Evaluation de la dimension du paysage sonore

Abstract

Since longtime the city has been a preoccupation among policymakers, researchers and thinkers. The number of movements and utopian thoughts since the 19th century related to the city is quite revealing. The actors of the urban project must indeed respond to a double constraint: the requirement to comply with regulatory limits and the growing dissatisfaction of the population. In this research, we identify the characteristics of different morphologies of old urban centers through the evaluation of the urban soundscape. This will allow us to move from the regulated soundscape to a qualitative evaluation of the urban space. Our work relies on the ''Soundwalk Method'', developed by the GRECAU based on the soundscape concept proposed by R. Murray Schäfer. By the analysis of the sound walks conducted in different urban (squares, streets, boulevards, park) or architectural (the train station, the market) places we obtained results that relate the morphology of these places with their sound environment. The qualitative aspects of the sound environment could be identified by taking into consideration the activities that take place along the studied routes. The results obtained from the acoustic images show that the noise sources along the studied routes vary according to several criteria: location, time (periods of occurrence), type of activities, mode of conception and the integration of the place in its immediate environment. Therefore, in depth knowledge of the perception and representation of the sound environment allows us to define the expectations of our citizens regarding the policy to reduce noise. This new method of qualitative assessment of the sound environment must take into account all noise sources, leading to proposals for the design of urban soundscape quality. This thesis aims to introduce a reflection and research on our old centers to identify ways to implement sustainable management of the quality of life and to provide tools for our decision makers and planners to create urban soundscapes of quality