Influence of Personal Factors on Sound Perception and Overall Experience in Urban Green Areas. A Case Study of a Cycling Path Highly Exposed to Road Traffic Noise
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods and Materials
2.1. Case Study
2.2. Onsite Survey
2.3. Road Traffic and Noise Levels’ Data Collection
3. Results
3.1. Effect of Noise Sensitivity
3.2. Effect of Visual Distractibility
3.3. Effect of Expected Benefit of Greenery
3.4. Relationship Between the Personal Variables
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- People being highly sensitive to noise tended to overestimate the “negative” dimensions of soundscape appraisal and the loudness of the acoustic environment, compared to the less sensitive group, resulting in a “worse” overall experience of the cycling path.
- Instead, people being more visually attentive tended to be shifted towards some “positive” dimensions of soundscape appraisal.
- People having a positive attitude towards greenery experienced the soundscape along the cycling path as being less annoying, calmer and less loud than the group having a sceptical attitude.
Author Contributions
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Question Category | Question(s) | Scale (extremes) |
---|---|---|
(a) overall experience | How would you generally describe your experience today when using the path between Stenenbrug and Lippenslaan? | Very bad—Very good (0–10) |
(b) soundscape appraisal (Overall, the acoustic environment you just experienced was…) | Eventful | Not at all—Completely (0–10) |
Vibrant | ||
Pleasant | ||
Calm | ||
Uneventful | ||
Monotonous | ||
Annoying | ||
Chaotic | ||
(c) perceived loudness | When cycling/walking along the path, I rate the loudness of the environmental noise from the Ring road as… | Very quiet—Extremely loud (0–10) |
(d) noise sensitivity (Please, state to what extent you agree to each of the following statements...) | No one should complain when one listens to music for a while | Do not agree at all—Totally agree (1–5) |
I wake up quickly because of noise | ||
I get bothered when my neighbours are noisy | ||
I get used to most noises without much trouble | ||
Sometimes noise makes me nervous | ||
Music that I usually love bothers me when I am trying to focus | ||
I find it difficult to relax in a noisy place | ||
It does not matter what’s happening around me, I can always concentrate well | ||
I get angry with people making noise preventing me to sleep or work | ||
I am sensitive to noise | ||
(e) visual distractibility (Please, state to what extent you agree with each of the following statements...) | I close my eyes to carefully listen to music | Do not agree at all—Totally agree (1–5) |
During a phone conversation I’m easily distracted from images on screens (computer, TV...) | ||
I get tired quickly in a busy area | ||
(f) expectation towards greenery (Please, state to what extent you agree to each of the following statements...) | The vegetation located towards the ring road is able to reduce the road traffic noise at the cycling path | Do not agree at all—Totally agree (1–5) |
The vegetation located towards the ring road is able to improve the air quality at the cycling path | ||
Being present in a green environment is good for your health |
Reason for Using the Path | How Often do You Use this Path? | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Almost) Daily | Several Times A Week | About Once A Week | Several Times A Month | About Once A Month | Less than Once A Month | Rarely or Never | |
For leisure (e.g., cycling as recreation, sport, relax, etc.) | 17.7% | 13.8% | 12.2% | 8.3% | 3.3% | 5.0% | 39.8% |
To go somewhere (e.g., work, school, shops, etc.) | 51.9% | 20.4% | 5.0% | 1.1% | 0.6% | 1.1% | 19.9% |
Items (a–c) | t-Test for Equality of Means | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
t | df | Sig. (2-Tailed) | Mean Difference | Std. Error Difference | 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference | ||
