Living with Noise in Mexico City. The Process of Adaptation to Acoustically Hostile Environments

The proposal presented here is the result of a recently completed anthropological doctoral research project entitled 'The aural aspect of urban life. Noise, coexistence and conflict over the soundscape in Mexico City.' The general purpose of the study was to analyze the phenomenon of noise beyond its aesthetic dimension, in other words, as a social construction resulting from the interrelationship between spatial, demographic, psychological, cultural and historical factors, defined by the urban lifestyle. Within this framework of reflections, the analysis of the adaptation process as a founding phenomenon of environmental relations is a priority, as it explains the match and mismatch between the urban environment and its inhabitants. Specifically, in speaking of the noise, the aim is to find out about the various ways in which this relationship has been developed not only via sensory atrophy, but also through various techniques for constructing everyday life, where achieving normality is a pathological situation of life in large cities such as Mexico City. Adapted from the source document.