Community response to environmental noise in Granada (Spain): an evaluation by means of a standardized social survey

Noise annoyance is one of the most important local environmental concerns designed to assess community response to environmental noise has been used in Granada (Spain) since 2005. The survey includes standardized questions and response scales that allow for comparable results with other similar studies. It pays special attention to road traffic noise and includes annoyance assessment as well as other noise effects in everyday activities. Several field campaigns were carried out in Granada coincident with the elaboration of the city second Strategic Noise Map (SNM), in order to evaluate by means of this questionnaire the effect of environmental noise on citizens and provide valuable additional information for Noise Action Planning (NAP) The sampling work was carried out by Local Agenda 21 Technical Office in collaboration with University of Granada researchers who also took part in the elaboration of Granada SNM. In this paper we present results of this survey focusing on noise annoyance rating, environmental noise effects on common activities and citizens' attitude to noise exposure. First results from a comparative study between experimental noise annoyance evaluation and doseeffect evaluation from SNM data is also included.