Analysis of the Nuisance and Annoyance of Inhabitants in a Central Commercial Area of the Metropolis by a Free Response Method

Abstract

The nuisance and annoyance of inhabitants living in a central commercial area of the metropolis, Tokyo, were examined by the frequency of word description and by the cluster analysis of words in free response data, where respondent's adjacency to a trunk road was taken into account.
Residents described noise and vibration at night caused by roadworks for public utilities and various construction works, unlawful parking on roads, midnight littering of garbage and rubbish at entertainment zones to wine and dine and a bad smell from sewerage. Nighttime roadworks were unwillingly permitted by the authority not to hamper daytime passage of too heavy traffic flow.
Even among residents on the sides of trunk roads, the description of noise caused by nighttime roadworks predominated in their answers.