition, cities/regions with a higher proportion of young and single residents tend to have more noise complaints, as do cities/regions with diverse ethnicities and religions. High-density cities/regions with higher unemployment rates are likely to receive more noise complaints. More deprived cities/regions are also prone to an increased noise complaint rate.