Tranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park – The importance of soundscapes and emotional factors

Watts, G R; Pheasant, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.10.006

Cited by 57 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…For this park, the relative membership of the visitors to tranquility groups "Silence" and "Natural sound sources" is higher than the average of both groups, and, moreover, the sounds heard in this park match expectations, yet the L A50 is slightly higher than the average over parks. This could potentially be explained by the observation that this park is almost completely covered by forest and green paths and the knowledge that visual elements contribute to the perception of tranquility [13].…”

Section: Sound Levels In the Parksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, a direct brain response with relation to perceived tranquility was measured with neural imaging [12]. Additionally, the tranquility of natural places has been investigated and evaluated with established soundscape indicators [13]. Finally, tranquility is considered to be an important characteristic of the soundscape of religious spaces [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Previous research has shown that tranquil areas in the city, such as urban parks, are usually perceived as positive and have a restorative effect on visitors. However, visitors could experience these spaces differently depending on the meaning they assign to the concept of tranquility. To investigate how individuals' personal views on tranquility affect their perception of the sonic environment, a soundscape study was conducted in several city parks in Antwerp, Belgium. Mobile sound measurements were combined with a questionnaire survey amongst 660 park visitors. Within the survey, the participants' viewpoint on tranquility was evaluated using their agreement with a set of previously established prototypical statements, categorizing them into one out of three main tranquility viewpoint groups: people that associate tranquility with silence, those that associate it with hearing natural sounds, or those that associate it with social relationships. Next to this, the sounds that participants had heard during their visit were noted, and their perception of the overall quality of the soundscape and the degree to which it matched their expectation were assessed. Results show that the park visitors who associate tranquility with natural sounds or to silence are more often found amongst those that report hearing mechanical sounds a lot. The same groups of visitors rate the overall quality of the sonic environment of the park more often bad to very bad. These findings suggest that park visitors pay attention more to the sounds they do not expect to hear, and that the higher their expectations about the soundscape, the more critical they become in their appraisal of the soundscape.

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Section: Sound Levels In the Parksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

et al. 2017

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“…Recent studies [8] have demonstrated that the tranquillity construct is essentially composed of two components i.e. pleasantness and calmness.…”

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confidence: 99%

The effects of “greening” urban areas on the perceptions of tranquillity

Watts

2017

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

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Tranquil environments can provide relief from stresses of everyday of life and can be considered restorative environments. This paper considers the effects of "greening" urban environments to enhance tranqui llity and ultimately well-being and health benefits. A number of studies have been conducted at the Bradford Centre for Sustainable Environments at the University of Bradford which have examined the effects of natural features on ratings of tranquillity. These include quantifying the effects of the percentage of natural and contextual features and soundscape quality on rated tranquillity. Recently the resulting prediction equation TRAPT (Tranquillity Rating Prediction Tool) has been used to examine a number of scenarios including city parks and square s, country parks and moorland areas and validated using tranquillity ratings made by visitors to these green spaces and their reported levels of relaxation. In this paper TRAPT is used for predicting tranquillity in city squares of different sizes, to examine rated tranquillity behind natural (green) and manufactured noise barriers and to predict changes in urban streets of introducing avenues of trees, hedges and grass verges. Using such scenarios this paper demonstrates how the application of TRAPT can enable changes in tranquillity to be estimated. This can provide planners, environmentalists, civic leaders and concerned citizens with a further tool to guide improvements in the urban environment by "greening" measures and noise reduction of various kinds and to help counter threats such as over development, tree removal or traffic densification that might threaten existing benefits. 242 words

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“…35 Though soundscape research acknowledges the existence of exciting sound, it has tended to focus on the benefits of pleasant but uneventful soundscapes, 36 to produce qualities such as tranquility. 37 Music is certainly regarded as an aspect of the soundscape, 38 and some work has been done to explore the benefits of music as an aspect of the soundscape, 39 though not with a focus on loud music or other loud sounds that people perceive as pleasant. It would be interesting to explore this area in more detail with research using soundscape measures developed for general purposes.…”

Section: Arousal and Excitementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Why People Enjoy Loud Sound

Welch¹,

Fremaux

2017

Semin Hear

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Sounds at levels that can injure the ear are regarded as enjoyable by many people. In many societies, a common form of this behavior is listening to loud music, either via personal audio systems or at music venues. Drawing on theory from the literature around loud sound and emotional responses to music, and combining it with concepts of physiological sound adaptation and classical conditioning, we developed a model of the process that may underlie people's enjoyment of loud sound, particularly loud music in nightclubs. The Conditioning, Adaptation, and Acculturation to Loud Music (CAALM) model proposes that the benefits associated with loud sound, alongside other desirable aspects of nightclubs, provide the unconditioned stimuli. Over time regular clubbers become conditioned to enjoy loud sound in itself. Exposure to loud sound also causes adaptation within the auditory system, so there is both a desire for, and tolerance of, loud sound during leisure time. This sets up an expectation of loud music as a cultural norm, and staff of leisure venues, who are themselves part of that culture, set music levels to meet customer expectations; and a cycle is perpetuated. This theory may be a useful consideration for health promotion and hearing conservation interventions.

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Tranquillity in the Scottish Highlands and Dartmoor National Park – The importance of soundscapes and emotional factors

Cited by 57 publications

References 10 publications

The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

The Personal Viewpoint on the Meaning of Tranquility Affects the Appraisal of the Urban Park Soundscape

The effects of “greening” urban areas on the perceptions of tranquillity

Understanding Why People Enjoy Loud Sound

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