Trains screech, Buses hum and cars rev. The clanging and banging of building works add layers of percussion to the every day humdrum of the metropolis. However, before the anthropocene and the development of London as a city, the sounds of the trees rustling, the babbling brooks and the caws and yawns of the wild animals reigned supreme over the Thames region and the sonic realm respectively.

The term noise pollution was coined in the 1970s, meaning the unwanted or excessive sound that can have an adverse effect on human health, wildlife and environmental quality. In most cases caused by the development of human technology and overconsumption. I propose to redefine this term phenomenologically using a solipsistic approach focusing on sound perception and first hand experiences through living in Central London. I will discuss in what context a sound can be considered noise pollution using Grimshaw and Garner’s redefinition of sound as emergent perception. I will consider the environment a sound may usually be found within, who is there to sense it and how their auditory perception(experience, background and ontological relation to all these concepts). It is important to note I am not suggesting noise pollution isn’t an issue for wildlife and human health, this is more a discussion on the term noise pollution itself and whether its etymology is truly representative of the definition of the term. Finally, I will discuss which sounds are rejected by the city and how this affects different intersectional groups of the city.