FUTURE NOISE MAPPING AND SOUNDSCAPING FOR WELLBEING

The term “soundscaping” is a relatively recent arrival on the acoustics’ stage, whereas it was commonly used to refer to sonic pieces created by artists. Murray Shaffer championed the idea in his 1977 publication, The Tuning of the World, introducing the idea that ”a total appreciation of the acoustics environment can give us the resources for improving the orchestra of the soundscape” [1]. This approach immediately challenges the established way of dealing with the external sound environment, and at the time and until recently had not been absorbed into mainstream environmental acoustics. Whilst soundscape includes all sound it is the unwanted sound or “noise” that has been the primary focus of noise mapping and the health affects that result for humans, and more recently wildlife in their environments, whether in air or water are also attracting attention. Environmental noise has been largely limited to what can be objectively measured, but the promiscuous nature of sound in the environment today requires a more complete consideration for us to use sound to improve our health and wellbeing, as the absence of noise on its own is not the answer on its own.