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Characterization of the soundscape of urban waterfronts

Abstract:

The positive influence of parks and public open spaces on health and human wellness has been studied by several researches and they highlighted how the improvement of the soundscape contributes to a better overall environmental quality. However, the human perception has a multisensory nature and, therefore, holistic analyses are necessary to estimate the influence by sound, vision, odours, meteorological conditions and psychological components on the satisfaction of the users of these open spaces. The waterfronts, with their wide variety of features, are almost unexplored areas from the point of view of the sound and environmental perception, although they are usually treated with special care by the stakeholders in the urban renewal planning for their high commercial, tourist and recreational potentialities. This paper introduces the first step on the development of a methodology for the perceptual characterization of the waterfront soundscapes. The methodology has been applied to the sea front of the city of Naples, which is under a strong urban transformation, and preliminary results are outlined.