Ericson M. Scorsim. Lawyer and Consultant in Public Law. PhD in Law from USP (University of São Paulo). Author of the e-books: Direito a cidades livres de poluição sonora e Condomínios saudáveis e sustentáveis, livres de ruídos excessivos e poluição sonora, publicados na Amazon.[1] Co-founder of the “Associação Civil Monitor Ambiental Antirruídos”.
Property rights are constantly violated in cities.
Also, the right to quality of life is frequently disregarded in cities.
Now, property rights are associated with the personality rights of their owner.[2]
In a residential setting, a person has the right to use the property according to their private autonomy. The owner can use the property. For rest, for healthcare, for work, for leisure activities, for shelter and security. However, these inherent rights of property are deprived due to the antisocial acts of others.
Traffic noise pollution is a factor in the violation of property rights and disrespect for quality of life. People living in apartment buildings are frequently impacted by traffic noise from the street where they live. Residential areas are also contaminated by traffic noise pollution.
Everyone has the right to clean, safe, healthy, and sustainable streets, free from noise pollution. However, the street, an essential public good, is contaminated daily by noise pollution. Therefore, it is the duty of the local government to guarantee the sound quality of the streets, keeping them free from noise pollution.
Another example is the noise pollution from public passenger transport by bus, which violates property rights and the right to quality of life.
Consider the case of a residential property impacted by bus noise pollution. There is a potential risk of property devaluation due to this noise pollution. Here too, the local government has a duty to ensure the sound quality of the street, free from noise pollution from public passenger transport buses.
Another hypothesis is noise pollution within condominiums and neighborhood relations caused by construction and services that emit excessive, unnecessary, harmful, and abusive noise.
Therefore, the owner of the property impacted by noise pollution can adopt measures to defend their property and their quality of life. Here, the residential building has an obligation to ensure the building is clean, healthy, and sustainable, free from noise pollution and free from the emission of excessive, unnecessary, harmful, and abusive noise from construction and services. Residential building have an obligation of self-restraint in the emission of excessive, unnecessary, harmful, and abusive noise.
Therefore, property owners whose property is harmed by construction or service work have the right to file lawsuits to compel the residential building to adopt measures to eliminate, reduce, and isolate the emission of excessive noise from construction or service work.
Furthermore, there is also the case of noise pollution caused by building construction. In this case too, the property owner affected by excessive, unnecessary, harmful, and abusive noise emissions can adopt protective measures for their property and their quality of life.
The construction company has an obligation to adopt measures to eliminate, reduce, and isolate the emission of excessive, unnecessary, and harmful noise during construction and services. It is the construction company’s obligation to adopt self-restriction measures regarding noise emissions resulting from the use of equipment, machinery, and tools.
Unfortunately, there is a scenario of a toxic culture of noise pollution that deserves full attention, even for reasons of public health.
In Paraná, another innovative move, approval was granted. Law No. 22.830 of 2025 promotes the right to clean, healthy, and sustainable cities, free from noise pollution.
This state law incorporates the principles of acoustic efficiency, sound sustainability, and sustainable development.[3]
Furthermore, the law addresses the standardization of noise levels in accordance with the parameters of the World Health Organization.[4]
There are guidelines for urban planning aimed at reducing noise pollution, including through acoustic environmental zoning.[5]
There are incentives for healthy and sustainable transportation, including electric vehicles.[6]
There is a reference to hearing health care programs, with warnings about the risks of exposure to excessive noise, and with support for victims of noise pollution.[7]
There is a reference to programs for the inclusion, protection, and defense of the rights of people with neurodiversity and/or cognitive and auditory neurodivergence who are vulnerable to noise.[8]
There are incentives for measures aimed at the environmental and acoustic eco-efficiency of equipment, machinery, tools, and vehicles, both in their manufacture and operation.[9]
There is also reference to respecting the principles of acoustic environmental eco-efficiency and acoustic environmental sustainability in bidding processes, purchases, works, and services.[10]
There is also a reference to the noise emission control parameters defined by the World Health Organization.[11]
In summary, governance standards are urgently needed to protect property rights, including the right to quality of life and the right to health, for the purpose of preventing and controlling the emission of excessive, unnecessary, and harmful noise from works and services that utilize equipment, machinery, and tools that are harmful to health and the environment.
These governance standards for protecting property and quality of life should be adopted within the scope of urban governance, urban transit governance, public transport governance, environmental governance, health governance, security governance, condominium governance, governance in the equipment and machinery manufacturing industry, governance in civil construction, among others.
In summary, clean, healthy, and sustainable cities demand standards of acoustic environmental governance, both for the protection of sound quality and for the protection of property rights, the right to quality of life, the right to health, well-being, and comfort. Acoustic efficiency and sound environmental sustainability are principles that guarantee quality of life for all.
[1]Amazon – Direito a cidades livres de poluição sonora e Condomínios saudáveis e sustentáveis, livres de ruídos excessivos e poluição ambiental sonora.
[2] Radin , Margaret. Property and Personhood, 34 Stan L. Rev. 957 1981-1983, May, 2014. Heinonlien
[3]Art. 2, items I, II and III.
[4]Art. 3, item I.
[5]Art. 4, item I.
[6]Art. 4, item III.
[7]Art. 4, item VIII.
[8]Art. 4, item IX.
[9]Art. 4, item X.
[10]Art. 4, item XIII.
[11]Art. 4, item XIV.
