Influence of soundmarks in creating the sense of place in urban landscape design of public spaces

Abstract

Sri Lanka's rapid urbanization has led to the transformation of public spaces, particularly in Colombo, to improve city living and aesthetics. However, the current state of public spaces is characterized by monotonous landscape developments, with a focus on visual quality and limited consideration of auditory aspects. This study on soundscapes aim to address this gap by identifying soundmarks that provide unique and recognizable qualities for spaces. The research questions include how soundscapes can contribute to avoiding monotony in urban public spaces, identifying existing soundmarks, analyzing spatial arrangement, and developing guidelines for integrating soundmarks in landscape design. The research objectives include understanding the impact of soundscape on the quality of urban public spaces, identifying existing soundmarks, analyzing spatial arrangement, and relating social relationships of users to the various aspects of soundscape in urban public spaces. The study will use methods such as soundwalking and user interviews to explore the multimodal observation of the urban environment, incorporating visual and sonic cues.