Using the Sonic Perception to Improve Public Spaces and Develop a Place Identity

Abstract

A city ideally possesses a unique identity that differs it to others, so both dwellers and visitors are easy to identify places. Features in the city that made it unique shall also be friendly to inclusive users, including those with special needs. It is easily spotted in the cities of emerging countries that people with special needs are hardly accommodated. Visually impaired people, as the most vulnerable community in urban areas, need safe and comfortable accesses to do the activity independently. As the visually impaired people mostly depend on sound and tactile, a series of study using a soundscape method in public areas and public facilities was performed. The objective was to map the most prominent sonic dimension of these people, which provides guidance, safety, and comfortable acoustic environment for them. The data were collected using an off-site and in situ method, i.e., at parks, on footpaths, and in shopping malls. The principal component analysis (PCA) was run to extract the data. On the paths and in shopping malls, the soundscape dimensions of the visually impaired is more or less similar to the sighted, where the dimension of pleasantness is the most prominent. At parks, the visually impaired perceived eventfulness soundscape dimension as the most important. The finding is recommended to improve public spaces in the urban areas, which later may also be valuable to develop the place identity using sonic features.