The Effects of Increasing Noise Pollution at Schiphol Airport on Local Populations and Housing Markets

This study investigates the increase in noise disturbance resulting from activities at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands over the past decade, through both the impact of increasing airline activity and the decrease in average airline noise. The study begins in section 2 by stating the research questions with respective hypotheses, before conducting qualitative research to look at the overall noise levels emitted by flight activity at Schiphol in section, in order to see whether or not the increase in locals suffering from noise disturbance is proportional or not. Secondly, in section 4, it aims to discover, through quantitative research, the effect that this has had on the local economy, more specifically on housing prices within the areas most affected by it. It was found that the increase in local noise disturbance was indeed at a similar level to increases in actual noise, and that despite average aircraft becoming quieter, the increases in activity have resulted in noise disturbance rising remarkably over the ten-year period. Furthermore with regards to real estate, initial results indicated the very closest municipalities showing a negative correlation between housing prices and flight movements, but these results were found to be insignificant. No solid conclusions could be drawn, and the data did not support the hypothesis that increasing flight movements negatively influenced housing prices.