2019 Urban Research Award: The Impact of Tourism on Environmental Sound Levels in Urban and Park Environments

PI: Erica Walker, MSc, ScD; Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Richard Primack, PhD; Professor, Department of Biology

Sound pollution in urban areas can cause physical and mental health problems which disproportionately affect poor and underserved communities; it can reduce the cultural vitality of outdoor areas; and it can harm wildlife. The investigators will study the impacts of tourism on a city’s environmental soundscape to better understand how the effects of tourism affect urban areas compared to highly-visited park areas. Urban areas including Boston, MA and Bar Harbor, ME will be studied, along with highly-visited parks including Walden Pond and Acadia National Park.

Publications

Walker, E. D., Lee, N. F., Tieskens, K. F., Cavallari, J. M., Schollaert, C., & Levy, J. I. (2021). Adaptive reuse and its impacts on the acoustical environment and public health of community residents: the case of Fenway, Boston, MA. Cities & Health, 1-11.

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