Can surrounding greenery reduce noise annoyance at home?

Annoyance has been identified as the most important psychological impact arisen from noise. Besides socioeconomic status, residing neighborhood characteristics such as greenery has been shown to be able to reduce noise annoyance. To study the effects of these potential annoyance modifiers, nine hundred and ninety-two responses were collected through face-to-face interviews via questionnaire surveys. Among them, six-hundred and eighty-eight responses were collected together with adequate dwelling information which enabled a more accurate prediction of home noise levels. All these data were analyzed using an ordered logit model. Results indicate that greenery perception exerts considerable influence on noise annoyance rated at home. Wetland parks and garden parks are shown to be able to reduce noise annoyance to a greater degree than grassy hills. And the effects of the perceived amount of greenery on noise annoyance reduction at home differ according to the setting of greenery to which participant perceived from individual home. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.