Ruído de tráfego e variáveis urbanas: Estudo de caso do bairro Altiplano Cabo Branco, João Pessoa (PB)

Abstract

Creating noise maps is a crucial tool for urban planning, as it allows the visualization of noise pollution in the analyzed area, which is essential for diagnosing and proposing noise mitigation strategies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise pollution is the second most common type of environmental pollution, second only to air pollution. The same organization published a report indicating that, by 2050, approximately 1/4 of the global population could have some degree of hearing loss (WHO, 2017). This scenario becomes increasingly alarming given the rapid growth of urban areas and the consequent increase in roads and vehicle fleets. However, in Brazil, no regulations or legislation regulate or require the creation of these maps, resulting in a significant gap. In the city of João Pessoa, based on the traffic noise maps of the neighborhoods produced by the SOMar group, the worsening scenario of noise pollution in the city's eastern part is noticeable. This work, therefore, contributes to the diagnosis of another important neighborhood, Altiplano Cabo Branco, which is undergoing a rapid process of densification and verticalization. This work aims to map the traffic noise in the Altiplano Cabo Branco neighborhood and analyze it based on regulations and urban variables. In this way, this work also aims to contribute to disseminating the current noise situation in the community and to raise awareness among the population and competent authorities about the effects on the quality of life of its inhabitants. From a methodological point of view, several steps were taken to achieve this objective. This process included bibliographic, legislative, and regulatory research on the subject, study of related maps, characterization of the neighborhood, collection of field research data, systematization of data for simulation of the noise map in the Soundplan software, validation of the map, and analyses. In summary, the results show that the neighborhood has sound pressure levels above those indicated in NBR 10151/2019, especially near roads with heavy traffic, a situation aggravated by restricted access to the neighborhood and areas of high population density, revealing it to be a neighborhood designed for cars.