| dc.description.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. | en_US |
