London’s Mayor wants a quieter life. Yesterday Ken Livingstone, published ‘Sounder City’ his strategy for tackling noise from traffic and similar sources in London.

The Mayor’s ambient noise strategy focuses on noise in the environment, mainly from transport. It is the first of its kind in the UK. The strategy aims to ensure noise from transport systems is better managed and that improved planning and urban design screen out noise where possible, and create more havens from the buzz of the city.

“In a modern city, noise is increasingly seen as a quality of life issue,” said Livingstone, whose new strategy aims to build noise management into as much city transport as possible. “One of my priorities is improving London's roads,” he said. “We need more resources to keep them in better repair and new lower noise road surfaces need to be used wherever they will be effective.”

“I also want a higher priority for noise reduction in planning and building design,” Livingstone continued, “so we can create more quiet spaces for Londoners to live and relax in. Many other actions are needed, and some of the key issues depend on Government, particularly on aircraft noise.”

In a MORI poll for the Greater London Authority in late 2003, 46 per cent of Londoners considered noise in general a problem. 24 per cent included noise as one of their two or three top priorities for improving the quality of the environment in London. The 2002 GLA London Household Survey asked which noises were a ‘serious problem’ for people where they lived. 13 per cent said road traffic and six per cent said aircraft noise, compared with four per cent who cited noisy neighbours.

Measures in the Mayor’s Noise Strategy include:

• Using new lower noise road surfaces and keeping streets in better repair.
• Making suitable streets more people friendly with a higher priority for public transport, walking and cycling.
• Integrating noise and vibration management into the plans of the rail network, including working towards quieter trains and better track quality and maintenance.
• Support for a ban on night flights, with other measures to reduce aircraft noise.
• Encouraging the installation of photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity and can form part of a barrier to noise.
• Designing buildings to screen homes, schools and other developments from noise, and create new quiet outdoor spaces.
• Guiding late night activities to suitable areas where better planning, policing, transport and street management can be focused.
• Shifting transport of freight to quieter and more sustainable modes of transport such as water.
• Trialling quiet fuel cell and hybrid-electric vehicles.