Sep 20, 2022
Epidemiologists around the world have sounded the alarm about
the health risks of rising noise pollution, and called out cars as
one of the largest sources of the crisis. In our quest to make
cities quieter, though, noise researcher Dr. Erica Walker says
we're missing a critical conversation about how unique communities
experience their local soundscapes, both in the streets and
beyond — and who we harm when we police decibel levels without
listening to marginalized people first.
In this episode of The Brake, we sit down with Dr. Walker
to explore not just why ultra-quiet electric cars
won't actually turn down the volume on our neighborhoods
much, but who gets to decide what our cities should sound like, how
we enforce arbitrary auditory standards, and why a peaceful,
walkable street is often the opposite of silent.
Learn
more about Dr. Erica Walker and the Community Noise Lab
here.