Lower | Upper | ||||||
Chaotic | −2.658 | 179 | 0.009 | −1.228 | 0.462 | −2.141 | −0.316 |
Annoying | −4.215 | 179 | 0.000 | −1.925 | 0.457 | −2.826 | −1.023 |
Monotonous | −3.064 | 179 | 0.003 | −1.461 | 0.477 | −2.403 | −0.520 |
Uneventful | −1.441 | 179 | 0.151 | −0.692 | 0.480 | −1.640 | 0.256 |
Calm | 2.116 | 179 | 0.036 | 0.803 | 0.380 | 0.054 | 1.552 |
Pleasant | 2.436 | 179 | 0.016 | 1.129 | 0.464 | 0.215 | 2.044 |
Vibrant | 1.522 | 179 | 0.130 | 0.466 | 0.306 | −0.138 | 1.070 |
Eventful | 1.364 | 179 | 0.174 | 0.691 | 0.506 | −0.309 | 1.690 |
Perceived loudness | −4.939 | 179 | 0.000 | −1.255 | 0.254 | −1.757 | −0.754 |
Overall experience | 2.446 | 179 | 0.015 | 0.721 | 0.295 | 0.139 | 1.302 |
Items (a–c) | t-Test for Equality of Means | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
t | df | Sig. (2-Tailed) | Mean Difference | Std. Error Difference | 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference | ||
Lower | Upper | ||||||
Chaotic | −0.570 | 179 | 0.569 | −0.232 | 0.407 | −1.036 | 0.571 |
Annoying | −0.320 | 179 | 0.749 | −0.133 | 0.414 | −0.950 | 0.684 |
Monotonous | −0.901 | 179 | 0.369 | −0.381 | 0.422 | −1.214 | 0.453 |
Uneventful | −0.072 | 179 | 0.943 | −0.030 | 0.418 | −0.855 | 0.795 |
Calm | 2.419 | 179 | 0.017 | 0.791 | 0.327 | 0.146 | 1.437 |
Pleasant | 2.222 | 179 | 0.028 | 0.893 | 0.402 | 0.100 | 1.687 |
Vibrant | 0.699 | 179 | 0.486 | 0.186 | 0.266 | −0.339 | 0.711 |
Eventful | 2.241 | 179 | 0.026 | 0.973 | 0.434 | 0.116 | 1.830 |
Perceived loudness | −1.599 | 179 | 0.112 | −0.372 | 0.233 | −0.831 | 0.087 |
Overall experience | 0.326 | 179 | 0.745 | 0.084 | 0.259 | −0.427 | 0.596 |
Items (a–c) | t-Test for Equality of Means | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
t | df | Sig. (2-Tailed) | Mean Difference | Std. Error Difference | 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference | ||
Lower | Upper | ||||||
Chaotic | −1.391 | 179 | 0.166 | −.584 | 0.420 | −1.412 | 0.244 |
Annoying | −2.723 | 179 | 0.007 | −1.143 | 0.420 | −1.972 | −0.315 |
Monotonous | −0.111 | 179 | 0.912 | −0.049 | 0.438 | −0.913 | 0.816 |
Uneventful | −0.718 | 179 | 0.474 | −0.310 | 0.432 | −1.162 | 0.542 |
Calm | 3.637 | 179 | 0.000 | 1.207 | 0.332 | 0.552 | 1.862 |
Pleasant | 0.807 | 179 | 0.421 | 0.340 | 0.421 | −0.491 | 1.171 |
Vibrant | −0.185 | 179 | 0.854 | −.051 | 0.276 | −0.595 | 0.493 |
Eventful | 0.169 | 179 | 0.866 | 0.077 | 0.456 | −0.822 | 0.976 |
Perceived loudness | −3.805 | 179 | 0.000 | −0.888 | 0.233 | −1.348 | −0.427 |
Overall experience | 1.892 | 179 | 0.060 | 0.502 | 0.266 | −0.021 | 1.026 |
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Share and Cite
Aletta, F.; Van Renterghem, T.; Botteldooren, D. Influence of Personal Factors on Sound Perception and Overall Experience in Urban Green Areas. A Case Study of a Cycling Path Highly Exposed to Road Traffic Noise. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061118
Aletta F, Van Renterghem T, Botteldooren D. Influence of Personal Factors on Sound Perception and Overall Experience in Urban Green Areas. A Case Study of a Cycling Path Highly Exposed to Road Traffic Noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2018; 15(6):1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061118
Chicago/Turabian StyleAletta, Francesco, Timothy Van Renterghem, and Dick Botteldooren. 2018. "Influence of Personal Factors on Sound Perception and Overall Experience in Urban Green Areas. A Case Study of a Cycling Path Highly Exposed to Road Traffic Noise" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15, no. 6: 1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061118
APA StyleAletta, F., Van Renterghem, T., & Botteldooren, D. (2018). Influence of Personal Factors on Sound Perception and Overall Experience in Urban Green Areas. A Case Study of a Cycling Path Highly Exposed to Road Traffic Noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(6), 1118. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061118