Soundscape evaluation in different types of underground shopping streets

It has been demonstrated in previous studies that human evaluation of soundscape and acoustic comfort depends on a series of factors in a particular situation, rather than only on sound pressure levels. In this study, more than 2800 interviews have been undertaken at 5 underground shopping streets in Harbin, China, to determine what factors influence acoustic evaluation. More details of acoustic evaluation in two underground shopping streets are given in this paper. Based on the analysis of case study results, it has been found that in different types of underground shopping streets, background music is generally noticeable and preferred, and it is useful for psychologically 'masking' other less preferred sound sources. While there is a linear correlation between the measured LAeq and the subjective loudness, the relationship between the measured LAeq and the acoustic comfort evaluation is of a parabolic shape, and the acoustic comfort is the best when LAeq is around 65-70 dB.