Effects of auditory-visual combinations on perceived restorative potential of urban green space

Zhao, Jiang; Xu, Wenyan; Li, Ye

doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2018.07.001

Cited by 99 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The perceived restorativeness of birdsong is balanced between fascination, being away, compatibility, and extent. This is also true at 0.5 m and 2 m. These results are similar to a previous study [ 27 ], which showed that a landscape containing natural water and high plant coverage matches the visual association of a bird singing; thus, adding birdsong to this landscape will lead to higher restorative potential.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Effect of Birdsong Soundscape on Perceived Restorativeness in an Urban Park

Zhao

Zhu

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Natural soundscapes have beneficial effects on the perceived restorativeness of an environment. This study examines the effect of birdsong, a common natural soundscape, on perceived restorativeness in Harbin Sun Island Park in China. Eight sites were selected and a series of questionnaire surveys on perceived restorativeness soundscape scale (PRSS) of four birdsong types were conducted during summer and winter. Two-hundred and forty respondents participated in this survey. Analysis of the survey results shows that different types of birdsong have different perceived restorativeness effects in different seasons. Crow birdsong has the worst effect on the perceived restorativeness in both summer and winter. Moreover, sound comfort and preference are significantly associated with the perceived restorativeness. The perceived restorativeness soundscape is best when birdsong is at a height of 4 m rather than 0.5 m or 2 m. The demographic/social factors of age, education, and stress level are all correlated with perceived restorativeness. There are suggestions for urban park design, especially with constructed natural elements. Creating a suitable habitat for multiple species of birds will improve perceived restorativeness. Moreover, appropriate activities should be provided in city parks to ensure restorativeness environments, especially for subjects with high levels of education and stress.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

Effect of Birdsong Soundscape on Perceived Restorativeness in an Urban Park

Zhao

Zhu

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…At stage two, a group soundscape walk was performed to explore the perceived characteristics of the soundscapes worthy of preservation. It is widely known that the perceptions of soundscapes are closely related to their visual environment (Pérez-Martínez et al, 2018;Zhao et al, 2018).…”

Section: Stage Two: Data Collection Of Group Soundscape Walkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One type focussed on the soundscapes in specific areas, such as urban parks (Liu et al, 2018a;Ou et al, 2017), residential areas (Rey and Barrigon, 2017), commercial streets (Yu et al, 2016) and urban waterfront areas (Puyana et al, 2016). The other investigated particular soundscapes, such as water sounds and birdsongs (Liu et al, 2019;Zhao et al, 2018). However, studies on the characteristics from the viewpoint of soundscapes worthy of preservation are still lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and evaluation of urban soundscapes worthy of preservation

Jia

Kang

2020

Journal of Environmental Management

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Improvement of the sound environment is essential for improving the overall quality of the urban environment and for reflecting the characteristics of a city. Unfortunately, some soundscapes in cities are gradually being destroyed by the rapid development. Therefore, it would appear that the preservation of soundscapes is as necessary and crucial as noise control in cities. In this paper, two field studies were carried out at two stages to explore the types and characteristics of urban soundscapes that should be preserved, based on the example of Tianjin, China. At stage one, 2504 respondents participated in social surveys to recommend the soundscapes worthy of preservation in the city. At stage two, a group soundscape walk with twenty-three participants was carried out to explore the characteristics of soundscapes worthy of preservation suggested by the respondents at the first stage. The following results were obtained: (1) regarding the attitude towards the urgency of soundscape preservation, 79% of the respondents thought it was urgent or very urgent, with an average score of 4.04 (five-point numeric scale was used and five meant very urgent). (2) The majority of soundscapes worthy of preservation were located in urban parks and historic districts with respective proportions of 66% and 20%. The top three sound source categories of these soundscapes were social/communal sounds (talking, bells, laughter, and sounds from human activities), animal sounds (birdsong and sounds from non-domesticated animals) and water sounds. (3) Relaxation, vibrancy, representativeness, strength, and richness were principal characteristics of the soundscapes worthy of preservation. (4) Based on their characteristics, these soundscapes were classified into five clusters using hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). They were clusters of relaxing nature soundscape, vibrant nature soundscape, vibrant human activity soundscape, culture-related soundscape and traditional soundscape. The dominant characteristic of each cluster was driven by its sound mark rather than the dominant sound.

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“…and lawns. A study by Zhao, Xu, and Ye (2018) demonstrated that appropriate combinations of congruent acoustic and visual stimuli increased the perceived restorative potential of an environment. For instance, a landscape containing natural water and high plant coverage matches the visual association with a bird singing, and combining wind sounds with a landscape with high vegetation coverage increases the restorative quality of that environment.…”

Section: Congruence Of the Visual And Auditory Features Of The Enviromentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #2 of "Effect of birdsongs and traffic noise on pedestrian walking speed during different seasons (v0.1)"

2019

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Many studies have explored the effects of auditory and visual stimuli on the perception of an environment. However, there is a lack of investigations examining direct behavioral responses to noise in specific environments. In this study, a behavioral variable, walking speed, was analyzed, as a response to the sounds and visual features of a specific environment. The study examined the effects of birdsongs compared to traffic noise on walking speed in a real outdoor urban environment. It was supposed that the interaction of audition and vision in the perception of an environment may also be shaped by the perceived congruence of the visual and auditory features of the environment. The participants (N = 87 and N = 65), young university students, walked along a 1.8-km urban route. They listened to a soundtrack of crowded city noise or birdsongs, or they walked in the real outdoor environment without listening to any acoustic stimuli. To investigate the effect of the congruence between acoustic and visual stimuli, the experiment was conducted in two different seasons (fall and spring). The results did not show significant differences between the crowded city noise condition and the real outdoor condition. Listening to the soundtrack with birdsongs decreased walking speed, but this effect was significant only in the experiment conducted in spring. These findings can be explained in terms of the congruence between the sounds and the visual environment. The findings raise questions regarding the restorative function of urban greenery during different seasons.

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Effects of auditory-visual combinations on perceived restorative potential of urban green space

Cited by 99 publications

References 60 publications

Effect of Birdsong Soundscape on Perceived Restorativeness in an Urban Park

Effect of Birdsong Soundscape on Perceived Restorativeness in an Urban Park

Characteristics and evaluation of urban soundscapes worthy of preservation

Peer Review #2 of "Effect of birdsongs and traffic noise on pedestrian walking speed during different seasons (v0.1)"

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