Subjective Assessment of the Desirability of the Soundscape of Tabriz Bazaar and its Effectiveness from the Frequency and Reason for the Presence of People

Subject Areas : urban design

Abbas Ghaffari ¹ , Morteza Mirgholami ² , Bita Shafaei ³

1 - Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.
3 - Ph.D. Candidate in Islamic Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran

Received: 2020-10-21 Accepted : 2021-04-10 Published : 2021-09-23

Keywords: Soundscape, Reason for presence, Frequency of presence, Difference in Sound Pressure Level, Subjective assessment, Tabriz Bazaar,

Abstract :

The urban soundscape is a new branch in the field of urban studies, which is related to various sciences, including acoustics. Soundscape is the perceptual quality of the heard sounds. Its desirability is clarified by subjective assessment. In fact, studies in this field seek to explain how people feel about the sounds they hear in urban spaces and how they perceive it as a whole. Numerous factors affect the desirability of the soundscape. The frequency and reason for the presence of people in urban spaces are among the factors affecting the quality of the urban soundscapes. Because different groups of people have different feelings and mentalities towards the urban sound landscape; therefore, necessary measures should be considered in planning and designing the urban soundscape for diverse groups. In the present study, the effect of this issue on the advantage of the soundscape of Tabriz Bazaar has been studied. Based on the frequency and reason for the presence in Tabriz Bazaar, three categories of people can be distinguished like Bazaar merchants, citizens of Tabriz, and tourists. Bazaar merchants are present in space every day for a long time to perform essential activities. The citizens in Tabriz periodically go to Bazaar for optional work. Finally, tourists probably visit Tabriz Bazaar a limited number of times for optional and social activities. This study aims to discover the possible correlation between frequency and reason for the presence in Tabriz Bazaar and the desirability of its soundscape. This is followed by determining the quality of sound perception of each mentioned categories and what factors affect it. To clarify how different people, perceive the soundscape of Bazaar, a questionnaire was used in which 384 people from three groups were tested. The hours allocated for answering questions are the peak times of the presence of people in the Bazaar, which are the busiest and noisiest hours of the day. Spearman correlation between the proposed components is calculated and is statistically significant. Findings indicate that the higher the exposure to the soundscape, the less pleasant it is. On the other hand, people consider sounds pleasant or unpleasant, depending on the purpose for which they are present in Tabriz Bazaar and how often they visit. Therefore, Bazaar merchants clearly understand the soundscape of the market more unpleasantly than others. Tourists find it more pleasant than others due to their peace of mind and short exposure to the soundscape of Bazaar. For the citizens in Tabriz, the soundscape of the Bazaar is acceptable and has a median status between merchants and tourists. Considering the tourists' satisfaction with the soundscape of Tabriz Bazaar, by presenting strategies, it is possible to increase the memorability of the soundscape of Tabriz Bazaar and provide a platform for tourism development through the attractions of "Bazaar sound". The spaces of Tabriz Bazaar are quiet and comfortable in terms of sound, and the most important factor that reduces the sonic comfort and hurts the desirability of its soundscape is the sudden occurrence of sounds with differences in SPL.

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