Urban parks act as ecological traps when noise outweighs perceived therapeutic benefit

Evidence

Investigation about the sound quality of urban areas in many cases is the only tool that certifies the noise exposure of visitors to urban noise when they spend time in urban parks. Urban parks can be considered in this case real ecological traps because they produce a visible attraction for people but they often do not offer the therapeutic effect that people hope to find in it. … Often the acoustic comfort, and more in general the benefits that visitors hope to find, in a green urban space can be misinterpreted by other co-factors. For instance, prostitution, vagrancy, or water pollution are factors not directly related to the sonic environment but that decrease the total rating, as found by Szeremeta and Zannin (2009) after interviews on the state of noise level in a public urban park in Curitiba (Brazil). From this study emerges the realization that the collection of sound levels or the level of human-perceived comfort are not sufficient to assess the real comfort of an area: to make a realistic assessment it is necessary to combine acoustic pressure level with human perception. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 2089

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Natural sounds raise crowding tolerance while technological sounds lower it — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 2305; Most park visitors regard natural quiet as essential to their well-being. — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 2253; Landscape appreciation modulates how much noise annoys listeners — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology: Principles,…, 957 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Organisms adapt to natural noise but suffer stress from anthropogenic noise #expands (0.80) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 1275
• Landscape appreciation modulates how much noise annoys listeners #corroborates (0.78) — Almo Farina, Soundscape Ecology, 957