Life+2010 QUADMAP project (QUiet areas definition and management in action plans): Results of post operam data analysis and the optimized methodology

The EU Directive 49/2002/EC on Environmental Noise refers to Quiet Urban Areas (QUAs) as places whose acoustic climate should be preserved because a noise indicator is lower than a threshold established by each Member State. This definition appears to be extremely gener-ic and doesn't provide usable procedures to be applied in each Country. Proposing a solution to overcome the lack of harmonized methodologies for QUAs is the main aim of QUADMAP (QUiet Areas Definition and Management in Action Plans) Project. The results of the Project will facilitate urban planners to apply standard procedures for identification, delimitation and prioritization of QUAs. The Project has a high level of demonstrativeness guaranteed by the fact that the proposed methodology has been tested in a number of pilot areas in Florence (Italy), Bilbao (Spain) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands). The Project start-ed on 1st September 2011 and lasts three years and half. At the beginning of 2013 the harmo-nized methodology has been defined. The proposed procedures have been tested since Feb-ruary 2013 in all pilot cases and the methodology has been improved, in line with experienc-es gained during data collection and analysis of the ante-operam scenarios. Since the begin-ning of 2014, the realization of interventions started, following indications coming from end-users questionnaires, expert analysis, technicians and application of complementary criteria. In the pilot areas of Bilbao interventions have been completed by June 2014, while in Flor ence and Rotterdam they have been concluded by the end of the same year. In the meantime, post-operam data collection and analysis have started. In this paper results of the post operam data analysis are described and compared with those obtained on the ante-operam phase. Moreover, the main innovative elements introduced in the optimized methodology are illustrated.