Spanish cities against Noise Pollution

As stated by the European Environment Agency in the report Noise in Europe 2014, noise pollution is a significant environmental health issue in Europe, both in urban and in rural areas. This idea is not a new one: as long ago as 1996 the European Union announced changes to its environmental noise policy, in line with what had been stated by the Fifth Environmental Action Programme of 1993. Noise had long been recognised as a factor that affects our quality of life, but it was only in 1993 that the EU acknowledged it as an important public health issue, declaring that “no person should be exposed to noise levels which endanger health and quality of life”.

Working for quieter cities

The European Noise Directive, published on June 25th 2002, broadens the definition of noise pollution from one limited to "environmental" noise to one that also includes "domestic" noise. "Noise pollution" now included not only obvious environmental noise, such as that emitted by road and rail transport, construction, aircraft, outdoor industrial equipment and mobile machinery, to everyday sounds made in the home and neighbourhood, at work places or inside means of transport. Despite having been recognised as an important issue for some time, noise pollution continues to affect our everyday lives. As urban populations continue to grow, it is likely that noise pollution and its effects on our health will increase in the future. In fact, the fight against noise pollution is also connected to the 11th of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2020: "Sustainable Cities and Communities". According to their website, half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – lives in cities today, and by 2030, almost 60 per cent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This data confirms the importance and the urgency of confronting this problem as soon as possible.

Spain against noise

Various cities in Spain have started acting against noise pollution, organising awareness-raising campaigns for citizens and promoting urban projects that aim at reducing its effects. Let’s have a look at some examples.

In 2010 the capital city, Madrid, implemented the Zonas de Protección Acustica Especiales (ZPAE), which correspond to three specific delineated areas of the city centre, classified according to the level of their acoustic contamination into high, medium and moderate. For each zone the City Government established different limits for the opening of night clubs and for activities such as outdoor street shows. At the same time, the programme included a system of rewards, such as extended opening hours during summer, for those pubs and clubs who respected the new restrictions. The City Hall also ran a series of public information and awareness-raising campaigns for the city's inhabitants.

Noise Islands

​In Bilbao, the City Government went in a different direction, not only reducing the existing noise levels, but contrasting the unpleasant noises with different kinds of sounds that could enhance people’s comfort and well-being. The name of this project is Islas Sonoras ("Noise Islands") and it consists in reorganising some existing squares in the city centre in order to transform them into “sound paradises”. How? For example, by planting new trees to create a kind of natural sound barrier, and by building fountains and water features. These initiatives expose people to the beneficial, relaxing sounds of nature, as well as restricting traffic in those areas where it had previously been permitted.

Isla Sonora en Bilbao; photo credit: calles de Bilbao

Make noise against noise

​The City Hall of Valencia provides us with another example. The local government, together with the University of Valencia, proposed a campaign called Haz Ruido Contra el Ruido which aimed at involving the youth in the fight against noise pollution. Their website contains various articles explaining how noise affects our everyday life, as well as calls for the creation of videos, comics or monologues dealing with the subject of noise pollution in the city. It is colourful and very well organised.

As we have seen, different kinds of programmes have been implemented, and some of them are still in place today. The fight against noise pollution can take many different forms; involving the youth, creating sound barriers, or creating oases of tranquillity in city centres. No matter which strategy, what is important is to act. We must educate people to respect the environment, teach them the importance of having a comfortable sound zone and inform them about the risks connected to exposure to high levels of noise. It is a matter of respecting both ourselves and the others: turn down the volume, let’s let silence speak! Project VivirSinRuido en Valencia; photo credit: hazruidocontraelruido