Semantic differential analysis on the soundscape of urban open public spaces

Abstract

Physical comfort in urban open public spaces, including acoustic comfort, has been paid increasing attention. The objective of this research is to identify factors that affect acoustic comfort and soundscape in urban open public spaces. In January 2002 a soundscape walk was organized with 50 university students and evaluation on acoustic comfort and sound quality was carried out in four typical urban open public spaces in Sheffield, UK. Both overall acoustic comfort and individual sounds were evaluated, using 28 indices. Objective measurements were made simultaneously. In March–April 2002, 500 interviews were carried out with various users in two selected open public spaces. Semantic differential analysis of the results shows that the description and evaluation of acoustic comfort and soundscape in urban open public spaces is more complicated than that for product sound quality, but it is still possible to identify several major factors including pleasant, timber, content, and evaluation. Based on the analysis, methods for evaluating acoustic comfort and soundscape in urban open public spaces are proposed. [Work supported by Key Action 4 ‘‘City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage’’ from the programme ‘‘Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development’’ within the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Commission.]