Sounds like maybe you want acoustic impedance ? Just like optical index mismatch, or electrical impedance mismatch, you get reflections at discontinuities. Neat stuff!
Not exactly sure what you mean by air-water-air "dampening," but my suspicion is that you're referring to sound being reflected at each interface, so the transmission is reduced. Antireflective coating, index matching, impedance matching are all rich topics in physics and electronics!
It's a matter of perspective and use
high density one place means you can have open space somewhere else, for a given amount of land.
I'd much prefer a few large dense housing complexes, surrounded by green space, than suburban sprawl.