Environmental noise is differently associated with negative and positive urban experience: an exploratory first-person pedestrian mobile study in Santiago de Chile

Abstract

Specific city features such as environmental noise have been related to psychological distress. The effects of noise - as a health risk variable - might depend on socioeconomic and demographic factors. However, this has not been fully tested yet. The present work explored the relationship between pedestrians' first-person experience in the presence of natural urban environmental noise while walking through neighbourhoods in Santiago, Chile. Participants completed a predetermined guided walk. Geo-referenced mobile eye-tracking measured first-person audio-visual perceptual experience while being interviewed in situ. Results show the likelihood of reporting negative experiences is higher when environmental noise increases, while the likelihood of reporting positive experiences is reduced when environmental noise decreases. However, when socioeconomic status is considered as regressor, lower-income neighbourhoods report the inverse effect. We interpret these findings taking into account accessibility to green areas, public safety and access to public facilities that noisy environments afford. We hypothesize that the augmentation of environmental noise in lower-income neighbourhoods is associated with urbanicity benefits. Our results document the phenomenological impact of inequality in urban planning and development.