Inward
The silence is within
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Abstract
The inner city of Rotterdam is very dense and contains all kinds of activities and people. It is an area every citizen uses and whereby different purposes and behaviors occur. This makes it an area full of life, but also a fragile place looking
at the future and its liveability. As a result, residents who live or work in this area spend a significant amount of time in this area and have a difficult time finding a place to retreat.
This touches on the problem of noise pollution. The growing noise pollution determines the daily life of the citizens. And with it, psychological well-being is under pressure. According to Schafer (1993), there are only two ways to solve this problem: 1. a global energy crisis, which would eliminate the greatest sources of noise pollution; or 2. research into soundscape atmospheres and a focus on an auditory landscape (Schafer, R., 1993, p.181). The second choice seems to be a more optimistic one.
In this handbook, I will look at the role of noise pollution in the everyday lives of urban dwellers. The main focus here is the urban landscape, psychological well-being, and the relationship to sound perception. Urban planners place too much emphasis on vision, with the other senses playing a limited or non-existent role. As a result, the city’s image is incomplete (Castro, R., & Carvalhais, M., 2014, p.61).
This study aims to decrease the gap between psychology and urban planning but also to show a different ‘image’ of the world around us. And let’s hope that the composition of the sounds of the city will sound like your favorite song.