WHAT DOES THE CONSULTANCY INDUSTRY NEED FROM ACADEMIA? A SOUNDSCAPE AND PLANNING PERSPECTIVE

The practice of soundscapes is well established within academia. While research has extensively shown the benefits to health of positive soundscapes1 , the consideration and mitigation of the adverse effects of noise still dominates acoustics in the context of the planning system2 , with precious few examples of soundscapes being incorporated into development designs3 . The recent publication by the Welsh Government of their Noise and Soundscape Action Plan4 could drive progress in the consideration of soundscapes within planning. In areas of particularly high levels of noise, soundscapes can be enhanced, even where mitigating levels is not possible, giving residents access to more pleasing features5 . This can enhance the perception of an urban setting1 . Informational and energetic masking can be used to control emotional responses to soundscapes6 . While the local context should be considered in the choice of masking sounds7 , water8 and birdsong9 have both been shown to be effective at improving soundscapes, as has simply improving the visual landscape10. The masking sound can increase perceived naturalness and pleasantness, while decreasing annoyance, even if the perceived loudness of target noise is unchanged11 . The implementation of such design factors can be cheap in comparison to noise control measures. Any relationship between the perceived reduction in annoyance due to masking (informational or energetic) and the traditional health risks associated with annoyance due to noise exposure should be explored further. In spite of the significant number of academic research projects into soundscapes, their uptake within design and consultancy has been relatively slow. The consideration of soundscapes within projects is seen by consultants as a hard sell12 due a lack of any necessity from a policy perspective and a lack of thoroughly evaluated example projects. The needs of the consultancy industry from academia to encourage consideration of soundscapes will be presented. However, the balance of work carried out within soundscapes firmly lies with academia, and as such some needs of academia from consultancy will also be presented.