Measuring the Soundscape Quality in Urban Spaces: A Case Study of Historic Urban Area

Abstract

The goals of a good soundscape are to create a sense of place, provide comfort to the users, and encourage intractability in a public space. At the same time, many public areas in cities are having problems due to the weakness in creating the opportunity for people to attend. Therefore, knowing the importance of the subject, this study has measured the aspects of the sonic environment and investigated its effect on the attendance of 15 Khordad Street, District 12, Tehran. The results of this study showed that attendance in urban spaces based on the aspects of the sonic environment focuses on the quality of the surrounding environment as a source of sound. By assessing the perceptual and sensory aspects of sounds in the environment, it is possible to understand the effects of sound on the behaviors, activities, and overall pleasantness of the space for the users. Based on the three statistical communities related to the study, among the key findings, we show that the majority of attendance to the case area was for the purpose of studying, shopping, and work, and despite the fact that this case study is a historic area, people are less willing to attend it. This street, part of which is designed as a pedestrian area, encourages individualism, and not bringing friends and family along is reinforced by unpleasant psychological effects. Since nowadays the problems of the sonic environment are expanding in cities, and noise pollution in some parts of Tehran is considered a major environmental problem, the findings of this study have taken a step to increase urban sustainability and try to improve the main criteria and results, which were to rationally evaluate the existing situation of attendance in urban spaces affected by the qualities of the sonic environment, to promote the policy and strategic city planning for city managers.