Soundscape approaches in urban planning: implications for an intervention framework

There is increasing demand for innovative approaches to decrease the negative impact of noise by sound-conscious design. While the health effects of environmental noise are well mapped, little is known about the effectivity of interventions on health. This is one of the conclusions in the WHO-Review on health impacts of noise interventions. More and better interventions studies are needed, in particular for sources other than road traffic, and for health outcomes other than annoyance. Some soundscape intervention studies were included in the WHO review, classified under the category ”Other physical interventions”. Three out of four studies in this domain demonstrated potential efficacy. Although consideration of soundscapes seems essential for urban planning, guidelines on how to implement and assess improvements are not available. Against this background an inventory of architectural soundscape projects in the Netherlands and elsewhere was made, combining interviews with experts and planners with a literature review. The inventory of Dutch and international examples of soundscape approaches in urban planning led to the conclusion that well-documented approaches all aimed at the improvement of the acoustic quality, rather than a mere reduction of sound levels. The projects also combined changes in the physical environment with stakeholder involvement and in that way created a sense of ownership of the interventions. Based on these findings this paper extends the examples of the typology of interventions. ; Full Text