Soundscape in Times of Change: Case Study of a City Neighbourhood During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown meant a greatly reduced social and economic activity. Sound is of major importance to people’s perception of the environment, and some remarked that the soundscape was changing for the better. But are these anecdotal reports based in truth? Has traffic noise from cars and airplanes really gone down, so that more birdsong can be heard? Have socially distanced people quietened down? This article presents a case study of the human perception of environmental sounds in an urban neighborhood in the Basque Country between 15 March and 25 May 2020. The social restrictions imposed through national legislation divided the 69-day period into three phases. We collected observations, field audio recordings, photography, and diary notes on 50 days. Experts in soundscape and architecture were presented with the recordings, in randomized order, and made two separate perceptual analyses. One group (N = 11) rated the recordings for pleasantness and eventfulness using an adapted version of the Swedish Soundscape Quality Protocol, and a partly overlapping group (N = 12) annotated perceived sound events with free-form semantic labels. The labels were systematically classified into a four-level Taxonomy of Sound Sources, allowing an estimation of the relative amounts of Natural, Human, and Technological sounds. Loudness and three descriptors developed for bioacoustics were extracted computationally. Analysis showed that Eventfulness, Acoustic Complexity, and Acoustic Richness increased significantly over the time period, while the amount of Technological sounds decreased. These observations were interpreted as reflecting changes in people’s outdoor activities and behavior over the whole 69-day period, evidenced in an increased presence of Human sounds of voices and walking, and a significant shift from motorized vehicles toward personal mobility devices, again evidenced by perceived sounds. Quantitative results provided a backdrop against which qualitative analyses of diary notes and observations were interpreted in relation to the restrictions and the architectural specifics of the site. An integrated analysis of all sources pointed at the temporary suspension of human outdoor activity as the main reason for such a change. In the third phase, the progressive return of street life and the usage of personal mobility vehicles seemed to be responsible for a clear increase in Eventfulness and Loudness even in the context of an overall decrease of Technological sounds. Indoor human activity shared through open windows and an increased presence of birdsong emerge as a novel characteristic element of the local urban soundscape. We discuss how such changes in the acoustic environment of the site, in acoustic measurements and as perceived by humans, point toward the soundscape being a crucial component of a comprehensive urban design strategy that aims to improve health and quality of life for increasingly large and dense populations in the future.

Quieted City Sounds during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Montreal

“…Finally, data collected all over Spain concluded that despite a dip of 15 dB in overall sound levels during the tightest phase of lockdown, the return to 'normal' sound levels was "lightly" higher than pre-COVID conditions [25]. On the perceptual side, a neighborhood in Basque Country, Spain experienced a rise in descriptions of eventful and loudness as their lockdown measures were eased [26]. Eventful and loudness as perceptual measures are mentioned here, due to their potential relationship with acoustic indices such as L 10 and LA eq .…”

COVID-19 Impacts on Historic Soundscape Perception and Site Usage

“…While all three options insinuate that soundscape judgements are subject to shifts, the last possible reason points to a critical point of consideration for soundscape research. Other recent studies proved a shift in behavior as well; an increase in the perceived eventfulness reflected changes in people's outdoor activities and behavior, although the measured overall loudness remained stable [3]. Does the shift in behaviors at the memorial by locals indicate a shift in their perception, or does it indicate an underlying perception that could not be studied without the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic?…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic enacted societal-level shifts in shared surroundings and behavior, which profoundly impacted environments [1] and city soundscapes across the world. Researchers have taken note and begun to study these shifts during lockdown measures, focusing on the domestic sphere [2], city neighborhoods [3], and selected locations representing cross-sections of urban public spaces [4]. Several of these studies demonstrated a change in noise levels due to reduced mobility and lockdown measures but also observed a change in people's behavior that likely contributed to the soundscapes.…”

The Interplay between Housing Environmental Attributes and Design Exposures and Psychoneuroimmunology Profile—An Exploratory Review and Analysis Paper in the Cancer Survivors’ Mental Health Morbidity Context

“…Residents with access to some environmental affordances at the time of lockdowns experienced better mental health status during COVID-19 (Table 1). Elements included houseplants, home garden access and usage and visibility of greenery and/or blue spaces from the windows [18,[148][149][150][151][152], as well as indoor soundscape prominently coming from nature [153] as mechanical noise like traffic noise reduced [154]. Across several European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, as well as New Zealand, US and Mexico, people under lockdown at homes with accessible outdoor spaces and views of nature showed lower symptoms of depression and anxiety [18].…”

“…Soundscape patterns also changed during the COVID-19 outbreak [162]. Human-generated sound levels such as talking and walking, as well as nature sounds such as birdsong, through open windows increased within home environments [154]. Still, greater exposure to mechanical noise during home confinement contributed consistently to a resident's worse self-reported health, whereas nature sounds correlated with greater restorative capacity of the home; however, those dwellers having soundproof windows installed in their homes, and therefore more acoustic comfort, reported better overall wellbeing independently associated [153].…”