Contribution
The soundscape index
* Presenting author
Abstract:
Looking at an environment from a soundscaping perspective is a holistic approach to characterize a physical space. As opposed to pure noise exposure levels, soundscapes characterisation have proven a valuable tool for accessing all aspects of what makes a space attractive to use especially in an urban planning context. However, it is still relatively new and sparsely utilized outside the academic world. One challenge is the communication of value to stakeholders without prior knowledge of soundscapes, such as contractors, politicians, etc. For this reason, we propose a soundscape index to summarize and quantify the quality of a soundscape. The index is based on a measure of deviation from the current soundscape to a desired/ideal. The input consists of evaluations of 14 attributes (positive, negative, and descriptive) as well as the desired ideal value of each. This index describes the quality of a space for stakeholders in one number and is also suited for quantifying and documenting efforts leading to improvement. We present case studies exemplifying its use.