Investigating sonic injustice: A review of published research

Abstract

Sound has been researched as either an environmental pollutant (noise) with detrimental health effects or an environmental resource with beneficial outcomes for well-being. We define sonic injustice as unjust inequalities in both noise exposure and access to high-quality, beneficial sound environments. We performed a comparative analysis of 34 peer-reviewed studies on sonic injustice. These studies were from Europe, North America, Accra and Hong Kong. We found suggestive evidence of a social inequality in noise exposure, particularly for low income and racial/ethnic groups. In contrast, children were often associated with an underexposure to noise. We did not find any studies on inequalities in access to beneficial sound environments, except for one study on quiet areas. As well, this review identifies trends in European and North American studies; discusses causal mechanisms for sonic inequalities; and presents avenues for future investigations into sonic injustice.

Keywords: Environmental inequality; Environmental noise; Health effects of noise; Literature review; Noise exposure; Restorative sound environments; Social determinants; Sonic justice.