Soundscape evaluation on Mississippi State University campus

The term soundscape, used first time at the end of 1970s, refers to the sum of the sounds which can be heard and perceived by people in a specific environment (Schafer). The concept of soundscape has recently paid attention to planning and design disciplines where the focus point is commonly placed on the visual, rather than the acoustic aspect. The perception of an outdoor environment does not only depend on the physical features of a site, but also relies on the characteristics of the users. Thus, this research will examine how objective measurement of soundscape might be different from subjective perceptions of users in the Mississippi State University Campus as a public open space due to demographic and climatic variations. Stage one, as a pilot or a preliminary study, was a soundscape walk with a small group in four selected sites. Stage two will include more detailed interviews in these sites with a much larger sample size from the general public. At the end of the study, the research findings will help to characterize soundscapes of different types of urban open spaces and to understand how a person perceives and evaluates the sound qualities in these areas.