Restorative Qualities of and Preference for Natural and Urban Soundscapes.

Paulina Krzywicka,Katarzyna Byrka

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01705

Paulina Krzywicka, Katarzyna Byrka

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01705

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Abstract

Psychological restoration in urban agglomerations has become a growing challenge. Although scientific proof of the significance of nature is irrefutable, an increase in built-up areas has led to a decrease in urban greenery. Thus, a growing need for restorativeness in urban surroundings has emerged. To investigate whether positively evaluated sonic environments, represented by natural and urban sounds, have comparable restorative qualities we conducted two studies. The aim of the first (Study 1) was to explore the restorative qualities of positively assessed natural and urban sounds. Participants (N = 88) were asked to listen and to rate 22 recordings (each 1 min long) either from natural or urban environments. In the second (Study 2) we investigated whether positively evaluated sonic environments (natural and urban), demand for restoration (feeling relaxed or fatigued) and company (being alone or with a friend) affect the restorative qualities of natural and urban soundscapes. After reading assigned scenarios (feeling relaxed or fatigued; being alone or with a friend), participants (N = 120) were asked to imagine a walk in presented sonic environments and to complete forms (one for each sonic environment) concerning the restorative qualities of given soundscapes (natural and urban). Top five recordings of natural and urban sonic environments were selected from Study 1 and combined into a 154-s soundtrack, to provide a background for the imagined walks in both settings. Our findings confirmed that natural sounds are perceived more favorably than urban recordings. Even when only the most positively assessed soundscapes were compared, nature was still perceived as being more restorative than urban areas. Company of a friend was found to be more beneficial in the urban surroundings, particularly when there was no need for restoration.

Highlights

A recent report of the United Nations (2015) predicts that sixty-six percent of the world population will reside in urban areas by the year 2050
Evaluation of All Sonic Environments We found a significant difference in the evaluation of all recordings, Welch’s F(1,55.12) = 23.88, p < 0.001, est. ω2 = 0.21
Further analysis revealed that evaluation of the sounds was positively correlated with their perceived restorative qualities, both for the natural, r = 0.78, p < 0.001, and urban, r = 0.52, p < 0.001, sonic environments

Summary

Introduction

A recent report of the United Nations (2015) predicts that sixty-six percent of the world population will reside in urban areas by the year 2050. Despite researchers’ growing interests in the affordances of various environments, relatively little is known about the restorative qualities of urban areas. Restorative Qualities of Natural and Urban Soundscapes. Findings from settings such as museums (Kaplan et al, 1993; Packer, 2008), monasteries (Ouellette et al, 2005), or houses of worship (Herzog et al, 2010) have highlighted the positive aspects of man-made surroundings and confirmed that urban environments may afford mental recovery. Due to the fact that well-being and life satisfaction appear to be related to mental recovery (Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015), there is a distinct possibility that urban facilities, in particular those associated with sport and culture, can contribute to restoration

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