How the Pandemic Changed the Urban Soundscape
A map of recordings from around the world during lockdowns reveals what cities sound like without noise pollution.
In the empty streets of Amsterdam in April, sounds like the Westerkerk church bells that once dominated the city’s soundscape could be heard more vividly again without noise pollution.
Photographer: Henk Seppen/BSR Agency/Getty Images
When cities went on lockdown during the pandemic, things got quieter, but they didn’t fall totally silent. Instead, the hooting of the scops owls became more distinct in Thessaloniki, Greece, where the sound of traffic once drowned them out. Birds in San Francisco sang in softer and clearer tones absent the honking of cars and rumbling of engines. Meanwhile in New York City, the humming of air conditioners from the towering buildings replaced the bustling noise of a once-packed Times Square.
“You could just hear different things that you couldn't hear before,” says Stuart Fowkes, a U.K.-based artist who’s been mapping how sounds of cities have been changing since 2014. “I spent nights just walking around Oxford, where we have one of the world's oldest libraries. And when you walked past it, you could hear the sound of air conditioning coming out of the library, that's keeping all of these 400-year-old books dry and safe.”