Review of traffic noise problems and noise control policy in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong has a unique noise problem unparalleled by other metropolitan cities in the world.Hong Kong is sometimes labeled as one of the noisiest cities in the world.Hong Kong has made tremendous efforts to improve its noise environment with some success.However,major noise problems remain,partly because of the congested urban structure,and partly because of past neglect in noise planning in the 70’s and earlier that cannot be resolved overnight.Traffic noise is the single most notorious noise source in Hong Kong,80% of the population in Hong Kong are affected by road traffic noise to different extent.This paper presents the extent of the traffic noise problem and the current traf-fic noise policy in Hong Kong;it also discusses the problems encountered and concludes with HKIOA’s proposed traf-fic noise control policy for further considerations. 不同于世界其他大城市,香港因其特有的噪声问题,有时会被冠以世界最嘈杂的城市的称号。对此,香港政府为改善噪声环境付出了极大的努力,并且取得了一定的成效。然而,主要的噪声问题仍然存在,部分缘于其拥挤的城市结构以及八十年代之前城市规划时对噪声污染问题的忽视,这些都不是一朝一夕之间能解决的问题。香港的噪声问题中,又以交通噪声最为严重,80%的香港人在不同程度上受到道路交通噪声的影响。该文介绍了香港交通噪声问题及其现行的交通噪声政策,并讨论了现行政策所遇到的问题,最后介绍了由香港声学学会提议的进一步的交通噪声控制策略。