The acoustic and visual factors influencing the construction of tranquil space in urban and rural environments tranquil spaces-quiet places?

TLDR

No structured mechanism existed in the UK to evaluate tranquility of open spaces based on acoustic and visual stimuli, and little is known about how audio‑visual modalities interact to produce tranquility. The study proposes engineering formulas linking noise level and proportion of natural features to perceived tranquility. The authors collected visual and acoustic data from 11 rural and urban English landscapes, had 44 volunteers rate perceived tranquility and loudness of five soundscape components, and analyzed these subjective assessments with objective laboratory measurements. Maximum sound pressure level and the proportion of natural features were identified as the key determinants of tranquility.

Abstract

Prior to this work no structured mechanism existed in the UK to evaluate the tranquillity of open spaces with respect to the characteristics of both acoustic and visual stimuli. This is largely due to the fact that within the context of "tranquil" environments, little is known about the interaction of the audio-visual modalities and how they combine to lead to the perception of tranquillity. This paper presents the findings of a study in which visual and acoustic data, captured from 11 English rural and urban landscapes, were used by 44 volunteers to make subjective assessments of both their perceived tranquillity of a location, and the loudness of five generic soundscape components. The results were then analyzed alongside objective measurements taken in the laboratory. It was found that the maximum sound pressure level (L(Amax)) and the percentage of natural features present at a location were the key factors influencing tranquillity. Engineering formulas for the tranquillity as a function of the noise level and proportion of the natural features are proposed.