Birmingham ranked as one of Europe’s noisiest cities

Birmingham is one of the noisiest cities in Europe, according to new research.

A study by the financial company Money analysed 23 major cities around Europe on factors such as the density of people, the levels of road and air traffic, and noise pollution to reveal the noisiest cities in the continent.

Birmingham was ranked ninth on the list, behind only London (2) and Manchester (6) in the UK.

In Birmingham, the study claims that there are 756,000 people exposed to road traffic noise, and 55,700 exposed to railway traffic noise, with a noise pollution score of 0.89, and congestion levels of 28%.

The noisiest cities in Europe

Taking first place is France’s capital, Paris. The City of Light was the worst for the numbers of people exposed to road traffic and railway noise, as well as levels of congestion.

Paris is of course a major global city, home to millions of people, with common sounds including the ringing bells of cyclists on the roads and crowds packing into bars.

London was ranked second. London was the city which had by far the greatest air traffic of the cities on the list (181 million passengers in 2019), and also had more than half a million people exposed to high levels of noise from railways too.

Rome, another bustling European city, takes third place in the rankings.

The Italian capital had one of the highest congestion levels (38%), meaning that rush hour journeys take 38% longer than they would in normal conditions, and traffic is one of the most common causes for noise in the city.

Barcelona also has the highest rate of noise pollution.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.