TY - JOUR

T1 - Mapping and assessing natural soundscape quality

T2 - An indicator-based model for landscape planning

AU - Chen, Zhu

AU - Hermes, Johannes

AU - von Haaren, Christina

N1 - Funding Information: The first author would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (grant number: 202108080105) for the support. The publication of this article benefited from Leibniz University Hannover’s Open Access Agreements with publishers.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - Natural soundscape quality (NSQ) has been recognized as an essential cultural ecosystem service that contributes significantly to human health and well-being. It also stands as an indispensable component of environmental quality, especially for landscape aesthetic quality. However, an assessment tool for NSQ in landscape planning and environmental impact assessments is still absent. Therefore, this paper aims to address this gap by proposing an indicator-based model for assessing and quantifying NSQ in the Geographic Information System. The model characterizes NSQ based on Calmness and Vibrancy, and employs several indicators, sub-indicators, and respective metrics as proxies to quantify and map them spatially. The evaluation criteria of the model correspond to the general public's preferences for soundscape features. The case study results in Springe municipality, Germany, show that the relative values of NSQ are high in green spaces, including forests, grasslands, and shrublands, whereas they are low in open farmlands. The multiple natural sounds yield higher NSQ scores than the individual ones. The same soundscape compositions in forests and in urban parks exhibit higher NSQ scores than in other land cover types. In addition, the shares of relative values show similar distribution patterns among Calmness, Vibrancy, and NSQ according to land cover types and soundscape compositions. The evaluation results align with public values and preferences for soundscape features. Unlike subjectivist approaches, our user-independent methodology is easily transferable and reproducible. The results are comparable and communicable among the assessed areas. These endow the indicator-based model with the potential to be applied at various planning and management scales. The findings can help to incorporate soundscape evaluation into landscape planning and management systems, supporting sustainable landscape development, and providing valuable information for policy-, plan- and decision-making.

AB - Natural soundscape quality (NSQ) has been recognized as an essential cultural ecosystem service that contributes significantly to human health and well-being. It also stands as an indispensable component of environmental quality, especially for landscape aesthetic quality. However, an assessment tool for NSQ in landscape planning and environmental impact assessments is still absent. Therefore, this paper aims to address this gap by proposing an indicator-based model for assessing and quantifying NSQ in the Geographic Information System. The model characterizes NSQ based on Calmness and Vibrancy, and employs several indicators, sub-indicators, and respective metrics as proxies to quantify and map them spatially. The evaluation criteria of the model correspond to the general public's preferences for soundscape features. The case study results in Springe municipality, Germany, show that the relative values of NSQ are high in green spaces, including forests, grasslands, and shrublands, whereas they are low in open farmlands. The multiple natural sounds yield higher NSQ scores than the individual ones. The same soundscape compositions in forests and in urban parks exhibit higher NSQ scores than in other land cover types. In addition, the shares of relative values show similar distribution patterns among Calmness, Vibrancy, and NSQ according to land cover types and soundscape compositions. The evaluation results align with public values and preferences for soundscape features. Unlike subjectivist approaches, our user-independent methodology is easily transferable and reproducible. The results are comparable and communicable among the assessed areas. These endow the indicator-based model with the potential to be applied at various planning and management scales. The findings can help to incorporate soundscape evaluation into landscape planning and management systems, supporting sustainable landscape development, and providing valuable information for policy-, plan- and decision-making.

KW - Ecosystem service

KW - Environmental assessment

KW - Landscape planning

KW - Natural resource

KW - Soundscape quality

KW - Spatial modeling

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185566846&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120422

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120422

M3 - Article

C2 - 38382428

AN - SCOPUS:85185566846

VL - 354

JO - Journal of Environmental Management

JF - Journal of Environmental Management

SN - 0301-4797

M1 - 120422

ER -