Soundscape Research in Streets: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Streets play a crucial role in shaping urban soundscapes, influencing individual wellbeing and urban sustainability. Although urban soundscapes have been widely studied, research focusing on street soundscapes remains limited. This scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the main themes and methodologies used in recent street soundscape literature. Scopus and ScienceDirect databases were searched for journal articles and conference papers with the keywords “street and sound”. The review included articles published in English between 2000 and 2025. The selected studies focused on soundscapes in outdoor environments while offering insights into streetscape features. Articles that did not focus on perception of the street environment or report a sample size were excluded, resulting in 16 studies in the final review. Soundscapes were mostly examined in terms of noise annoyance (n = 6) and sound perception (n = 14), distinguishing between pleasant and unpleasant sounds. Natural elements are frequently identified as essential streetscape (n = 8) and soundscape components of streets (n = 3). These features are associated with positive perceptions, whereas traffic features are perceived negatively. The predominant methodological approach was laboratory studies (n = 10), with participant groups typically consisting of healthy adults. Sample sizes ranged from 10 to 1200. Overall, the literature points to a significant gap in research on the effect of street soundscapes on wellbeing, revealing that numerous streetscape characteristics remain unexplored and the link between soundscapes and street features has not been thoroughly examined.

Topics & Concepts