Urban soundscape of recreational area in high population area

Hirzel Verlag • EAA. Urban landscape or parks for recreational purposes are important components in urban area in Hong Kong but traffic noise can seriously affect their usability. To evaluate their usability practically, the Soundscape of recreational areas has to be examined. This paper focuses on finding the relationship between the physical acoustical parameters and human perceptions in landscape which is exposed to traffic noise. Several acoustical parameters such as the LA10and Leqare highly correlated with the subjective perception of users such as the pleasantness, loudness, interference with verbal communication, preference to stay and acceptance of an environment. The acoustical criterion of Leqor LA10for users to perceive a park as being pleasant and wishing to stay willingly at the park has been found from statistical analysis. It is found that respondents perceive parks as pleasant environments when LAeqor LA10is below 60 dB or 63 dB respectively; and they are willing to stay in parks when LAeqor LA10is less than 61 dB and 64 dB respectively. The majority of people expect to hear the sound of birdcalls, water flow, music, and talking in recreational areas, but they dislike hearing the sound of heavy and light vehicles, screaming, horns, aeroplanes, and sirens. Such information is beneficial for the urban planning of recreational areas in Hong Kong.