Image © Cynthia Tarlao 

Have you ever avoided walking through a park just because it was noisy? Or avoided opening your windows because they overlook a busy road? The most common approach to noise pollution in cities is to try and reduce it once people have complained. Yet sound, if well thought out, can be positive : the sounds of nature, conversation or music can help to recharge batteries, bring people together as a community, and even stimulate creativity. Thinking about sound as an integral aspect of urban design, and not just as a nuisance to be reduced after the fact, can also help ensure that our cities are more pleasant, attractive and inclusive. Take a stroll through our park and discover a few ways of thinking about sound in the city. 

• Catalogue d’interventions sur le paysage sonore : https://soundscape-intervention.org/ 

• Podcast – Le Paysage Sonore : https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/l-ete-comme-jamais/l-ete-comme-jamais-du-mardi-17-aout-2021-4656047 

• Étude en laboratoire sur une installations sonore : Évaluer l'impact d'une installation sonore sur le paysage sonore urbain 

• Projet Ville Sonore : https://www.sounds-in-the-city.org/fr/apercu/ 

• Article de presse sur Ville Sonore : https://journalmetro.com/local/le-plateau-mont-royal/2587752/etudier-les-nuisances-sonores-pour-ameliorer-la-qualite-de-vie/ 

• Outil de design de paysage sonore : https://soundscapedesign.info/design-tool/ 

• Kang, Jian, Francesco Aletta, Truls T. Gjestland, Lex A. Brown, Dick Botteldooren, Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp, Peter Lercher, et al. “Ten Questions on the Soundscapes of the Built Environment.” Building and Environment 108 (November 1, 2016): 284–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.08.011. 

• Kang, Jian, and Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp. Soundscape and the Built Environment. CRC Press, 2015. 

• Fiebig, André, and Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp. “How to Put Soundscape into Practice.” In Soundscapes: Humans and Their Acoustic Environment, edited by Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp, André Fiebig, Joseph A. Sisneros, Arthur N. Popper, and Richard R. Fay, 313–30. Springer Handbook of Auditory Research. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22779-0_11. 

• Brown, A. L., and Andreas Muhar. “An Approach to the Acoustic Design of Outdoor Space.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 47, no. 6 (November 1, 2004): 827–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/0964056042000284857. 

• Odland, B., and S. Auinger. “Reflections on the Sonic Commons.” Leonardo Music Journal 19 (2009): 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1162/lmj.2009.19.63. 

• Hong, Jooyoung, Zhen-Ting Ong, Bhan Lam, Kenneth Ooi, Woon-Seng Gan, Jian Kang, Jing Feng, and Sze-Tiong Tan. “Effects of Adding Natural Sounds to Urban Noises on the Perceived Loudness of Noise and Soundscape Quality.” Science of The Total Environment 711 (April 1, 2020): 134571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134571. 

• Tarlao, Cynthia, Daniel Steele, Grégoire Blanc, and Catherine Guastavino. “Interactive Soundscape Simulation as a Co-Design Tool for Urban Professionals.” Landscape and Urban Planning 231 (March 1, 2023): 104642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104642. 

• Steele, Daniel, Christine Kerrigan, and Catherine Guastavino. “Sounds in the City: Bridging the Gaps from Research to Practice through Soundscape Workshops.” Journal of Urban Design 25, no. 5 (September 2, 2020): 646–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2019.1699399. 

• Steele, Daniel, Edda Bild, and Catherine Guastavino. “Moving Past the Sound-Noise Dichotomy: How Professionals of the Built Environment Approach the Sonic Dimension.” Cities 132 (January 1, 2023): 103974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103974. 

• Steele, Daniel, Valérian Fraisse, Edda Bild, and Catherine Guastavino. “Bringing Music to the Park: The Effect of Musikiosk on the Quality of Public Experience.” Applied Acoustics 177 (June 1, 2021): 107910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2021.107910.