Soundscape Evaluation Research Articles

Engaging under-represented groups in soundscape evaluation through creative, embodied listening practices

Soundscape studies has been dominated by responses from hearing and neuro normative, middle class and English-speaking communities, often ignoring how noise can illuminate urban power structures and more readily affect underrepresented city communities. A re-evaluation of current methods is required to engage with a more diverse and representative response. This presentation will discuss findings from co-produced research practice that engages in participatory soundscape evaluation with a range of underrepresented groups including neurodiverse, non-English speaking, and refugee communities. The research uses two accessible and innovative visual methods across specially chosen community focus groups: graphic scoring (the abstracted visual representation of sounds taking from musicological practices) and emotional body mapping, (using a body outline as a template, to investigate 'embodied listening') alongside a guided listening practice inspired by Deep Listening. These methods move beyond the lack of common public lexicon around sound and the absence of defined Western listening practices to create new, perspectives, deepening the exploration of the direct impact of environmental sound and building a more inclusive, representative, and equitable 'Acoustemology of Community'.

Associations between acoustic indices and the evaluation of the urban soundscape according to ISO 12913

The development of high-quality acoustic environments (AE) is crucial for the transformation of cities into sustainable and health-promoting places. In recent years, the soundscape approach (ISO 12913) has gained attention for quantifying the AE using a standardised questionnaire for soundwalk participants. This way, several qualities of the AE can be analysed. However, soundwalks are costly and limited to a select number of sites. To scale up the assessment of the urban AE, the use of acoustic indices, which could reflect different qualities of a soundscape, represents a promising approach. Therefore, we present an analyses of the association between acoustic indices and affective soundscape qualities. We use soundscape data from the Be-MoVe project in Essen, Germany. In total, 35 soundwalks with 143 participations were conducted and data were collected from 858 questionnaires for 22 listening stations, each with a three-minute audio recording. These recordings are used to calculate ecoacoustic indices and complex network measures based on frequency correlation matrices, as these have shown promising results in previous studies. We present results from descriptive statistics as well as multi-level regression analyses modelling the relationship between self-rated affective qualities of AE and acoustic indices, taking into account spatial variability between different urban locations.

Using soundscape simulation to evaluate compositions for a public space sound installationa).

While urban sound management often focuses on sound as a nuisance, soundscape research suggests that proactive design approaches involving sound art installations can enhance public space experience. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on a methodology to inform the composition of sound installations through soundscape evaluation, and little research on the effect of composition strategies on soundscape evaluation. The present study is part of a research-creation collaboration around the design of a permanent sound installation in an urban public space in Paris (Niches Acoustiques by Nadine Schütz). We report on a laboratory study involving the evaluation of composition sketches prior to the deployment of the installation on-site. Participants familiar with the public space (N = 20) were exposed to Higher-Order Ambisonics recordings of the site, to which compositions of the sound installation pertaining to different composition strategies were added using a soundscape simulation tool. We found three principal components relevant for evaluating and comparing sound installation sketches: pleasantness, familiarity and variety. Further, all composition sketches had a significant effect on the soundscape's familiarity and variety, and the effect of the compositions on these two components was stronger when composition strategies involved abstract sounds (sounds which were not clearly identifiable).

Using soundscape diversity to interpret soundscape evaluation in urban green spaces—Relationship, integration, and application

Improving the evaluation criteria for the soundscape of urban green spaces is essential for the purposes of designing and planning. Nevertheless, studies that focus on the significance of soundscape diversity in such evaluations have been very limited. Furthermore, the relationship between soundscape diversity and the indicators used to evaluate soundscape in urban green spaces remains unclear. The present study investigates the relationship by conducting a soundscape survey across 30 green spaces to derive four soundscape diversity indices: the soundscape diversity index (SDI), soundscape richness index (SRI), soundscape dominance index (SDO), and soundscape evenness index (SEI). The findings indicate that soundscape diversity significantly influence sound preference, perceived affective quality, and the overall soundscape assessment, especially in traffic-noise-dominated and natural-sounds-dominated green spaces. Additionally, sound preference and perceived affective quality were found to act as intermediary factors between soundscape diversity and the overall soundscape assessment. The mediating effect was responsible for 23.7%, 24.5%, and 84.3% of the total effect in three types of green space, respectively. Therefore, the ideal soundscape diversity in urban green spaces depends on their specific type, rather than a simple “more is better” or “less is better” approach. Correspondingly, the use of soundscape diversity as a novel evaluation indicator can be employed for the assessment and design of soundscape in urban green spaces in future studies.

