About Noise by Tan Darrell

Cities are louder than ever – and it's the poor who suffer most

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:33:19 UTC

Tyler & Edice & Harjas

Where is the world’s noisiest city?

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:34:30 UTC

Yi kai & Ian

Living with noise pollution: Serangoon, Bukit Timah and Clementi among the noisiest neighbourhoods in Singapore

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:35:14 UTC

Bryan & Danielle

Uptick in complaints about renovation noise as more people work from home

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:36:17 UTC

Tyen Raay

Commentary: For your neighbours’ sake, turn the volume down this stay-home period

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:36:56 UTC

Calvin & Karl

bottom

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:37:43 UTC

side

daarrell — 2021-06-07 08:37:49 UTC

Karl

karlncen — 2021-06-12 02:04:26 UTC

Points:
1. Lowers the productivity of adults and students around who are doing work, decreasing cognitive functioning
2. Socially responsible to minimize noise produced
3. "Push" factors of why people are leaving their homes

Afterthoughts:
- Is there a specific age group that is responsible for making the most noise, a lot of the examples listed in the articles point towards a older age group
- With no reason other than "its the nice thing to do" what other reasons do people have for acting socially responsible
-

Calvin

2021-06-12 02:05:24 UTC

Points:
1. Noise impacts worker productivity by impairing some parts of cognitive function
2. Despite being encouraged to stay at home, people are driven out of their homes due to not only noise but other environmental factors that make a setting not conducive for wok or study.
3. Social responsibility can be exercised right from within one's own home because noise can travel out of your living space and into others'.

Afterthoughts:
+ Has a public campaign on noise targeting neighbourhood flats been done before?
+ Does this problem vary between each neighbourhood region in Singapore?

Edice

2021-06-12 02:05:49 UTC

1. it is the densifying of cities that intensifies the pollution
2. impact on the poor: health problems like high blood pressure, heart attacks and diabetes
3. possible solutions: thicker walls, better insulation, playing white noise constantly
4. thoughts: even with these solutions, it seems to be exclusive for the rich only because the cos to build, install and run these equipment is expensive, and does not solve the bulk of the problem which lies in the poorer communities. as city centres continue to grow, especially when economic growth is concentrated there, it is only natural that the city continues to get denser which probably will continue to intensify the plight of these people with regards to noise affecting their health

Yi Kai

yikaitansg — 2021-06-12 02:05:51 UTC

Points:
- Noise pollution affects health (e.g. mental health, hearing loss)
- Caused mostly by stress and noise annoyance
- We are regularly exposed to large amounts of noise (e.g. transport systems)
- Solutions such as electric vehicles and big data can be used to resolve the issue

Afterthoughts:
- Noise is indeed an overlooked issue that can lead to many negative effects
- Perhaps we could treat noise pollution similar to how we treat other forms of pollution?

Bryan

2021-06-12 02:06:01 UTC

Points:
- WHO recommends <70dB to not get adverse effects. NEA recommendation is 67.
-Adverse effects include hearing impairment, psychological/relationship (irritability->anger)
-Protecting self is limited in effectiveness
- Other than MRTs and roads, noise also comes from playgrounds, food courts and malls
- In SG, more than a quarter of data recorded outdoors exceeded 70dB. Mean noise is 69.4dB

Afterthoughts:
- Despite having its own recommendations, NEA does not seem to be doing much
- Noise affecting people is going to be more common in the future because development is inevitable in the most populated areas
-

Ian

2021-06-12 02:08:27 UTC

- excessive exposure to loud noises can result in health problems
- noisier in cities than in rural areas
- using big data to better map areas where there are more noise, so they can setup safeguards eg sound absorbant materials

afterthoughts:
noise pollution can actually cause physical issues

Harjas

harjas_singh_sidhu — 2021-06-12 02:09:27 UTC

1. Cities are already loud, and are projected to become louder with populations set to increase

2. Poorer neighbourhoods have been proven to be 2 decibels louder than more affluent neighbourhoods, which gives rise to health problems when faced with prolongued exposure, resulting in premature deaths

3. Innovative designs have been introduced into construction to prevent such overwhelming noise

4. Pink noise has been introduced to combat complete silence, too

Tyler

2021-06-12 02:10:02 UTC

- Cities generate a lot of noise, and increased numbers of city-dwellers means more noise
- Long-term exposure to noise can lead to health problems
- Affluence of neighborhoods affects noise levels (poorer neighborhoods are noisier)
- Solutions have pros and cons
- Noise is not all bad, pink noise helps increase productivity by reducing audibility of distractions. It also gives character to one's life in the city (liveliness)

I was surprised by the fact that poorer neighborhoods would be noisier from the statistics, as I felt that richer neighborhoods would be able to enjoy entertainment systems that produced a lot of noise, but it's not the case, probably because people in poorer neighborhoods may have to settle for noisier, outdoor social activities like basketball
It also kinda struck me that certain low-frequency noise increases productivity.

Tyen Raay

2021-06-12 02:10:23 UTC

Points
- The inevitability of facing construction noise has cause tremendous levels of stress among neighbours
- Noise interfering with business productivity because more people work from home

Thoughts
there is a noise level limit set by the NEA, but how to regulate and enforce?

Is it fair for people to complain about something they have no control over?

Danielle

2021-06-12 02:16:56 UTC

Points:

Causes of noise pollution in Singapore include:
- Expressways, MRT tracks
- Construction Sites
- Densely populated places like shopping malls, hawker centres and playgrounds
Average outdoor sound level is 69.4 decibels which exceeds NEA’s recommendation of no more than 67 decibels
Constant exposure can lead to hearing impairment, health problems and mental health problems
Measures:
- Tighter enforcements of construction sites
- Urban planning regulations
Doctors recommend use of hearing protection to protect hearing

Afterthoughts: