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Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces

Meng, Q; Kang, J; (2016) Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces. Science of The Total Environment , 573 pp. 481-493. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.130. Green open access

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Abstract

Human activities are important to landscape design and urban planning; however, the effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort has not been considered. The objective of this study is to explore how human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces can be changed by sound-related activities. On-site measurements were performed at a case study site in Harbin, China, and an acoustic comfort survey was simultaneously conducted. In terms of effect of sound activities on human behaviours, music-related activities caused 5.1-21.5% of persons who pass by the area to stand and watch the activity, while there was a little effect on the number of persons who performed excises during the activity. Human activities generally have little effect on the behaviour of pedestrians when only 1 to 3 persons are involved in the activities, while a deep effect on the behaviour of pedestrians is noted when >6 persons are involved in the activities. In terms of effect of activities on acoustic comfort, music-related activities can increase the sound level from 10.8 to 16.4dBA, while human activities such RS and PC can increase the sound level from 9.6 to 12.8dBA; however, they lead to very different acoustic comfort. The acoustic comfort of persons can differ with activities, for example the acoustic comfort of persons who stand watch can increase by music-related activities, while the acoustic comfort of persons who sit and watch can decrease by human sound-related activities. Some sound-related activities can show opposite trend of acoustic comfort between visitors and citizens. Persons with higher income prefer music sound-related activities, while those with lower income prefer human sound-related activities.

Type: Article
Title: Effect of sound-related activities on human behaviours and acoustic comfort in urban open spaces
Location: Netherlands
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.130
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.130
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Sound-related activities, Sound environment, Pedestrian behavio,ur Acoustic comfort, Urban open space
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10052475
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