Translating perceived affective quality attributes of soundscape from English into Korean

The primary goal of ISO 12913 series is to foster a wide-ranging international consensus and establish a universal framework for interdisciplinary and professional communication about soundscapes. However, a critical challenge arises in non-English speaking countries regarding translating Perceived Affective Qualities (PAQs) from English. This translation issue is pivotal in accurately evaluating soundscapes according to the guidelines set by ISO/TS 12913–2, as it directly affects the reliability and consistency of soundscape assessments across different linguistic and cultural contexts. To address this, the Soundscape Attributes Translation Project (SATP) was initiated, focusing on the translation and validation of soundscape PAQs across various languages, with this study specifically aiming to be translated into Korean. This study aims to translate the soundscape PAQs suggested in ISO/TS 12913–2 Method A into Korean and examine the differences in soundscape evaluation between Korean and English. The study is divided into three phases. In Phase I, we gathered a wide range of possible Korean translations for the soundscape attributes and narrowed this down to twenty-four attributes. Phase II involved a quantitative evaluation of these 24 attributes to derive the most appropriate Korean attributes for the translation of soundscape PAQ. Finally, in Phase III, a listening test was conducted to discern the differences in soundscape evaluations between Korea and the UK. This comprehensive approach led to the identification of eight Korean soundscape attributes. With these attributes, twenty-seven different soundscapes were evaluated, revealing notable differences, particularly in the interpretation of the attribute ’monotonous’ between English and Korean evaluations. The findings are expected to contribute significantly to the standardization of soundscape evaluation in Korea and lay a foundation for future soundscape research and assessment in the Korean context.

Exploring the effects of soundscape perception on place attachment: A comparative study of residents and tourists

The critical role of soundscapes in nurturing place attachment, affecting individuals' emotional ties and perceptions of specific locations, has been historically undervalued. In this case, this study examined the profound interrelationships between soundscapes and human connections to place, with a focus on the contrasting perspectives of residents and visitors. Based on on-site surveys on Kulangsu Island involving both groups, this research examined the difference in soundscape perception and place attachment as well as their relationships between the two groups. The findings revealed that residents and visitors showed a shared inclination towards natural sounds alongside the recognition of artificial sounds, while a significant divide emerged in the evaluation of overall soundscapes. Residents displayed a heightened sense of place attachment compared to visitors, characterized by feelings of belongingness and uniqueness. Notably, visitors' place attachment was closely tied to various soundscape evaluation indicators, particularly correlated with the perception of artificial and mechanical sounds. In contrast, residents' place attachment is independent of soundscape evaluations, while is influenced positively by the preference for natural sounds. This contrast underscores the differing perspectives and objectives between the two groups. The results facilitate a deeper understanding of the pivotal role of soundscapes in shaping human-place relationships, informing both academic discourse and practical applications.

A Quantitative and Qualitative Experimental Framework for the Evaluation of Urban Soundscapes: Application to the City of Sidi Bou Saïd

A Quantitative and Qualitative Experimental Framework for the Evaluation of Urban Soundscapes: Application to the City of Sidi Bou Saïd

Research on a New Soundscape Evaluation Method Suitable for Scenic Areas

Existing studies have focused mainly on the environmental quality of scenic spots, such as sufficient oxygen content in the air and a high concentration of negative oxygen ions. The perceptions of soundscape in scenic areas are generally good, but there are few reports on the quantitative evaluation of soundscape quality in scenic areas. In this study, we analysed existing methods for evaluating the soundscape of a landscape, evaluated the soundscape comfort of scenic spots, analysed and refined the natural environmental factors affecting the soundscape, and proposed for the first time to use physical environmental indicators such as the air temperature difference, relative humidity, natural illuminance ratio and wind speed as environmental evaluation variables. A quantitative method was used to calculate the soundscape comfort index (SSI) of the landscape. The physical environmental indicators related to famous scenic spots in China, namely, Qingcheng mountain field testing and a subjective soundscape of tourist satisfaction survey, were used to calculate the corresponding soundscape comfort index values, and a quantitative analysis of soundscape comfort and differences in temperature, relative humidity, the illumination ratio, and the correlation between the equivalent sound level A was performed. The measured values of the temperature difference and light ratio were significantly correlated with the soundscape comfort index. The distribution of sound landscape comfort was given by a GIS map, and soundscape comfort was evaluated scientifically. The correlations between soundscape comfort and landscape patch number (PN), landscape patch density (PD), diversity index (Shannon), and landscape shape index (LSI) were quantitatively analysed, which confirmed that the perception of soundscape comfort was affected by landscape space to different degrees. This study has scientific significance and application value for the soundscape evaluation of scenic areas and has significance for soundscape evaluation and design strategies for urban landscapes.

