Spatial statistical analysis of the effects of urban form indicators on road-traffic noise exposure of a city in South Korea

The purpose of this study is to present a statistical model which can predict the noise level of road-traffic in urban area. A spatial statistical model which can take into account spatial dependency on geographically neighboring areas is constructed from a noise map of a city in South Korea. A system of 250 m × 250 m grid cells is placed on the city of Cheongju, South Korea, and the noise level and urban form indicators are averaged over each cell. The population-weighted mean of the noise level is subsequently regressed on the average urban form by adopting the spatial autoregressive model (SAR) and the spatial error model (SEM), as well as an ordinary least squares (OLS) model. Direct and indirect impacts are analyzed for a valid interpretation of the spatial statistical models. Factors such as GSI, FSI, traffic volume, traffic speed, road area density, and the fraction of industrial area turn out to have significant impacts on the noise level.