This paper takes an overall view of findings from the Positive Soundscape Project, a large inter-disciplinary soundscapes study. Qualitative fieldwork (soundwalks and focus groups) have found that soundscape perception is influenced by cognitive effects such as the meaning of a soundscape and its components, and how information is conveyed by a soundscape, for example on the behaviour of people within the soundscape. Three significant clusters were found in the language people use to describe soundscapes: sound sources, sound descriptors and soundscape descriptors.Results from listening tests and soundwalks have been integrated to show that the two principal dimensions of soundscape emotional response seem to be calmness and vibrancy. Further, vibrancy seems to have two aspects: organisation of sounds and changes over time. The possible application of the results to soundscape assessment and design are briefly discussed.

This paper explores how expectations of a place and its soundscape can affect our perception of that soundscape. Previous soundscape research has included expectation as one possible element of the context in which soundscape evaluation takes place.This work aimed to focus on expectation and unpack it to improve understanding of its different components and how it works. A combination of soundwalks, interviews, focus groups and an interactive soundscape simulation were used in the investigation.A linked series of locations in Manchester and London were studied. It was found that participants' perceptions of a soundscape, both real and simulated, were affected by expectation in several different ways. Participants expected certain types of sound to be present in a particular space. Participants distinguished between whether a sound was expected and whether it sounded pleasant. It was also possible to distinguish between the expectation of particular sound sources and the expectation of the soundscape as a whole. The latter was found to be driven significantly by prior experience of similar spaces and also by perceived loudness. Participants also had expectations about the type of activity they could undertake in a particular soundscape, the behaviour of other people as expressed in the soundscape, and the degree of control they might have over their own exposure to the sound. These findings suggest that expectations of a soundscape are based on prior experience in a way which is consistent with Truax's notion of soundscape competence. The results have been used to produce a new model for soundscape expectation which is expressed as a flowchart.

The aims of this work were to investigate (i) whether soundscape perceptual dimensions are correctly reproduced by ambisonic loudspeaker playback, (ii) whether soundscape dimensional analysis is robust to changes of location and from the field to laboratory playback, and (iii) whether a simple soundscape synthesis can be used to interactively design a soundscape. The first two aims were addressed by an experiment which attempted to repeat To investigate the third aim, the ambisonic reproduction was extended to a system which allowed independent interactive control of sixteen foreground sounds set in an ambisonic background soundscape. Eight participants were able to use this system to successfully design a soundscape that expressed their intentions. It was found that the designed soundscapes seemed to be based more on participant expectation of typical urban soundscapes than on their preference for individual sounds. These results suggest that a more sophisticated soundscape synthesiser might be suitable for real design problems.

In order to inform the planning process with regard to assessing and creating positive urban soundscapes, a framework is under development. The framework attempts to bring together all the influencing factors in urban soundscape assessment in a new and novel way, and considers how the identification of sources and the variety and mix of sources interact to produce a soundscape. The framework presented in this paper forms the basis of multidisciplinary soundscape research in the EPSRC funded "Positive Soundscapes Project", which seeks to develop a rounded view of human perception of soundscapes by combining methods from several disciplines.

To help mitigate the adverse health impacts of environmental noise, European cities are recommended to identify urban quiet areas for preservation. Procedures for identifying urban quiet areas vary across cities and between countries, and little is known of the strength of the salutogenic (health-promoting) benefits they may provide. Taking a multi-site approach, this study examines the potential of three sites as urban quiet areas and their associated health benefits, particularly in relation to perceived restorative benefits. Across three cities in the United Kingdom, an urban garden, urban park, and an urban square had sound pressure levels measured. Responses from 151 visitors to these sites evaluated the place as quiet, calm, and tranquil, and assessed their experience of the place in terms of perceived sounds, its benefits, how it made them feel, and perceived restoration. Depending on the criteria used, the sites varied in their suitability as urban quiet areas, although all provided perceived health benefits. Relationships between sound levels (subjective and objective) and perceived restoration were not linear, with the type of sounds heard and other aspects of the place experience believed to affect the relationship. Building on this work, a future experimental approach based on the study sites is planned to manipulate the multiple variables involved. This will provide a clearer understanding of the relationship between urban quiet areas and perceived restorative benefits.