Evaluation of soundscape attribute translations from English to Croatian

The methods for data collection and analysis in soundscape research have been standardized in the ISO/TS 12913 group of standards. The perceived quality of soundscapes is now assessed using the eight standardized soundscape attributes distributed around the circumplex model: ‘pleasant’, ‘vibrant’, ‘eventful’, ‘chaotic’, ‘annoying’, ‘monotonous’, ‘uneventful’, and ‘calm’. As a part of the Soundscape Attribute Translation Project (SATP), the objective of this research is to provide the translations of these eight attributes into Croatian language and to evaluate the validity of these translations. Based on the Croatian translations of the attributes used in previous soundscape studies and the additional optional translations provided by independent translators, the eight soundscape attributes have been translated into Croatian as ‘ugodan’, ‘uzbudljiv/živahan’, ‘sadržajan/pun događaja’, ‘kaotičan/uznemirujuć’, ‘neugodan’, ‘dosadan’, ‘besadržajan/prazan’, and ‘smirujuć’, respectively. The validity of these translations was evaluated through a listening experiment with 32 Croatian native speakers as participants, who rated the 27 sound samples that form the audio dataset of the SATP project. The data collected in the experiment was compared to the results of the study performed in the United Kingdom with English native speakers who used the standardized questionnaire in English. The results show that the Croatian translations of the fundamental, primary attributes that define the pleasantness-eventfulness plane, i.e. ‘pleasant’ − ‘annoying’ and ‘eventful’ − ‘uneventful’ are unambiguous and appropriate, as Croatian listeners understood and rated them in the same manner as their UK counterparts. On the other hand, the results reveal a very strong association of the perception of vibrancy with eventfulness, the perception of chaoticity with annoyance, and the perception of calmness with pleasantness displayed by the Croatian participants. This finding calls for a revision of the translations of the composite, secondary attributes ‘vibrant’, ‘chaotic’, and ‘calm’ respectively. The translation of the composite attribute ‘monotonous’ has been chosen well, as the results reflect its proper perception as a blend of uneventfulness and annoyance.

Comparative evaluation of soundscapes in human activities spatial contexts of pedestrian spaces adjacent to arterial roads

Pedestrian spaces adjacent to arterial roads are characterized by the dominance of traffic noise alongside various human activities. Research on the impact of traffic noise on the soundscape evaluation of pedestrian spaces has not considered human activities spatial contexts. To address this research gap, the present study constructed auditory environments for pedestrian spaces in the contexts of commuting, residential, and commercial activities. A total of seven auditory environments were subjected to laboratory auditory evaluations, including perceived dominance of sound source, acoustic comfort, and perceived affective quality of the soundscape. The results indicated that in pedestrian spaces with constant traffic noise, the presence of significant human activity sounds led to a decreased perceived dominance of traffic noise and an increased acoustic comfort, despite the higher acoustic energy. Thus, pedestrian spaces with a variety of human activity received better soundscape evaluations. The elements that reflected the human activities spatial contexts, including the types and intensity of human activities, played a crucial role in soundscape evaluations. Better acoustic comfort was reported in pedestrian spaces characterized by low-intensity residential activities and high-intensity commercial activities. Additionally, pedestrian spaces with more intense activities offered an actively engaging soundscape. The findings can provide reference for a more accurate evaluation of the soundscape in pedestrian spaces and guide the soundscape design of pedestrian environments.

Comparison between perceived and felt emotions in the soundscape evaluation of urban open spacesa).

In the current study on soundscape, the distinction between felt emotion and perceived emotion in soundscape measurement has not been addressed as much as that in music studies. This research was conducted to investigate perceived and felt emotions associated with soundscape evaluation in urban open spaces through a laboratory audio-visual experiment using photographs and binaural recordings of 16 urban open locations across Harbin, China. In total, 46 participants were required to assess both the "perceived emotion" and "felt emotion" of the soundscapes using a questionnaire (in Chinese). First, five felt emotions and seven perceived emotions associated with the soundscape were identified, among which the dominant factors were enjoyment and excitement for felt emotions and comfortable and festive for perceived emotions. Second, when comparing perceived and felt emotions, the holistic soundscape descriptor "preference" is more suitable for predicting through felt emotion, while the holistic soundscape descriptor "appropriateness" is more suitable for predicting through perceived emotion. Third, preference is a more stringent soundscape descriptor than appropriateness, indicating a higher level of requirement in its definition. Meanwhile, preference is a more emotional soundscape descriptor than appropriateness. It may be inferred that for evaluating soundscapes, the more emotional the descriptor, the greater its stringency.

