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Sounder Spaces - putting the focus on sound quality in London's Public Spaces

London Zoo, 14 March 2007

Jane Stoneham talked about sensory environments at a conference designed to put more attention on sound when the capital's public spaces are planned and managed.

Green spaces and public areas are often designed with a focus on the visual design rather than what people hear. Open spaces can offer not just relief from traffic and other noise, but a diversity of positive sounds such as birdsong and flowing water.

The conference was aimed at helping those who plan, design and manage open spaces. It considered how sound can enhance the enjoyment of public spaces, including how to minimise the spread of intrusive noise. It also examined how spaces can be made more inclusive to people with sensory impairments.

The conference offered the opportunity to hear leading experts in the area of noise and soundscape design. In a message to the conference, leading composer R Murray Schafer said: 'When I began to use the word soundscape in the 1960s, I intended it to be a neutral word inclusive of all the sounds of the environment. Rather than to rage against noise, I thought it would be better to analyse what was happening, what we were losing as well as gaining - for no two days are the same and the soundscape of yesterday will never be repeated exactly.'

Keynote speaker, Professor Jian Kang, Joint Chair of the Noise Futures Network, gave findings from his work in Europe and China. Dr Mags Adams of Salford University outlined results from surveys in places such as Clerkenwell, David Prior of partnership Liminal reviewed innovative sound design projects, and Jane Stoneham, Director of the Sensory Trust, looked at how inclusive, accessible and therapeutic environmental design can improve people’s enjoyment of green spaces. Conference participants were able to hear sound recordings ranging from Ludwig Koch’s early wildlife recordings, through music using natural sounds to examples Londoners have given of their 'favourite sounds'.