Urban soundscapes: bridging human perception, ecological patterns, and planning in urban environments

verfasst von

Ling Yang

betreut von

Christian Albert

Abstract

Landscape and urban planning has evolved into an interdisciplinary field bridging ecological and socio-cultural domains. In recent years, landscape and urban planning research have witnessed a significant paradigm shift, marked by a growing acknowledgement of the pivotal role of users' perceptions and emotions. Soundscapes have emerged as critical factors shaping spatial experiences and influencing human psychology and behavior. It extends beyond background noise, representing a fundamental element that profoundly impacts human cognitive, emotional, and social interactions within both built and natural environments. Prior studies highlight a predominant focus within soundscape research on the positive impacts of the environment, specifically in enhancing human well-being and quality of life. Currently, the findings on the effects of soundscape on nature are most evident in the communication of birds, followed by their nesting and mating behavior. Despite substantial advances in soundscape research, critical knowledge gaps persist in both human and ecological dimensions. In the human dimension, the link between soundscapes and place attachment remains underexplored, despite the significance of soundscape in shaping environmental interactions. Ecologically, challenges in species-level identification and long-term monitoring limit biodiversity assessments and ecosystem change tracking. This dissertation addresses key knowledge gaps by integrating soundscape perception, environmental psychology (focusing on place attachment), soundscape ecology (with an emphasis on avian community assessment), and visual landscape evaluation. By combining subjective and objective methodologies, this research aims to help establish a comprehensive framework linking soundscapes, people, nature, and visual landscapes within landscape and urban planning. Specifically, it seeks to (1) examine how different demographic groups experience and evaluate soundscapes and place attachment, (2) analyze the role of soundscape-visual landscape interactions in shaping place attachment, and (3) explore avian soundscapes as ecological indicators of urban environmental quality. For the first paper, this study explored the interrelationships between soundscapes and human connections to place, comparing residents and visitors based on on-site surveys on Kulangsu Island. The findings revealed a shared preference for natural sounds, but distinct patterns of place attachment. Residents exhibited stronger attachment, particularly in place identity and dependence, with natural sounds as a key influence. In contrast, tourists' attachment was more closely linked to artificial and mechanical sounds, reflecting their different objectives and perspectives. Building on these insights, the second study further explored the interaction between visual landscapes and soundscapes in shaping place attachment based on on-site surveys on Kulangsu Island as well. By Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and stratified regression analyses, this study reveals that: (1) various characteristics of the soundscape yield different moderating effects. Specifically, highly pleasant or minimally eventful soundscapes significantly strengthen the positive impact of visual landscape satisfaction on place attachment. the moderating effects of soundscape pleasantness is strongest, (2) visual landscape emerges as a significant moderator and high visual satisfaction amplifies the positive impact of a pleasant soundscape, while lower satisfaction intensifies the positive effect of an eventful soundscape on attachment. (3) the positive correlations between visual landscape and soundscape remain stable, unaffected by the moderating influence of place attachment. The third study shifted to the ecological dimension, utilizing machine learning to analyze urban bird dynamics across seasons and urban zones. Analyzing 2,749 sound recordings with ArcGIS and BirdNET, the study identified 112 bird species and over 18,000 bird call occurrences. Spring had the highest activity, followed by winter, summer, and fall. Significant correlations were found between Acoustic Occurrence per Species (AOS) and Habitat Richness per Species (HRS), with Erithacus rubecula dominant year-round. Acoustic Occurrence per Sample Point (AOP) and Species Richness per Sample Point (SRP) varied widely, with the highest values coming from residential areas and urban green spaces. Four ecological patterns emerged: 1) High-AOP/High-SRP areas may indicate healthy ecosystems, 2) Low-AOP/High-SRP areas suggested ecological stability but required conservation, 3) High-AOP/Low-SRP areas reflected dominance of certain species, requiring conservation, and 4) Low-AOP/Low-SRP areas indicated impoverished ecosystems, likely impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. Collectively, these findings highlight the pivotal role of urban soundscapes in shaping both human experiences and ecological health. They emphasize the necessity of a multi-sensory and ecologically informed approach to landscape and urban planning to foster well-being and biodiversity conservation. To achieve this, the following key recommendations in landscape and urban planning are proposed: (1) Integrating soundscape assessment into landscape and urban planning – Developing standardized assessment tools to evaluate the participatory soundscape needs of both people and nature while considering their interactions with environmental, cultural, and artistic factors. (2) Enhancing soundscape design for multisensory experiences – Embedding soundscape assessment tools into planning procedures and implementing soundscape zoning across different functional areas to optimize acoustic environments. By recognizing sound as an integral component of spatial experience and institutionalizing soundscape design, urban and landscape designers can create more perceptive, responsive, and inclusive environments. Future research should focus on three key areas: (1) Exploring the dynamics of urban soundscapes, particularly how different demographic groups experience and adapt to changing acoustic environments. (2) Integrating human perception and ecological assessment by refining subjective-objective frameworks to ensure perceptual evaluations and bioacoustic monitoring complement each other. (3) Establishing comprehensive soundscape management frameworks to develop guidelines for soundscape design that are both perceptually pleasant and ecologically sustainable. Advancing these areas will promote a more integrated and applied approach, ensuring that future cities enhance both human well-being and biodiversity conservation.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Umweltplanung

Typ

Dissertation

Anzahl der Seiten

139

Publikationsdatum

13.11.2025

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 3 – Gute Gesundheit und Wohlergehen, SDG 11 – Nachhaltige Städte und Gemeinschaften

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.15488/19841 (Zugang: Offen)