RNP 07 | Sonic Journal
The introduction of the RNP 07 flight paths in northern Brussels transforms residential neighborhoods and mixed-use areas into what Boucsein et al. (2017) call a ‘noise landscape.’ Field recordings, annotated observations, and small data traces (events, peaks, intervals), document how the RNP 07 pattern solidifies: silence becomes scarce, interruption the norm. This situated sonic field journal, in audio-essay form, art- and data-informed, traces how routing changes redefine the conditions of everyday urban environments and lived sonic UX.
March 19, 2026
NEW LIVED SONIC UX
The frequency of descending aircraft follows an approximate four-minute interval, forming sequences that have become an unanticipated phenomenon, subtly rewiring urban living into an infrastructural logic.
This is not mere noise. RNP 07 operates as a vibrational force, propagating through roofs, walls, and windows of domestic spaces. Sleep and everyday life become structured by its ‘rhythmic anarchitecture’ (Goodman, 2009) and the hyper-awareness it imposes.
RNP 07 refers to a GPS-driven Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedure, enabling aircraft to follow precise, repeatable three-dimensional routes. This system replaces traditional flight paths with predictable, consistent corridors (Eurocontrol, n.d.).
APRIL 08, 2026
ROOFTOP RECORDING
19:30 – 19:39
22° ☼ ༄ 5km/h
40 – 75 dB
APRIL 22, 2026
INTERIOR RECORDING
9:05 - 9:10
8° ☼ ༄ 12km/h ONO
30 - 75 dB (Peak: 81 dB)
Thermic insulation (2021)
Open window / side room
April 29, 2026
INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING
The implementation of RNP 07 demonstrates how transport infrastructure planning, presented as a technological solution for air navigation efficiency, may concentrate negative externalities in urban areas already marked by deprivation.
The routing of RNP 07 over densely populated inner-city neighborhoods in Brussels installs a time-space configuration that concentrates and intensifies disruptive effects, such as reduced domestic comfort and sleep disruption. Residents of neighborhoods characterized by socio-economic challenges and precarious housing conditions have voiced concerns online about the impact on their daily lives (Free Air Brussels North [collectif citoyen] and Collectif Stop Survol Bxl Nord et RNP 07L, n.d.).
While framed by efficiency, safety, and environmental objectives, the deployment of this technology-driven innovation risks producing unequal socio-spatial effects.
March 14, 2013
MEXICANTOWN
15:24 - 15:30
W VERNOR HWY
DETROIT (US)
JUNE 05, 2026
SONIC IMPACT, Health Risks and Urban Renovation
On Monday, June 8, the Brussels City Council will hear from residents about the lived impact of RNP 07, a GPS-based navigation procedure implemented without prior environmental impact assessment (EIA) or public participation. How will the City of Brussels address the noise-related risks to liveability, quality of life, and public health in neighborhoods undergoing renewal and redevelopment, particularly where housing conditions are already inadequate?
RNP 07, designed to optimize air navigation efficiency, risks interfering with urban renewal ambitions by creating sonic disruptions that impact liveability, quality of life, and health in renewal areas. The European Environment Agency’s 2025 report confirms risks, framing environmental noise as a public health crisis, while WHO guidelines establish thresholds (day/night) for health protection, which are surpassed in Brussels Region. Routing air traffic over densely populated neighborhoods where housing is ill-prepared for such exposure, risks exacerbating inequalities and sabotaging renewal efforts.
JUNE 26, 2026
Climate Adaptation: Aesthetics, Acoustic & Thermal Comfort
Living along the Chaussée d’Anvers, at the edge of historic and more recent urban fabric in Brussels’ North District, the sensory conflicts of urban life cannot be ignored. Last night, windows were left open to cope with the heat; aircraft noise from RNP 07 flight routes followed. A neighbor, a mother of five, resides in a rear house beneath a black-membrane flat roof, her family’s only outdoor space a half-square-meter terrace. This situation exceeds a simple condition of discomfort. It is an atmospheric condition where thermal and acoustic stresses intersect and accumulate.
As part of an art-driven research experiment (Claus et al., 2024), last summer I explored with local residents, including our neighbor’s children, the lived experience of acoustic comfort along the Chaussée d’Anvers, with the sidewalk beneath the tree canopies of President Garden as one of the sites. One of the planning scenarios tested during the project proposes enclosing this green space with taller buildings. The argument combines urban densification with the expectation that a more enclosed street profile could improve acoustic comfort by shielding the garden from traffic noise.The scenario risks installing a spatial logic of uneven distribution, where acoustic comfort is not uniformly accessible in time and space, privileging some spaces over others. The implementation of RNP 07 adds another dimension of disruption, concentrating aircraft noise in areas already confronted by thermal stress and socio-spatial precarity. The result is an accumulation of atmospheric conditions that reveals the limits of treating these as discrete problems.
A situated, affective, and AI-powered engagement playfully revealed a flaw in such assumptions. Audible and inaudible vibrations propagate through material and air, modulating across structural interfaces, triggering resonance, and redistributing affect across urban sites, building complexes, and landscapes. The limitations of the planning scenario and the additional impact of RNP 07 demonstrate how the current socio-technical regimes of governance neglect the relational nature of urban atmospheres.
Atmospheric urbanism, as a transdisciplinary practice, has the capacity to reframe these challenges as interconnected atmospheric conditions. It positions acoustic comfort not as an isolated challenge but as a relational challenge, entangled with thermal, aesthetic, and social dimensions. This transdisciplinary framing allows us to address the accumulation of conditions and the unequal distribution of comfort in contemporary urban environments.
Bibliography:
Boucsein, B., Christiaanse, K., Kasioumi, E., & Salewski, C. (2017). The noise landscape: A spatial exploration of airports and cities. nai010 uitgevers.
Claus, C., Loupas, G., Kritopoulou, P., & Georgakopoulou, N. (2024). Sonic Drift CDA: Performance of an AI-based sonic geographic dérive. In M. Boubezari, C. R. Duarte, & E. Pinheiro (Eds.), Sensory explorations, ambiances in a changing world: Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on Ambiances (pp. 432–443). International Ambiances Network, Oct 2024, Lisbonne, Portugal. (ISBN: 978-989-757-300-2).
Eurocontrol. (n.d.). Required navigation performance approach (RNP). https://www.eurocontrol.int/product/required-navigation-performance-approach
European Environment Agency. (2025). Environmental noise in Europe: 2025. Publications Office.
Free Air Brussels North (collectif citoyen) & Collectif Stop Survol Bxl Nord et RNP 07L. (n.d.). [Facebook pages].
Goodman, S. (2009). Sonic warfare: Sound, affect, and the ecology of fear. MIT Press.
World Health Organization. (2018). Environmental noise guidelines for the European region. https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289053563
Citation:
Claus, C. (2026). RNP 07 Sonic Journal. https://clauscaroline.be/rnp-07/
© Caroline Claus 2026