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This paper addresses two typically separate issues contributing to urban quality of life: increasing noise levels and declining quality of public green space. Drawing from environmental psychology, ecology and acoustical methods, this interdisciplinary research studied the soundscapes of three green spaces in a UK city through interviews with 70 park users, the measurement of habitat and recording of sound levels. The data reveal a prevalence of mechanical sounds and a hierarchy of preference for natural over people and mechanical sounds. There was a link between sound levels, both objective and perceived, and the type of sounds heard. The presence of these sounds varied across sites in part due to the ecological qualities of the place, specifically the presence of birds and shrub vegetation. The results suggest that people's opportunity to access quiet, natural places in urban areas can be enhanced by improving the ecological quality of urban green spaces through targeted planning and design.

The perceived quality of urban park soundscapes is starting to be explored, and attention restoration research has shown which environments are generally restorative. Yet the effect of perceived soundscapes on individuals' restorative experiences is hardly known. Natural environments, in general, provide restoration for people, including recovery from attentional fatigue and enabling reflection. Therefore the visually “natural” environment of urban parks provides a useful setting to explore the role of varying soundscapes in restoration. Four hundred park users within Sheffield, UK, were surveyed as they left two urban parks. Data were collected on aspects of their park visit, along with measures of their current perceived restoration. Participants' perceived soundscapes were described by the amount of time they heard certain sound types in the park, and the volume at which they heard them. Sound levels [LAeq, dB(A)] within the parks were also monitored on a number of days to provide contextual information. Results of the study will be discussed along with the importance of soundscape quality and individuals' restorative experiences in helping to provide a productive and positive quality of urban life.

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Soundscapes affect people's health and well-being and contribute to the perception of environments as restorative. This paper continues the validation process of a previously developed Perceived Restorativeness Soundscape Scale (PRSS). The study takes a novel methodological approach to explore the PRSS face and construct validity by examining the qualitative reasons for participants' numerical responses to the PRSS items. The structure and framing of items are first examined, to produce 44 items which are assessed on a seven-point Likert agreement scale, followed by a free format justification. Ten English speaking participants completed the PRSS interpretation questionnaire in two cafes in Montréal, Canada. Interpretation of participant free format responses led to six themes, which related to either the individual (personal attributes, personal outcomes), the environment (physical environment attributes, soundscape design) or an interaction of the two (behavior setting, normality, and typicality). The themes are discussed in relation to each Attention Restoration Theory (ART) component, namely Fascination, Being-Away, Compatibility, and Extent. The paper concludes by discussing the face and construct validity of the PRSS, as well as the wider methodological and theoretical implications for soundscape and attention restoration research, including the terminology importance in items measuring ART components and the value of all four components in assessing perceived restorativeness.

© 2014 The Authors. Published by Taylor & Francis.Public participation is an increasingly important part of the design process for health-care environments and services. Public participation often occurs towards the end of the design process, rather than at the start where the biggest influence is possible. This research used a variety of methods to enable public participation from the start of the design process. Its aim was to examine potential end users’ expectations and needs for the physical environment to develop interior design briefs for a well-being centre. Fifty-three Trust members at a London NHS Hospital, UK, were involved in structured group workshops. These consisted of surveys and open discussions, table discussions, and 2D and 3D designing. Analysis identified four over-arching themes; atmosphere, initial points of contact, waiting experience, and health assessments. The results, in combination with existing evidence-based research, led to the development of an interior design brief consisting of 26 design recommendations for a well-being centre. These may form the basis for any health-care and well-being centre, thereby adding to the growing body of evidence informing the design of future health-care physical environments

This paper is an outcome of a workshop that addressed the question how soundscape research can improve its impact on the local level. It addresses a number of topics by complementing existing approaches and practices with possible future approaches and practices. The paper starts with an analysis of the role of sound annoyance and suboptimal soundscapes on the lives of individuals and concludes that a good soundscape, or more generally a good sensescape, is at the same time pleasant as well as conducive for the adoption of healthy habits. To maintain or improve sensescape quality, urban planning needs improved design tools that allow for a more holistic optimization and an active role of the local stakeholders. Associated with this is a gradual development from government to governance in which optimization of the soundscape at a local (administrative or geographic) level is directly influenced by the users of spaces. The paper concludes that soundscape research can have a greater impact by helping urban planners design for health and pleasant experiences as well as developing tools for improved citizen involvement in local optimization.