Exploring the influence of soundscape on visitors’ emotional experience and stickiness to attractions

ABSTRACT This study investigates and compares the effects of both subjective and objective soundscapes on visitors’ emotional responses and stickiness (i.e. their intention to stay) toward an attraction. Following the soundwalk approach, this study utilizes sound level meters and questionnaires to measure the objective and subjective soundscapes, respectively. The results indicate that subjective soundscape encompasses three dimensions, namely pleasant, unpleasant, and uneventful, which influence visitor stickiness. Moreover, both positive and negative emotions mediate the effects of subjective soundscape on visitors’ stickiness. The findings provide insights into the evaluation of soundscapes in visitor attractions and guide their design and management.

Shanxi Temple Soundscape Satisfaction Evaluation and Analysis

This paper studies the soundscape characteristics of three Buddhist temples in Shanxi Province, China. Through questionnaire survey and laboratory research, it analyzes the satisfaction evaluation of monks and tourists on the soundscape of temples in the off-season and peak season and compares the satisfaction differences of different periods and sound sources. The results show that the satisfaction evaluation of temple soundscape is negatively affected by manufactured noise, and Buddhist sound is the only sound source that has been positively evaluated. Laboratory experiments show that sound is the key factor leading to the preference for soundscape evaluation, and the influence of visual pictures is insignificant.

Development of soundscape evaluation method: an application of Psychoacoustics Perception Scale (PPS)

There is a growing awareness of the standard development for soundscape evaluation. Although soundscape evaluation of environmental noise is not a new concept, the heterogenous between the soundscape studies will increase the difficulty in integrating the findings of the studies. Recently, the findings of the fundamental human perceptual dimensions of sounds and the design of the Psychoacoustics Perception Scale (PPS) provided an insightful solution to the development of soundscape evaluation. The perceptual model, called EPA model, was designed to quantitively assess the context content of acoustic environments regarding the human general judgment (Evaluation, E), sensitivity to the magnitude (Potency, P), and sensation of the temporal and spectral compositions (Activity, A) of sounds by using the PPS. In this study, the PPS was applied to the soundscape evaluation of various public urban spaces. The construct validity of the EPA model by the PPS was verified. The application of the PPS in soundscape evaluation will be a novel and practical way in the standard development of soundscape evaluation.

Soundscape diversity of different public green spaces in cities

Soundscape of urban public green space plays an important role in urban green space sightseeing experience, but it is not clear whether there are differences in soundscape diversity of different urban green space. This study investigated soundscape diversity of 30 urban green space samples, including urban park green space, roadside green space, square green space, campus green space and residential green space. The results showed that there are differences in soundscape diversity of urban different public green spaces. In campus green space, soundscape diversity and soundscape perceived affective quality are closely related, while in urban parks and roadside green space, soundscape diversity and soundscape perceived affective quality are not significantly related. The linear regression of soundscape diversity indices and overall quality evaluation of soundscape fit well in campus green space, square green space and residential green space. The R2 of these regression equations were 0.65, 0.74 and 0.63, respectively. This study provides potential ideas for the design and management of urban different public green spaces in the future.

Acoustic environment and its restorative potential in small urban green spaces

Small urban green spaces (SUGS) in dense city areas have been widely demonstrated to have restorative benefits to surrounding residents. However, residents' usage and experience of SUGS were indicated to be adversely influenced by adjacent traffic noise, whilst natural sounds inside could provide restorative soundscape resources. Thus, this study investigated the acoustic quality and its restorative potential in 12 SUGS in Qingdao via field measurements and questionnaire surveys. The results show that: (1) The noise level of SUGS largely ranged in 50-60 dBA, with dominant road traffic noise. Three perceptual soundscape dimensions were identified: appreciation, diversity and dynamics. (2) Scenic SUGS featured more natural sounds, lower noise levels, and more appreciation; residential SUGS featured more human sounds and worse soundscape evaluation; and business SUGS featured higher noise levels. (3) The acoustic environments in scenic SUGS showed much more restorative potential than residential and business ones, and the restorative potential of SUGS was highly influenced by sound levels (LAeq, L10, and L90), sound sources (traffic noise and natural sounds), and soundscape qualities (appreciation and diversity). The findings were expected to provide references for the sustainable planning and design of small urban green spaces in dense cities.

