Growing tourist flows, which crowd ancient city centres, have modified their liveability and threatened conservation. They have increased the need for quiet places, primarily where green parks are missing. While previous studies have highlighted the possibility of reusing hidden sites of historical buildings, it is not clear if this scheme can also be applied in other contexts, and which physical or perceptual dimensions are mainly related to the restoration of these sites. If greenery and water elements induce positive effects on people’s well-being, we want to understand if the historical–artistic component can be just as important for people’s restorativeness. To this end, the physical and perceptual characteristics of 20 different sites in Naples and Istanbul were investigated through objective and subjective surveys. The results show that the sound levels inside sites cannot consistently account for the perception of the restorativeness in Italy and Turkey, while some sound level differences caused by outside noise could. Moreover, soundscape, appreciation, maintenance/management, and importance/relevance were the main perceptual dimensions describing these places. The importance/relevance dimension was strongly correlated with all the components of the restorativeness, especially with the fascination. These findings are consistent between the Italian and Turkish groups.

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Hızla büyüyen, kalabalıklaşan, karmaşıklaşan ve daha gürültülü hale gelen kentlerde yaşam kalitesi giderek düşmekte ve kentte yaşayan insanlar sessiz/sakin bir ortamda dinlenme, rahatlama ve rehabilite olma ihtiyacı hissetmektedir. Bu anlamda kentsel bölgelerdeki park, bahçe, avlu vb. açık alanlar sessiz/sakin alan olarak, bu ihtiyacın karşılanması için kullanılabilecek öneme sahip mekanlardır. Bu tür yerlere örnek bir alan olarak Eskişehir Kurşunlu Camii ve Külliyesi bahçesi bu çalışmada konu edilmiştir. Eskişehir Odunpazarı Kentsel Sit Alanı içerisinde bulunan ve bir Osmanlı Dönemi yapı grubu olan külliye, tarihi değeri ve turistik kullanımı ile ön plana çıksa da külliyeyi oluşturan binaların arasında kalan yeşil alan, çevresine göre sessiz/sakin bir yer olma potansiyeline sahiptir. Bu bağlamda bahçe, alana sessizlik/sakinlik niteliği kazandıran özellikleri açısından işitsel peyzaj yaklaşımıyla alan çalışması üzerinden incelenerek sessiz/sakin alan olma potansiyeli değerlendirilmiş, sessizlik/sakinlik algısını etkileyen faktörler (akustik özellikler, mekânsal özelikler, işlev) belirlenmiştir. Alan çalışmasında akustik ölçüm ve anket yapılmıştır. Akustik ölçüm sonuçlarına göre alandaki ses basınç düzeyi (LAeq) kabul edilebilir düzeyin (55 dB’in) altındadır. Anket sonuçlarına göre ise beklenene paralel olarak alan, çoğunluk tarafından sessiz/sakin olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Alanda sessizlik/sakinlik algısını etkileyen faktörler alan özelliklerine göre; alanda su sesinin, kuş seslerinin ve dini seslerin duyulması; ses kaynağı sayısının ve çeşidinin az olması; yetişkin ağaçların bulunması, alanın tarihi ve kültürel değere sahip olması şeklinde ifade edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak Kurşunlu Camii ve Külliyesi bahçesinin sessiz/sakin alan olarak kullanılabileceği ve dolayısıyla farklı kentsel bölgelerde bu alan ile benzer özelliklere sahip açık alanların da ergonomik kent koşullarının oluşturulmasına katkı sağlayan alanlar olarak değerlendirilebileceği ortaya konulmuştur

Mosques are Islamic places of worship where speech and music rituals are performed. Since two different languages are spoken there, mosques are described as bilingual spaces. Among studies on the complex acoustic structure of mosques there are only few studies on speech intelligibility and none on the bilingual characteristics of the mosque. Therefore, a comprehensive study has been carried out to evaluate the acoustic comfort of the contemporary Turkish mosques (CTM) over speech intelligibility of Turkish and Arabic languages. In the study the CTM model providing optimum acoustic conditions recommended in the literature is examined on speech intelligibility by applying acoustic simulation and auralisation techniques, as well as word recognition tests. As a result, the acoustic condition in the model is found insufficient in terms of speech intelligibility of both languages. Also, with the decrease of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), the Turkish intelligibility ratio is observed to decrease at least two times faster than the Arabic ones.This study is viewed as an outline for researchers to further study mosque acoustics in terms of speech intelligibility, and thus support the standardisation process of the acoustic comfort criteria for the mosques.

The spread of noise in urban areas  The effect of facade features and road widths on the propagation of noise  Effects of parameters affecting noise propagation on street canyon formation Figure A. Three-dimensional model used in the simulations of Atatürk Street Purpose:The aim of this study is to examine the propagation of noise in urban areas, which is one of the most important problems of today's cities, through simulations depending on the changes in parameters that affect the propagation of sound.Theory and Methods: For this purpose; Turkey Eskisehir having an average population, a busy two-lane transportation arteries around the adjacent 7-8 storey Ataturk Avenue is a street where the building was chosen as the case study. In the study, the current physical state of Atatürk Street was animated through the acoustic simulation program (which has an algorithm called "ray tracing" that takes into account the effects of multiple reflections, first and second order diffractions) and the variations created by applying many different facade features and road width applications on the animation. The effect on the formation of the street canyon was evaluated by comparing the variations with the current situation. Results:The results of the study showed that the facade characteristics and different road widths have a significant effect on the propagation of environmental noise in the facade plane and in the entire road section. In this context; Although the presence of console, balcony and parapet in the facade setup and the presence of parapet slope have a negative effect on the ground floor; it has serious positive effects on the upper floors; terraced facades have a great positive effect on the difference in noise level, even though it is partly due to the increased distance between the façade plane and the traffic line; As the facade materials, the bottom of the balcony and the interior of the parapet are covered with sound absorbing equipment, creating a positive effect on all floors; In terms of road widths, it was concluded that the positive effect of different widths was mostly observed at the ground floor level. Conclusion:The outputs presented in this study are considered to be a guide for urban planners and architects in determining the relevant parameters affecting the propagation of sound in existing settled cities and in design decisions to be taken at urban scale.