PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

The influence of noise sensitivity on residential location

Article | 22-10-2007

People move to another house for different reasons. It is sometimes presumed that a process of self-selection might take place on the basis of noise sensitivity, i.e. sensitive people would either leave high noise areas or not move into these areas in the first place. Thus, a ‘survivor-population’ would remain in the high noise areas. This research aims to investigate whether such a process can be observed in the Netherlands. The study does not show evidence of a process of self-selection based on noise sensitivity. Nevertheless, the results suggest that noise-sensitive people are less satisfied with their living environment and are more willing to move than those who are not noise sensitive. Due to the limited sample size, external validity is limited.

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Author(s)Nijland HA ; Hartemink S ; Kamp I van ; Wee B van
Publication date22-10-2007
PublicationJ Acoust Soc Am 2007; 122(3):1595-601