URBAN SOUNDSCAPE CHANGES IN TURKEY BEFORE AND AFTER COVID-19: ESKİŞEHİR, AN ANATOLIAN CITY

Abstract

In line with the Covid-19 measures taken in Turkey, there have been some changes in daily life and these changes affected the acoustic environment particularly in terms of dominant sound type and sound level. In the study conducted to examine the effects of changes in daily life as a result of the measures taken by the state on the sound environment, through sound level, sound types and soundscape components, the changes in the acoustic environment in commercial-recreational areas, as well as historical-touristic areas at the city center of the sample city Eskişehir, Turkey before and after Covid-19, were reviewed and evaluated by comparison. Before Covid-19, the sounds that existed but masked in the LO-FI acoustic environment (especially the natural sounds) became audible in the HI-FI acoustic environment created with the lowered sound level after pandemic (5 to 10 dBA), and they took their place among the keynotes and soundmarks. While the soundmarks that define urban areas consisted of the sounds arising from the area usage by function before the pandemic, they turned into natural sounds throughout the pandemic.