The sound of Berlin. The noise annoyance you love to hate

Abstract

Noise is part of life in Berlin. The Berlin Sound is often described as Berlin is a loud city, but this sound is also a matter of identification. Just like human beings, metropolitan areas may be identified by their gait. People enjoy living in Berlin but they also claim negative health effects and often permanent annoyance caused by daily environmental noise. For instance 1<th>119<th>714 cars demonstrate the volume of traffic from 6.30–9.00 a.m, and another impressive descriptor of the volume of traffic is the number of 1<th>567<th>600 cars from 4.00–6.30 p.m. In a representative survey of 2000 adults, almost all German (80%) citizens are affected by some level of noise pollution. The predominant source of noise in residential areas is road traffic, which remains a nuisance for over half the population, and a source of serious annoyance for some 18%. Next to road traffic, air traffic is the most important transport-related source of annoyance, followed by rail traffic noise. Results from a qualitative survey in a residential area of Berlin give insights into the different perspectives of the noise perception of the investigated subjects and of important parameters with respect to daily life.