Socio-Economic Status and Inequalities in Exposure to Transportation Noise in Hong Kong

Environmental inequality has been validated with social data in many cities worldwide but not in Hong Kong. By applying the latest 3D noise mapping technique and using census data, this study tries to (1) determine the transportation noise exposure of urban inhabitants in Hong Kong; (2) ascertain the extent to which differences in transportation noise exposure are related to the socio-economic status of the inhabitants; and (3) ascertain if socio-economic variations across the city is related to the variations in noise exposure levels associated with varying urban forms and planning history. The results provide evidence for environmental inequality in Hong Kong, showing that noise exposure is weakly but significantly correlated to education attainment and income. Significant differences in socio-economic indicators are also observed among residents of different housing types associated with different time periods. Residents less exposed to road traffic noise are generally in newer buildings, wealthier and better educated.