scholarly journals Quieted City Sounds during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Montreal

Author(s):  
Daniel Steele ◽  
Catherine Guastavino

This paper investigates the transformation of urban sound environments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Canada. We report on comparisons of sound environments in three sites, before, during, and after the lockdown. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Montreal festival district (Quartier des Spectacles) as part of the Sounds in the City partnership. The analyses rely on continuous acoustic monitoring of three sites. The comparisons are presented in terms of (1) energetic acoustic indicators over different periods of time (Lden, Ld, Le, Ln), (2) statistical acoustic indicators (L10, L90), and (3) hourly, daily, and weekly profiles of sound levels throughout the day. Preliminary analyses reveal sound level reductions on the order of 6–7 dB(A) during lockdown, with differences more or less marked across sites and times of the day. After lockdown, sound levels gradually increased following an incremental relaxation of confinement. Within four weeks, sound levels measurements nearly reached the pre-COVID-19 levels despite a reduced number of pedestrian activities. Long-term measurements suggest a ‘new normal’ that is not quite as loud without festival activities, but that is also not characterizable as quiet. The study supports reframing debates about noise control and noise management of festival areas to also consider the sounds of such areas when festival sounds are not present.

2016 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 116-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rufin Makarewicz ◽  
Roman Gołębiewski
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (2) ◽  
pp. 4755-4766
Author(s):  
Henk de Haan ◽  
Virgini Senden

A 32 month long nighttime ambient sound level survey was conducted between from April 2017 and December 2019, inclusive. Sound level data was recorded at three locations within approximately 600 m of one another. Weather data was collected at one site. The measurement locations were at the edge of the city, where the suburbs make way for the countryside. Two noise monitoring stations were located near the back yards of detached houses. The third station was located in a more rural setting. This paper will look at trends in the nighttime ambient sound level (e.g. summertime vs wintertime), and try to establish the minimal duration of a measurement program for generating reliable results.


Noise Mapping ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-235
Author(s):  
Gino Iannace ◽  
Amelia Trematerra ◽  
Ilaria Lombardi

Abstract The term Movida takes its name from the evening and night life of the city for their liveliness and animation. During the Movida, noise is one of the problems in the city centers due to the negative effects on the resident population. This paper reports the effects of noise due to the Movida phenomenon within the city center in southern Italy. Along the roads affected by the Movida phenomenon, the values of sound levels in dBA were measured both with fixed stations with a sound level meter and with mobile stations by wearing a noise dosimeter a participant of Movida. The measured noise levels are between 85 dBA to 90 dBA. The noise levels show that the Movida phenomenon generates disturbing conditions on the resident population with consequent conflict between club managers, patrons and residents.


2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Paulo Henrique ◽  
Trombetta Zannin

This paper presents the results obtained in a study on environmental noise pollution in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. The equivalent sound level values - LA,eq,2hr - were measured and tabulated for 1000 locations spread over the urban zones of the city of Curitiba. It was found that 93.3% out of the locations display, during the day, equivalent sound levels over 65 dB(A), and 40.3% out of the locations measured display during the day extremely high values of equivalent sound levels: over 75 dB(A). Measurement points were evaluated according to the assumptions established by two types of legislation: 1) local legislation: Law 8583 of 1995, which deals with urban noise and public comfort; 2) international legislation: the criteria of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development - HUD.


2014 ◽  
Vol 548-549 ◽  
pp. 1623-1626
Author(s):  
Tao Jin ◽  
Qi Huang ◽  
Yong Ding ◽  
Li Feng Zhu

To explore the noise generated by bridges during operational period, the equivalent continuous sound pressure levels of 12 bridges in the city of Ningbo were measured and analyzed. The measured data show that (1) Although the measured sound levels of these bridges meet the requirement of Chinese codes, they are near the maximum limit and the vibration and noise reduction is necessary; (2) A-weighted sound level of bridge is close to that of the road nearby; (3) Z-weighted sound level of bridge is much greater than that of the road nearby, it indicates that the bridge noise contains much low frequency noise, so that A-weighted sound level can’t reflect the noise of bridge accurately, and Z-weighted sound level shall be used to evaluate the acoustic environment near bridges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (5) ◽  
pp. 1586-1593
Author(s):  
Alice Elizabeth Gonzalez ◽  
Pablo Gianoli Kovar ◽  
Lady Carolina Ramírez ◽  
Micaela Luzardo Rivero

