TY  - JOUR
TI  - Exploring the relationships between soundscape quality and public health using a systems thinking approach
AV  - public
VL  - 1
Y1  - 2025/02/12/
N1  - This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ID  - discovery10204767
N2  - Urban soundscapes significantly influence public health, with sound quality affecting well-being and social value. While traditional noise control has emphasized harm reduction, soundscape studies propose that managing sound environments can promote health benefits. This study explores the complex relationships between soundscape quality and public health using a systems thinking approach. In a participatory workshop with 21 experts from fields such as urban planning, environmental psychology, and acoustics, a causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to illustrate the interactions between soundscape quality and public health variables. The CLD revealed key feedback loops and intervention points, organized around themes of socio-economic impact, environmental justice, biodiversity, and soundscape design. Findings highlight that while soundscape quality can enhance community well-being, increased economic value may drive gentrification, altering the social structure and reducing sound source diversity. Additionally, the role of soundscape quality in biodiversity suggests both co-benefits and ecological risks. This study demonstrates the potential of systems thinking to guide interdisciplinary approaches in soundscape management, identifying strategic pathways to inform future research and policy development for equitable and health-promoting urban environments.
SN  - 3005-141X
PB  - Springer Science and Business Media LLC
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s44384-025-00003-y
JF  - npj Acoustics
A1  - Aletta, Francesco
A1  - Zhou, Ke
A1  - Mitchell, Andrew
A1  - Oberman, Tin
A1  - Pluchinotta, Irene
A1  - Torresin, Simone
A1  - Cerwén, Gunnar
A1  - Lam, Bhan
A1  - Can, Arnaud
A1  - Guastavino, Catherine
A1  - Tarlao, Cynthia
A1  - Lavandier, Catherine
A1  - Schulte-Fortkamp, Brigitte
A1  - Cobussen, Marcel
A1  - Burgess, Marion
A1  - Nooshin, Laudan
A1  - Payne, Sarah R
A1  - Ratcliffe, Eleanor
A1  - Bernatek, Ruth
A1  - Hornikx, Maarten
A1  - Ma, Hui
A1  - Kang, Jian
ER  -