Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity
Quietness in an urban environment is vital for the well-being of city residents. Nevertheless, the ambiguity in the conceptualization of the terms noise and quietness as urban acoustic planning and design objectives, has resulted in two different approaches: the soundscape approach and the noise con...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environments |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/2/12 |
| _version_ | 1797480465874026496 |
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| author | Aggelos Tsaligopoulos Yiannis G. Matsinos |
| author_facet | Aggelos Tsaligopoulos Yiannis G. Matsinos |
| author_sort | Aggelos Tsaligopoulos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quietness in an urban environment is vital for the well-being of city residents. Nevertheless, the ambiguity in the conceptualization of the terms noise and quietness as urban acoustic planning and design objectives, has resulted in two different approaches: the soundscape approach and the noise control approach. The main purpose of this research is to supplement the existing approaches by proposing a new ecological acoustics approach in order to identify quiet areas in the city of Mytilene (Lesbos Island, North Aegean, Greece). The use of the soundscape approach involved the participation of Mytilene’s residents and the collection of subjective and objective eligibility criteria. By means of Multi-Criteria Decision Making two urban green areas were highlighted as potential quiet areas. For the noise control approach, road noise maps have been created through a commercial noise mapping software, validated by trough measurements. As a result, two areas located in the outskirts of the city were highlighted. Finally, the novel ecological acoustics approach involved acoustic recordings and the extraction of the Composite Urban Quietness Index (CUQI). The outcome of this approach converged with the soundscape approach results. Quietness, as an urban acoustic planning and design goal, could be viewed as an opportunity for ecologically sustainable urban environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:01:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-46a4c9c8406f45498c54fa55be04c4d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3298 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:01:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environments |
| spelling | doaj.art-46a4c9c8406f45498c54fa55be04c4d72023-11-23T19:49:18ZengMDPI AGEnvironments2076-32982022-01-01921210.3390/environments9020012Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability OpportunityAggelos Tsaligopoulos0Yiannis G. Matsinos1Acoustic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, GreeceAcoustic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, 81100 Mytilene, GreeceQuietness in an urban environment is vital for the well-being of city residents. Nevertheless, the ambiguity in the conceptualization of the terms noise and quietness as urban acoustic planning and design objectives, has resulted in two different approaches: the soundscape approach and the noise control approach. The main purpose of this research is to supplement the existing approaches by proposing a new ecological acoustics approach in order to identify quiet areas in the city of Mytilene (Lesbos Island, North Aegean, Greece). The use of the soundscape approach involved the participation of Mytilene’s residents and the collection of subjective and objective eligibility criteria. By means of Multi-Criteria Decision Making two urban green areas were highlighted as potential quiet areas. For the noise control approach, road noise maps have been created through a commercial noise mapping software, validated by trough measurements. As a result, two areas located in the outskirts of the city were highlighted. Finally, the novel ecological acoustics approach involved acoustic recordings and the extraction of the Composite Urban Quietness Index (CUQI). The outcome of this approach converged with the soundscape approach results. Quietness, as an urban acoustic planning and design goal, could be viewed as an opportunity for ecologically sustainable urban environments.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/2/12quiet areasnoisesoundscape approachnoise controlnoise mappingquietness |
| spellingShingle | Aggelos Tsaligopoulos Yiannis G. Matsinos Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity Environments quiet areas noise soundscape approach noise control noise mapping quietness |
| title | Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity |
| title_full | Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity |
| title_fullStr | Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity |
| title_short | Approaching Quietness as an Urban Sustainability Opportunity |
| title_sort | approaching quietness as an urban sustainability opportunity |
| topic | quiet areas noise soundscape approach noise control noise mapping quietness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/2/12 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aggelostsaligopoulos approachingquietnessasanurbansustainabilityopportunity AT yiannisgmatsinos approachingquietnessasanurbansustainabilityopportunity |