Noise monitoring: nudging toward better behavior

Leuven is at its heart a student city. Next to studying, students tend to party from time to time. This can result in disturbing night noise for the citizens of Leuven. The noise monitoring project aims to reduce this noise in the streets. Sound level sensors are placed at several points in a specific street, connected to the Urban Sense data platform. With the help of these sensors which collect the level, pitch, type and frequency of the sound, among other things, the noise can be measured in an objective way. 

These noises are then classified by origin through artificial intelligence to see whether it is a human, music, or motor sound. When the system detects disturbing nightly noise, identified as coming from people, we can, instead of punishing, try to nudge the people toward better behavior. This is done by dimming or brightening the streetlights to alert them of their disturbing behavior and by posting a message on the ground indicating for example that children are sleeping nearby and need to go to school tomorrow.  

The city learns at what times and during which days most nuisance is detected, and tests which type of nudge works best. The city can use this knowledge to further predict when noise can be expected and take appropriate measures where needed. Another advantage is that it is technically possible for the police to make interventions based on real-time data, provided that there is enough manpower and a short response time.