Understanding the urban auditory experience Linking uses, users, and environments

Despite growing scientific and anecdotal evidence on the effects of sound on the emotional and physical wellbeing of people, the auditory aspect of the urban experience has remained largely ignored and its effect on urban life (especially on the use of public spaces) has yet to be considered in earnest in current urban policy and design initiatives, beyond limiting “noise is bad / quiet is good” approaches. To help fill this gap, this dissertation focuses on the relationship between urban public space users’ activities and their auditory environments, in context, exploring how various factors might moderate the relationship. The study takes a multidisciplinary approach rooted in social and behavioral sciences, addressing gaps related chiefly to the limited attention paid to the role of activity as a variable in mediating auditory experiences as well as to limitations of mainstream methods and techniques used currently to capture public descriptions and evaluations of auditory experiences, centered on the seldom used method of observation. Aiming to contribute to both academic scholarship and professional practice with the development of replicable and flexible methodologies, the chapters of this dissertation relied on methodological experimentation to investigate public space users’ auditory experiences on site. Various situated, mixed-method approaches that combined field observation, surveys, soundwalks and workshops were employed in urban public spaces in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Montréal (Canada). This dissertation makes empirical, theoretical, methodological and practice-related contributions. A key finding is that the level of social interaction of one’s activity matters; whether public space users perform activities alone or with others influences how they describe and evaluate their auditory environments. It further shows that the “suitability” of users’ auditory environments for their activities is a valuable indicator for understanding the urban auditory experience and that a number of variables, including expectations and familiarity, further influence the aforementioned experience. Finally, this dissertation showcases an effort focused on encouraging sound awareness both among people (as city users) as well as urban professionals (as city makers), while being sensitive to the usability/applicability/limitations of the research furnished to city users and city makers by researchers.