The European Community is now commissioning a series of initiatives to reduce the problem of excess noise in large cities. First off will be noise level maps for all cities with more than 250,000 people.

‘In the same way that X-rays reveal broken bones, completed maps will help show how the rumble of cars, planes and trains sickens cities and, experts fear, their inhabitants.’

I also believe that it is not just audible noise that causes problems, but also the visual kind – specifically the non-stop visual assault created by such man-made pollutants as advertising signs, billboards, garish buildings and vehicles, loud ties on the underground et al. Perhaps someone should look at mapping that kind of problem?