A particular cause for concern in environmental justice studies is the phenomenon of noise emission caused by modern transportation. Considered as an increasing environmental problem, it has an extreme local range and depends on many factors of the urban structure. Persistent noise emissions from road-, rail- and air traffic are considered as disturbing by many residents and are associated in epidemiological studies with health effects and diseases. Europe-wide noise reduction planning is in progress with the objective of decreasing the number of affected individuals. An argument used to highlight the relevance of noise effects is by putting a monetary value on it. One possible method for monetization is the approach of external costs. The method allows the financial assessment of different effects that noise has on a single individual depending on the noise exposure level. The new aspect of this paper is the distinction of external costs for different socio-economic groups. The hypothesis is that deprived groups in society have to bear higher external costs from noise than other social groups. The core of the analysis is the map-based visualization of external cost from noise pollution and socio-demographic composition of an area. It can serve as an essential tool to sensitize policy planners for equity and environmental justice matters. The underlying analysis starts with the development of cost factors to monetize the external noise effects on health (e.g. cardiovascular diseases) and the annoyance of humans. In the second step, the cost factors are used to calculate external costs for all buildings in the study area Berlin based on the noise level of the facade. The results are merged with data about the social background of the inhabitants. It can be shown whether specific socio-demographic groups (e.g. unemployment, immigrants) are exposed to noise by different degrees.
