Soundscape Basics and Practical Implications Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift, as it involves human and social sciences and physical measurements to account for the diversity of soundscapes across countries and cultures. Moreover, it treats environmental sounds as a resource rather than a waste. Soundscape and the Built Environment is the first book to systematically discuss soundscape in the built environment. It begins with a presentation of theory and basic background, answering questions such as: what is soundscape, how is it important, and how does it affect people in terms of their health and perception on the acoustic environment. The book then sets out tools for implementing a soundscape approach, with measurement techniques, mapping, and good soundscape practices. It also delivers a series of examples of the application of the soundscape approach in planning, design, and assessment. Discusses soundscape and environmental noise Explores cultural variations and the way they influence soundscape Introduces binaural measurement technology and psychoacoustics Examines the physical, psychological, and physiological restorative mechanism of high-quality acoustic environments Presents soundscape mapping based on human perception of sound sources Includes real-world examples and case studies highlighting the key issues in soundscape intervention Soundscape and the Built Environment is written by a group of leading international figures and derives from a four-year EU COST project on Soundscapes of European Cities and Landscapes. It presents a consensus on the current state of the art and is not merely a collection of different views. It is written for acoustic consultants, urban planners, designers and policy makers, as well as for graduate students and researchers.

Over the past two decades there have been many major new developments in the field of urban sound environment. Jian Kang introduces and examines these key developments, including: the development of prediction methods for urban sound propagation establishment and application of noise-mapping software new noise control measures and design methods. Also covered is the new EU directive on noise and the substantial actions it has brought about across Europe. As the importance of soundscape, acoustic comfort and sound environment design have become widely recognized, Urban Sound Environments is a thoroughly useful book for students and practitioners in a wide range of fields, from urban planning and landscape through to architecture and acoustics.

We cannot simply listen to our urban past. Yet we encounter a rich cultural heritage of city sounds presented in text, radio and film. How can such »staged sounds« express the changing identities of cities? This volume presents a collection of studies on the staging of Amsterdam, Berlin and London soundscapes in historical documents, radio plays and films, and offers insights into themes such as film sound theory and museum audio guides. In doing so, this book puts contemporary controversies on urban sound in historical perspective, and contextualises iconic presentations of cities. It addresses academics, students, and museum workers alike. With contributions by Jasper Aalbers, Karin Bijsterveld, Carolyn Birdsall, Ross Brown, Andrew Crisell, Andreas Fickers, Annelies Jacobs, Evi Karathanasopoulou, Patricia Pisters, Holger Schulze, Mark M. Smith and Jonathan Sterne.

Rethinking the open city Planners, privatisation, and police surveillance are laying siege to urban public spaces. The streets are becoming ever more regimented as life and character are sapped from our cities. What is to be done? Is it possible to maintain the public realm as a flexible space that adapts over time? Can disorder be designed? Fifty years ago, Richard Sennett wrote his groundbreaking work The Uses of Disorder, arguing that the ideal of a planned and ordered city was flawed, likely to produce a fragile, restrictive urban environment. The need for the Open City, the alternative, is now more urgent that ever. In this provocative essay, Pablo Sendra and Richard Sennett propose a reorganisation of how we think and plan the life of our cities. What the authors call 'infrastructures for disorder' combine architecture, politics, urban planning and activism in order to develop places that nurture rather than stifle, bring together rather than divide, remain open to change rather than rapidly stagnate. Designing Disorder is a radical and transformative manifesto for the future of twenty-first-century cities.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Noise and Vibration Control in the Built Environment" that was published in Applied Sciences

The concept of the “Soundscapes” includes all of the sounds in one’s environment and focuses not only on the sounds itself. Instead, it focuses on the interrelationships between person and activity and place, both in space and time. Soundscape also include influences on the acoustic environment through auditory sensation, its interpretation, and the responses to the acoustic environment in context. The conceptual framework of Soundscape describes the “process of perceiving or experiencing and/or understanding an acoustic environment, highlighting general concepts and their relationships: context, sound sources, acoustic environment, auditory sensation, interpretation of auditory sensation, responses, and outcomes” (International Organization for Standardization, ISO 12913-1:2014 Acoustics Soundscape Part Definition and Conceptual Framework, ISO, Geneva, 2014). With soundscape, one achieves a deeper understanding of acoustic environment and its effects on people. The ISO standard 12931-1 on soundscape provides an important, and rigorous, distinction in the use of “Soundscape.” But, it is recognizable that some individuals, particularly planners, designers, lay persons, and even those primarily interested in management of the acoustic environment through environmental noise control, will find it convenient to use “Soundscape” as a synonym for the physical acoustic environment. When it comes to noise management and urban planning, soundscape research has the potential to promote healthy urban environments by sharing and incorporating the significant knowledge of all concerned parties. Understandably, this shows that the communication with regard to noise management has to be forced to guarantee that the specifics of Soundscapes (i.e., the relevance of perception) are seriously considered alongside the whole. This book will bridge the gap between soundscape theory and practice and therefore it will be different from our earlier publications as “Soundscape and the built environment” (ed. by J. Kang and B. Schulte-Fortkamp CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, Fl 2016) and also from the respective Special Issues on Soundscapes in 2012 in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (ed. by B. Schulte-Fortkamp and J. Kang), and also the Special Issue in Acta Acustica 2006 *(ed. by B. Schulte-Fortkamp and D. Dubois), and the E-book on soundscape This volume will be driven by the difficult process of standardization of Soundscape and its evaluation procedures. The main goal of the proposed volume is to present and review the developments in Soundscape, reflecting the standardization procedure and the diverse inputs. the needs in management and planning in urban acoustic environments, the book will also focus on the difficulties, as well as the solutions, in interdisciplinary grounded communication, that is, on the one hand, related to science, but on the other to application, that needs guidance.