On March 13, 2020, the first cases of SARS-COVID19 were detected in Uruguay. During the first weeks of the pandemic, mobility was significantly reduced with the slogan "If you can, stay home"; it was not a mandatory but voluntary confinement. After a couple of months, there was a big drop in the number of people affected by the disease. Thus, the Municipality of Montevideo, betting on a more human and walkable city, defined that the main avenue of the city had a pedestrian section on Saturday afternoons. This resulted in a greater enjoyment of the city by its inhabitants, as they had more space to walk while maintaining safe distances between people. It was also possible to promote trading, since classically Ave. 18 de Julio is also a commercial stroll. Additionally, the sound pressure levels recorded by the Municipality's stationary sound level meters located at three points along the avenue, showed the reduction of environmental sound levels in pedestrian areas, improving the acoustic quality of the walk. In this paper, sound pressure levels on Saturday afternoons at different times of the year before, during and after the initial lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are compared and discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. D. Oktyabrskiy

The article is devoted to the justification of the need to reduce the population density in the residential development of cities. The analysis of vulnerability of the urban population from threats of emergency situations of peace and war time, and also an assessment of provision of the city by a road network is given. Proposals have been formulated to reduce the vulnerability of the urban population in the long term and to eliminate traffic congestion and congestion — jams.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Sarah Hackett

Drawing upon a collection of oral history interviews, this paper offers an insight into entrepreneurial and residential patterns and behaviour amongst Turkish Muslims in the German city of Bremen. The academic literature has traditionally argued that Turkish migrants in Germany have been pushed into self-employment, low-quality housing and segregated neighbourhoods as a result of discrimination, and poor employment and housing opportunities. Yet the interviews reveal the extent to which Bremen’s Turkish Muslims’ performances and experiences have overwhelmingly been the consequences of personal choices and ambitions. For many of the city’s Turkish Muslim entrepreneurs, self-employment had been a long-term objective, and they have succeeded in establishing and running their businesses in the manner they choose with regards to location and clientele, for example. Similarly, interviewees stressed the way in which they were able to shape their housing experiences by opting which districts of the city to live in and by purchasing property. On the whole, they perceive their entrepreneurial and residential practices as both consequences and mediums of success, integration and a loyalty to the city of Bremen. The findings are contextualised within the wider debate regarding the long-term legacy of Germany’s post-war guest-worker system and its position as a “country of immigration”.


Author(s):  
Karen Ahlquist

This chapter charts how canonic repertories evolved in very different forms in New York City during the nineteenth century. The unstable succession of entrepreneurial touring troupes that visited the city adapted both repertory and individual pieces to the audience’s taste, from which there emerged a major theater, the Metropolitan Opera, offering a mix of German, Italian, and French works. The stable repertory in place there by 1910 resembles to a considerable extent that performed in the same theater today. Indeed, all of the twenty-five operas most often performed between 1883 and 2015 at the Metropolitan Opera were written before World War I. The repertory may seem haphazard in its diversity, but that very condition proved to be its strength in the long term. This chapter is paired with Benjamin Walton’s “Canons of real and imagined opera: Buenos Aires and Montevideo, 1810–1860.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 949
Author(s):  
Salman Qureshi ◽  
Saman Nadizadeh Shorabeh ◽  
Najmeh Neysani Samany ◽  
Foad Minaei ◽  
Mehdi Homaee ◽  
...  

Due to irregular and uncontrolled expansion of cities in developing countries, currently operational landfill sites cannot be used in the long-term, as people will be living in proximity to these sites and be exposed to unhygienic circumstances. Hence, this study aims at proposing an integrated approach for determining suitable locations for landfills while considering their physical expansion. The proposed approach utilizes the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) to weigh the sets of identified landfill location criteria. Furthermore, the weighted linear combination (WLC) approach was applied for the elicitation of the proper primary locations. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) and cellular automation-based Markov chain method were used to predict urban growth. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach, it was applied to a case study, namely the city of Mashhad in Iran, where suitable sites for landfills were identified considering the urban growth in different geographical directions for this city by 2048. The proposed approach could be of use for policymakers, urban planners, and other decision-makers to minimize uncertainty arising from long-term resource allocation.


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