Identifying contextual factors of soundscape based on mental mapping and caption evaluation methods

Context is one of the important factors in analyzing and understanding soundscapes. Various methods for evaluating soundscapes such as soundwalks, questionnaire surveys, and narrative interviews have been proposed in ISO 12913-2. However, these methods are still limited to providing a holistic approach to identifying contexts in a place. This study aims to propose a systematic approach combining mental mapping and caption evaluation methods to identify various contexts for soundscape evaluations. The experiment consisted of two sessions. In the first session, contexts related to places were evaluated using mental mapping. Participants were asked to draw perceived landscape factors (i.e., paths, edges, and landmarks) and soundscape factors (i.e., negative or positive sounds) on the maps. Throughout this session, geospatial data of landscape and soundscape were visualized using frequency analysis and kernel density estimation. In the second session, contexts associated with people and activities are assessed using the caption evaluation method. Participants were asked to describe soundscape elements with their characteristics, impressions, and judgment. Then, the collected text data on soundscapes were analyzed through text mining techniques.

Can the perceived affective quality scales evaluate the restorativeness of soundscapes?

Affective quality, defined as the ability to cause a change in core affect, is the one aspect of soundscape evaluation by people. To appropriately use the eight perceived affective quality scales (PAQS) proposed in ISO/TS 12913-2 in the soundscape design process, we must know what aspects the scales can evaluate accurately. This study examined whether the PAQS can evaluate the restorativeness of soundscapes using the PAQS and the perceived restorative scale (PRS). The results of our two soundwalks and an audio-visual experiment showed that the evaluation structure of the PRS was four-dimensional. Therefore, the PAQS alone cannot express the restorativeness of soundscapes correctly.

Sound augmentation for people with dementia: Soundscape evaluation based on sound labelling

Researchers increasingly look at augmenting soundscapes to reduce Behavioural and Psychological Syndrome of Dementia (BPSD). However, methods to select suitable sounds still need improvement. This study proposes a sound selection methodology to augment the soundscape in nursing homes to lower BPSD, using sound characteristics and recognition methods. To uncover the underlying characteristics of sounds that trigger a positive response, added sounds previously used in nursing homes in Flanders were re-analyzed using a wide range of acoustic and psychoacoustic indices. The results highlight the sound characteristics that lead to positive responses and the need for further studies to understand the sounds most suitable for people with dementia. Results showed that sharpness and high-pitch sounds, such as animal localization or crickets, create a higher chance of a positive response. High-pitched sounds have a higher emergence in a typical nursing home sonic environment, increasing the possibility of being noticed. Sounds recognized as music, however, had a lower chance of a positive response and should be used cautiously. Interestingly, although bird vocalizations are often highly rated in other contexts, the ones considered in the current dataset did not lead to a positive response, highlighting the need for further studies to understand better which sounds are most suitable for people with dementia.

Effect of visual landscape factors on soundscape evaluation in old residential areas

The visual landscape influences the soundscape experience of urban public spaces. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationships among visual landscape factors and soundscape evaluation of old residential areas and determine their main influencing factors. In Tianjin, China, six typical old residential areas were selected to collect sound and video information. Virtual reality (VR) was used to create an evaluation environment, and subjective evaluations of the visual landscape and soundscape were accessed through questionnaire (N = 256). The results show that the evaluation of soundscape and visual landscape satisfaction of the central square in the old residential area is superior to that of the public space along the street, as affected by spatial location, sound characteristics and other factors. Greenery satisfaction, environmental cleanliness, and architectural aesthetics were significantly positively correlated with soundscape evaluation. Additionally, three latent variables, namely, visual landscape factors, spatial factors and soundscape evaluation factors, were identified through factor analysis, and a structural equation model (SEM) of “visual landscape factors–soundscape evaluation” was built. The visual landscape factors in old residential areas were found to be important factors affecting soundscape evaluation. The standardization coefficient was 0.46 (P ≤ 0.01). Although the spatial factors have no direct contribution to the soundscape evaluation of the old residential areas, its observation variable, environmental cleanliness, is significantly positively correlated with all the observed variables of the soundscape evaluation factors.