IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

While the potential of pedestrianisation schemes to reduce street noise by limiting motorised traffic is widely acknowledged, few studies have sought to assess the impacts of pedestrianisation on street noise using high-quality empirical before-and-after data. This is especially true for dense urban contexts with a strong public space culture, where reductions in traffic noise may be counterbalanced by increases in noise associated to street life and pedestrian activity. To this end, we use open data from 7 noise monitoring stations situated along Barcelona’s new “green axes” to assess changes in street noise following their pedestrianisation in early 2023. Overall, our results suggest that noise levels have diminished consistently for all study locations following pedestrianisation: average reductions are greatest (-4.7 dB) during daytime (Ld) and lowest (-1.2 dB) during the evening (Le), with an average 24-hour reduction of -3.1 dB (Lden). To complement noise monitor data, we also report key results from a representative survey targeting residents of the new green axes and neighbouring streets (n = 1,211), regarding perceived street noise and its impacts on residents’ homes. These survey results suggest that although residents of the new green axes are still negatively impacted by street noise, they are less so than residents of neighbouring streets, reporting among others more frequent use of rooms and balconies facing the main street.