Traffic on Des Voeux Road

It is nine o’clock on a Sunday morning, when Li Shaojun leaves her apartment as usual, heading to her office. She will spend the rest of day in her office until half past ten at night.

“I prefer not to stay at home during daytime, even on weekends or public holidays,” Li said.

Li is a Master of Philosophy student at the University of Hong Kong. Her workload is not so time-consuming that she has to be in office for more than 10 hours a day. It is the unpleasant traffic noise that drives her to stay away from her own apartment.

Li Shaojun lives on the 15th floor alongside the Connaught Road West, where a highway and a main road runs down the windows of her apartment.

“Everyday I wake up by the traffic noise around eight, and I can’t fall asleep until one at night when there are fewer buses and cars running through below my windows,” she said.

Li Shaojun is only one of the million people who suffer from excess traffic noise, making it the biggest noise problem in Hong Kong, according to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) of the government.

In early-developed districts like the Central and Western District, poor planning, cramped construction and more traffic brought by the economic growth has resulted in the problem that people’s homes are built next to busy roads. Please click to see the map of noise levels in the Central and Western District compiled by EPD.

There are no trees, plastic shields, or soundproof insulation of any kind between road traffic and people’s apartments in the early-developed districts. There is nothing to shield the residents from the chronic traffic noise.