Urban and suburban soundscapes 2: A mix of possible strategies and solutions

Case studies of soundscape projects in two cities are used to demonstrate methods and potential interventions that can be applied in these environments. Both cities had initially described acoustical issues related to loud vehicles and amplified music disturbing residents and evading enforcement policies. Interviews with stakeholder groups including residents, city officials, business owners, and others; individually, in small focus groups and in larger public fora; soundwalks at multiple times of day and night; long-term and short-term acoustical measurements, and mapping were used to identify itineraries, calendars, taxonomies, and acoustical communities involved in the soundscapes of the cities. Conceptual structures, acoustical rooms, and sonic niches were identified. Strategic computer model studies were used to explore potential solutions and stimulate dialogue among soundscape participants. Student design projects explored imaginative possibilities for future development. These soundscape elements were transformed into planning interventions to reduce, buffer, and mitigate the unwanted sounds, preserve and enhance the desired sounds and adding multi-tiered interventions to expand the social and cultural richness of the cities including infrastructure such as program, verticality, texture, and material; administrative such as ordinance development and policies; and operational controls such as continued public engagement and education as methods to move forward.