Noise is defined as any unwanted or harmful sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, by road, rail, air traffic, and industrial sites.
Noise, like all sounds, is measured by the intensity and frequency of the waves that hit the ear. The unit used to measure the noise level is decibels (dB). The higher the number of decibels, the higher the noise and the more harmful it becomes to the ears.
The factors that influence the generation of high noise levels are many, but the most important are:
• Urban planning is not integrated with transport planning. This has allowed urban developments and major transport corridors to ignore appropriate buffer zones between roads and buildings,
• the increase in the number of vehicles for individual transport and the lack of a plan to implement or adopt partial solutions, which include greater use of public transport,
• traffic on many existing roads (through residential areas) has increased beyond projections during the planning or construction period,
• lack of community awareness and publicizing of potential findings for resolving the problem,
• lack of parking spaces on the most populated urban areas, especially within city areas,
• the long stay of vehicles at traffic lights, as a result of a discrepancy between the time of stay at traffic lights regulated intersections and the time allowed for passing vehicles. This imbalance causes a higher level of noise from vehicles.
• allowing heavy-duty vehicles to pass through the city due to the lack of alternative roads.