The Influence of Religious Soundscapes on the Image of the City: The Case of Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract

The world is undergoing urbanisation, eventually transforming the character of cities. Although urban designers and planners have used visual aesthetics to shape the urban environment, acoustic ecology and soundscapes have often been overlooked. In fact, cities have developed legislation to effectively reduce noise, considering them as pollutants, where environmental sound can actually be perceived as a resource. Today, urban designers continue to follow the imageability concept developed by Kevin Lynch, which has always focused on the visual senses. Hence, this study adds an auditory understanding of places. The research commences by understanding the gap between soundscape and urban design, emphasising the need for a soundscape approach in the urban design process and highlighting the impact of sounds in an urban space. The sonic data for the research was collected through sound walks conducted during two different time periods. The study reveals the presence of a range of sounds that enrich the experience of any person walking through the sound walk routes and the creation of mental images in the minds of locals, workers and tourists. The results also indicate that apart from natural and artificial sounds, soundscape also covers cultural sounds, social sounds, religious sounds and image sounds. However, the transformation due to urbanisation has put the place into constant change, thereby challenging the future of sound experiences in the areas. This research underlines the need to preserve such sounds forming a part of intangible cultural heritage and concludes by formulating recommendations to sustain the same through a soundscape-based urban design and a sonic model that can be used as a reference for future research for shaping a sustainable image for other cities.