Tranquillity and Soundscapes in Urban Green Spaces—Predicted and Actual Assessments from a Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

A previous pilot study demonstrated the utility of a tranquillity prediction tool TRAPT for use in three green open spaces in a densely populated area. This allows the calculation of perceived levels of tranquillity in open spaces. The current study expands the range of sites to eight and, importantly, considers the views of visitors to these spaces. In total 252 face-to-face interviews were conducted in these spaces. An important aim of the survey was to determine the extent to which reported tranquillity obtained from the questionnaire survey could be predicted by a previously developed prediction tool TRAPT. A further aim was to determine what other factors may need to be considered in addition to the purely physical descriptors in TRAPT. The questions included the sounds and sights that were noticed, factors affecting tranquillity, as well as questions related to the benefits of visiting these areas. Predictions were considered satisfactory and could be improved further by taking account of issues surrounding personal safety. Examining the trends in these data, it was also shown that the percentage of people feeling more relaxed after visiting the spaces was closely related to overall assessments of perceived tranquillity. Further trends and their implications are presented and discussed.

Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors) on Urban Soundscapes

“…This paper and other previous work [13,27] propose a method that identifies the elements relating to the quality of the spaces (maintenance and safety) and the presence of nature, both green and blue components. Similar indices have been widely used in urban planning and, more recently, in acoustics, to evaluate the soundscape of urban and rural areas [10,11,13]. In this study the physical context variables, despite their simplicity; have contributed to explaining the soundscape pleasantness felt by people in urban places.…”

“…Similar methods have been used in other research based on panoramic photographs of places [13], though the visibility of the sky is too uncertain and dependent upon other factors, such as orientation, gaze direction, field of view, etc. [10,11]. The intention in performing this estimate was to get an indicator of the openness of analysed places, for which purpose it seemed to be of interest to use a measurement of the mean percentage of the sky that could be viewed by a user in the analysed location, even if this was just an approximate estimate.…”

“…In recent years, the importance of context factors has been one of the most widely-discussed issues in the soundscape approach [1,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Many studies conclude that elements related to the visual dimension, safety or cleanness, among others, are more relevant in the overall environmental experience of a place than acoustic parameters, particularly when considering soundscape and quietness.…”

“…Many studies conclude that elements related to the visual dimension, safety or cleanness, among others, are more relevant in the overall environmental experience of a place than acoustic parameters, particularly when considering soundscape and quietness. There are many references that highlight the relevance of context factors (e.g., landscape [9][10][11]14,15], geography and thermal conditions [16], maintenance, and cleanness [12]), and person-or community-related features such as culture and personal characteristics) in the soundscape approach, since these items have a remarkable influence on the perception process [1,17,18]. In addition, there is increasing evidence that the congruence between the different elements of a place is important in human preference [19], as well as how they influence the expectation of a place [20].…”

Analysis of the acoustic climate of a spa park using the fuzzy set theory

“…Therefore, the membership of the analysed set of information about the perceived noise sensation could be assessed by the application of the fuzzy set theory [17,18].…”