Smartphone-Based Participatory Soundscape Mapping for a More Sustainable Acoustic Environment

Giovanni Brambilla and Francesca Pedrielli
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Giovanni Brambilla: Department of Acoustics and Sensors “O.M. Corbino”, Institute of Marine Engineering (INM), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), I-00133 Rome, Italy
Francesca Pedrielli: Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), I-44124 Ferrara, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: The urban environmental planning, a fundamental dynamic process for cities’ sustainability, could benefit from the soundscape approach, dealing with the perception of the acoustic environment in which sound is considered as a resource rather than a waste (noise). Noise and soundscape maps are useful tools for planning mitigation actions and for communication with citizens. Both mappings can benefit from crowdsourcing and participatory sound monitoring that has been made possible due to the large use of internet connections and mobile devices with dedicated apps. This paper is a “scoping review” to provide an overview of the potential, benefits, and drawbacks of participatory noise monitoring in noise and soundscape mapping applications, while also referring to metrological aspects. Gathering perceptual data on soundscapes by using digital questionnaires will likely be more commonly used than printed questionnaires; thus, the main differences between the experimental protocols concern the measurement of acoustic data. The authors propose to classify experimental protocols for in-field soundscape surveys into three types (GUIDE, MONITOR, and SMART) to be selected according to the survey’s objectives and the territorial extension. The main future developments are expected to be related to progress in smartphone hardware and software, to the growth of social networks data analysis, as well as to the implementation of machine learning techniques.

Keywords: soundscape; participatory sensing; mapping; smartphone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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