This paper discusses the soundscape assessment approaches to soundscape interventions with musical features introduced to public spaces as permanent sound art, with a focus on the ISO 12913 series, Method A for data collection applied in a laboratory study. Three soundscape interventions in three cities are investigated. The virtual soundwalk is used to combine the benefits of the on-site and laboratory settings. Two measurement points per location were recorded—one at a position where the intervention was clearly perceptible, the other further away to serve as a baseline condition. The participants (N = 44) were exposed to acoustic environments (N = 6) recorded using the first-order Ambisonics microphone on-site and then reproduced via the second-order Ambisonics system in laboratory. A series of rank-based Kruskal–Wallis tests were performed on the results of the subjective responses. Results revealed a statistically significant positive effect on soundscape at two locations, and limitations related to sound source identification due to cultural factors and geometrical configuration of the public space at one location.

Heritage urbanism considers the revitalization and enhancement of cultural heritage in spatial, urban, and landscape contexts, and it explores models for its inclusion in contemporary life. The main research question is whether it is possible, based on a number of case studies, to recognize models of the future use of heritage and interpret them as general models that may be applied to numerous specific cases. In doing so, the experience of the past becomes relevant and applicable to contemporary heritage revitalization and enhancement projects. The goal of the paper is to present Heritage Urbanism approach as an integral view of heritage in line with the ideas of sustainable development. Heritage is not viewed as isolated objects but rather as part of the immediate and wider environment. The context/environment affects heritage and its revival, while finding new uses and repurposing heritage has a stimulating effect on the environment and its development. The effects of this interaction can make heritage recognisable and can stimulate its sustainability. The survival and future of heritage are linked to urban and spatial planning, which takes into account the integrity of space and the cultural heritage in it. Urban and spatial planning methods are used. When these methods are enriched by the heritage urbanism approach, the result is the creation of specific methods that supplement well-known methods. In this context, cultural heritage can be used for place branding, infrastructure development, as a crucial element of urban design, or in other ways that aim to achieve an integral view of cultural heritage. The integral view requires the concerted action of different fields, such as regional development, the economy, tourism, transportation, and infrastructure. A fragmented and selective approach does not yield results.

This chapter presents the debate on the conceptual framework for the virtual soundwalk as a tool for soundscape assessment for use within urban design tasks and the management of urban open spaces. A hybrid model between a soundwalk in situ and a listening test in laboratory conditions is needed to gain benefits from both methods by simulating links between spatial relations and soundscape changes in actual urban open spaces. This link is vital due to the widely accepted architectural theory background on the urban open space experience. A prototype of a virtual soundwalk tool is described. It was used by the authors during laboratory research conducted in 2014 and 2015 and developed further in 2017. The prototype was based on partial virtual reality reconstruction of visual and aural field recordings. Its potential use is illustrated using a case study of the waterfront promenade in the historical centre of Zadar, Croatia. The future prospects for the method described are debated according to the most recent developments within the field of soundscape research.

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Advanced Architectural Studies from UCL. Her PhD research investigated the 20th century urban transformation of London terraced houses and Manhattan row houses, focusing on street micromorphology and street liveability. Her post-doctoral research looked at the use of space syntax methods in delimitation practices for UNESCO historic urban landscapes. In 2017, she organized the Historic Urban Landscape Forum (hulforum.org) networking initiative, under UNESCO patronage. ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2000-1081; twitter: @falli_p Sam Griffiths studied history at the University of Sheffield and took his doctorate at UCL's Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. He is Associate Professor in the Space Syntax Laboratory at the Bartlett School of Architecture. His research is highly interdisciplinary bringing formal spatial morphological methods to questions in urban social history, and historical perspectives to questions of urban design. Recent publications include an edited collection for Routledge Spatial Cultures: towards a new social morphology of cities (2016). He has published widely on the spatial culture of Victorian Sheffield and suburban high streets. He is currently working on a book for Routlege look at the role of architecture in conceiving and writing the urban past.