Sound

Concrete sound wall next to empty freeway.

Study: Silence Raises Property Values

A Florida study found homes near recently built sound walls saw a rise in value.

December 18, 2025 - The Wall Street Journal

Man standing on riverbank in Montreal holding up sound measuring equipment.

Montreal Artist Envisions What Cities Would Sound Like if we Deprioritized Cars

What would a city sound like without the noise of vehicles?

November 6, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Close-up of "Residential Quiet Zone" sign.

Noise as a Public Health Hazard

New ways of measuring the effects of sound on human health are helping communities fight back against noise pollution.

January 15, 2025 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Close-up of hand holding up decibel meter with blurred highway with traffic in background

The Case Against Noise Pollution

A detailed description of how noise impacts health and wellbeing.

June 12, 2023 - The New York Times

Noise

Using Tech to Control Noise Pollution

Several cities are piloting programs that use machine learning to identify and understand urban noise patterns and enforce noise ordinances.

December 13, 2021 - Bloomberg CityLab

Sound Audio Waves

When Noise Is a Matter of Life and Death

The world is noisier than ever, and the long-term effects of exposure are serious. Still, noise pollution isn’t considered a legitimate environmental hazard.

October 31, 2019 - The Atlantic

Woodlands

The Search for Natural Silence

With more cars on roads and planes in the sky than ever before, finding truly noise-free places with pure natural sounds has become ever more challenging.

July 2, 2019 - KUOW (The Wild)

Landscape near the Craters of the Moon in South Central Idaho

The Noisiest Places Are Found Far From the City

Humans can't always hear the sound, but there is plenty of noise in what we think of quiet corners of the United States.

May 14, 2019 - FiveThirtyEight

An Aural Trip to Burning Man

Sound recordist and architect Nick Sowers offers an audio experience of the annual festival Burning Man.

January 15, 2011 - Places

Sound Assault on Mall Loafers

Mall officials in Washington D.C. are fighting back against young people accused of causing a ruckus outside shopping areas by installing a device that emits an annoying high-pitched frequency only audible to young people.

September 15, 2010 - The Washington Post

DJ BLDGBLOG

Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG joins WFMU's DJ/Rupture as a guest selecter, offering some musical picks and discussion about the architecture of sound -- and the sound of architecture.

December 16, 2009 - WFMU

The Effects of the Background Noise of City Life

Urban sounds can have an effect on people -- both physically and mentally. This sonic tour through New York City examines how sounds affect urbanites.

August 3, 2009 - Discover

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

Director, Strategy and Research

Greater Baltimore Committee

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.