Factors influencing the sound preference in urban open spaces

Yu, Lei; Kang, Jian

doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2010.02.005

Cited by 126 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The interviewees in all the field surveys were randomly selected, and their educational and social backgrounds as well as on-site behaviours were proven to be representative (Yu and Kang, 2010). Considering that the pedestrians' social and behaviours may also influence their evaluation of soundscape, their social background (Table 2), for example gender, education level, age, occupation and income, as well as their behaviours before interviews were also assessed in the questionnaires (Rajeswari 2005).…”

Section: Acoustic Comfort Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces

Meng

Kang

2016

Science of The Total Environment

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Human activities are important to landscape design and urban planning; however, the effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort has not been considered. The objective of this study is to explore how human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces can be changed by sound-related activities. On-site measurements were performed at a case study site in Harbin, China, and an acoustic comfort survey was simultaneously conducted. In terms of effect of sound activities on human behaviours, music-related activities caused 5.1-21.5% of persons who pass by the area to stand and watch the activity, while there was a little effect on the number of persons who performed excises during the activity. Human activities generally have little effect on the behaviour of pedestrians when only 1 to 3 persons are involved in the activities, while a deep effect on the behaviour of pedestrians is noted when more than 6 persons are involved in the activities. In terms of effect of activities on acoustic comfort, music-related activities can increase the sound level from 10.8 to 16.4 dBA, while human activities such RS and PC can increase the sound level from 9.6 to 12.8 dBA; however, they lead to very different acoustic comfort. The acoustic comfort of persons can differ with activities, for example the acoustic comfort of persons who stand watch can increase by music-related activities, while the acoustic comfort of persons who sit and watch can decrease by human sound-related activities. Some sound-related activities can show opposite trend of acoustic comfort between visitors and citizens. Persons with higher income prefer music sound-related activities, while those with lower income prefer human sound-related activities.

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Section: Acoustic Comfort Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To create a friendly environment, rethinking the urban landscape from an ecological viewpoint is important (Yu and Kang 2010). Sound quality is considered as a key part of ecological/sustainable development of urban landscape (Zhang et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces

Meng

Kang

2016

Science of The Total Environment

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“…A questionnaire (in Dutch) was created based on previous research [6,29] and a survey was conducted amongst park visitors. The interviewers aimed to collect at least 80 completed questionnaires in the central area of each park.…”

Section: Soundscape Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Previous research has shown that tranquil areas in the city, such as urban parks, are usually perceived as positive and have a restorative effect on visitors. However, visitors could experience these spaces differently depending on the meaning they assign to the concept of tranquility. To investigate how individuals' personal views on tranquility affect their perception of the sonic environment, a soundscape study was conducted in several city parks in Antwerp, Belgium. Mobile sound measurements were combined with a questionnaire survey amongst 660 park visitors. Within the survey, the participants' viewpoint on tranquility was evaluated using their agreement with a set of previously established prototypical statements, categorizing them into one out of three main tranquility viewpoint groups: people that associate tranquility with silence, those that associate it with hearing natural sounds, or those that associate it with social relationships. Next to this, the sounds that participants had heard during their visit were noted, and their perception of the overall quality of the soundscape and the degree to which it matched their expectation were assessed. Results show that the park visitors who associate tranquility with natural sounds or to silence are more often found amongst those that report hearing mechanical sounds a lot. The same groups of visitors rate the overall quality of the sonic environment of the park more often bad to very bad. These findings suggest that park visitors pay attention more to the sounds they do not expect to hear, and that the higher their expectations about the soundscape, the more critical they become in their appraisal of the soundscape.

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“…Consequently, recent models aimed to predict the pleasantness of the sound environment based on perceptual parameters typically account for the time of presence of sound sources [8], [16]. Finally, factors non-related to the sound, such as visual parameters [17] or others external factors [17]- [20], can also affect the perceived soundscape quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Soundscape Pleasantness Using perceptual Assessments and Acoustic Measurements Along Paths in Urban Context

Aumond¹,

Can²,

Coensel³

et al. 2017

Acta Acustica united with Acustica

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Mapping the pleasantness of an urban environment is an alternative approach, closer to the city dweller's perception, than standardized sound levels cartography. This study reports on modeling pleasantness in urban context using perceptual assessments and sound measurements for specific locations during an urban walk. These assessments have been collected from four groups of approximately ten participants on 19 different assessment locations, along a 2,1 km-long path traveled in both directions. Simultaneously, ⅓ octave band sound levels and audio were recorded. Perceptual and physical models of pleasantness are proposed for specific locations based on multiple linear regressions. A multilevel analysis was performed, and it is shown that a perceptual model that includes perceived loudness joined to the perceived time of presence of traffic, voices and birds explains 90% of the pleasantness variance due to the sound environment variations. Physical models that include the original acoustic indicators that are most correlated with perceptual variables explain 85% of this variance. Thanks to these models, a unique averaged pleasantness value is defined for each assessment location from the perceptual or physical collected assessments. The Pearson's correlation coefficient between the averaged perceived pleasantness and the modeled values from perceptual assessment reaches r(19)=0.98, and r(19)=0.97, with the modeled values from physical measurements. These results make it possible to consider the use of this kind of models in a cartographic context. As the path was traveled in both directions, the presentation-order effect has also been assessed, and it has been found that path direction did not have a significant impact on the pleasantness assessment at specific locations, except when very strong sound environment changes occurred. Finally, the study gives some insights about the retrospective global pleasantness assessment for urban walks. For very short walks between two assessment locations, a recency effect is shown. Nevertheless, this effect doesn't seem to be significant when longer routes are assessed.

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Factors influencing the sound preference in urban open spaces

Cited by 126 publications

References 21 publications

Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces

Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces

The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

Modeling Soundscape Pleasantness Using perceptual Assessments and Acoustic Measurements Along Paths in Urban Context

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