Sons al Balcó: Paisatge Sonor del Confinament a Catalunya

"In this study, we aim to study the effect that the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused on the perception of noise in Catalonia. The hypothesis is that the annoyance coming from outdoor noise, minimized by the lockdown, could be associated with greater well-being of people. This hypothesis will be validated on the one hand, by means of subjective questionnaires conducted to people living in pre-defined diverse acoustic areas (urban, suburban, and rural environments), and on the other hand, by the use of objective measurements of levels of noise, and the study of the soundscape in these areas.
Our proposal is based on assessments of how citizens have experienced the changes in their acoustic environment -both the pleasant ones but also especially the annoyance factors-, as exceptionally they have spent much more time at home. We evaluate the citizens’ perceptions together with the objective measurements, which should lead to the conclusions about the type of noise to avoid and the definition of several indicators as guidance to improve the well-being and quality of life in different geographical areas.
Therefore, the project has a dual purpose; on the one hand, the awareness of the influence that environmental noise has in our well-being and on the other hand, the proposal and evaluation of quantitative indicators that can support decisions related to future policy making in terms of noise, probably more relevant in urban environments.
For this project, we have a interdisciplinary team: GTM (acoustics and image processing), Blanquerna (health and noise), IAR (urban or rural landscapes and impact on people habitat and well-being). We do also have the support of Observatori de Paisatge (http://www.catpaisatge.net/cat/index.php) and Edificis Positius (https://edificispositius.cat/), both deeply interested in the results of the study. Medi Ambient and Ajuntament de Barcelona are also following the project."