Sonic Equality

I have read quite a lot recently about inequality in Britain, and despite improvement in the lives of many during Labours time, the poorest and most vulnerable people are still being shunted into run down estates, many still recovering from having their communities dislodged to make way for roads, or being displaced and dislodged from their existing homes with the promise of better quality housing often miles from where they live.

Hand in hand with modern poverty in Britain come tales of illiteracy, violence, illness and lives ended way below the average expectancy. There are so many factors that contribute to this, but it is worth considering the sonic implications which largely go unquoted beyond the general noise levels of busy roads or unruly neighbours.

From the start estates were built as part of the inner city slum clearances, and people who were used to the hustle and bustle of city life, the variety of sounds that come from living in close quarters to so many other families, the sounds of work, play and everything else that life offers, suddenly found themselves miles away from all of this. Not exactly in amongst the rich sonic texture offered up by true countryside, but rather in a man made between space.

These places are often eerily quiet bar the constant hum of the roads that circle them, and were a huge shock to people. A change of sonic environment can go hand in hand with a change in Psyche and people found this hard to deal with despite an appreciation of the relative peace and quiet it offered. Something was missing, a huge part of people's make up and understanding of the world was taken away. This bleak quietness, particularly during the day, is still a feature of many estates.

It is a complex case though, because just as many estates reside in silence, others are considered noisy and intrusive, with residents complaining that they can get no peace at all. This is also often of the authorities making, building major roads too close to mass amounts of housing or moving notoriously noisy residents to particular estates in order to quieten others down.

Susception to intrusive, uninvited sound can indeed increase stress, induce mental illness, hinder learning and lead to premature death, so these factors need to be considered much more closely than they currently are.

Although being quiet at times is good for us all, there is little evidence that I have seen to suggest that enforced silence is beneficial, indeed it is often used as a method of torture. But, there is evidence that certain music and sounds can have a positive impact on our mental and physical states, and are often used as part of therapy and rehabilitation.

Somewhere a balance must be found between the anguish of living in a barren sonic landscape and one that is so sonically intrusive it is detrimental to people's health.