The influence of preconceptions on perceived sound reduction by environmental noise barriers

The paper presents research that answers three main questions: (1) Do preconceptions held about the constituent materials of an environmental noise barrier affect how people perceive the barrier will perform at attenuating noise? (2) Does aesthetic preference influence the perception of how a barrier will perform? (3) Are barriers, which are deemed more aesthetically pleasing, more likely to be perceived as better noise attenuators? In a virtual reality setting with film to improve the contextual realism of the intersensory interaction test, participants were required to compare the perceived effectiveness of five standard 'in-situ' noise barriers, including concrete, timber, metal, transparent acrylic and a vegetative screen. The audio stimulus was held at a constant sound pressure level (SPL), whilst the visual stimulus changed, as the influential factor. As the noise levels projected during the study were held constant, it was possible to attribute the participants' perception of noise attenuation by the barriers, to preconceptions of how the varying barrier material would attenuate noise. There was also an inverse correlation between aesthetics and perception of how a noise barrier would perform. The transparent and deciduous vegetation barriers, judged most aesthetically pleasing, were judged as the least effective at attenuating noise. (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Adapting to climate change in the compact city: The suburban challenge

This paper sets out the challenges of adapting suburbs for climate change in the context of the compact city agenda. We argue that while the compact city debate does address mitigating climate change at a strategic level, it does not specifically consider adapting existing suburban areas to cope with anticipated changes. We discuss the possibilities for, and challenges of, suburban adaptation. In terms of the built environment, such challenges include: difficulties retrofitting existing housing stock, the fragmented ownership and management of land and housing, and the slow pace of change in suburban areas. In terms of mobilizing social change to affect adaptation, problems of coordinating multi-actor partnerships, developing political will, generating public acceptance, and encouraging behaviour change are identified. We conclude that suburbs pose unique challenges for realizing transformations, and that the 'sustainable development' and 'climate change' discourses have yet to be fully integrated in the light of potential conflicts between mitigation and adaptation measures

The conditions for, and challenges of, adapting England's suburbs for climate change

This paper outlines the conditions for, and challenges of, adapting suburbs in England for climate change. The paper introduces the 'suburb' as a spatial setting vulnerable to climate change related threats that have been largely absent from previous adaptation studies. It argues that in terms of the impacts of climate change on the daily lives of the UK's population suburban neighbourhoods need far more attention. It sets out a typology of English suburbs (including inner-historic suburbs, pre-war garden suburbs, interwar suburbs, social housing suburbs, car suburbs, and medium-high density suburbs), and argues that these suburbs will experience both gradual changes in climate and extreme events. The changes will have impacts on 'place' and 'people', and modifications to the physical environment to respond to climate change will need to take place if they are to be sustainable in the future. Modifications can be at different scales: home and/or garden and/or neighbourhood. However, whether or not such modifications to the physical environment will be implemented is a function of the 'response capacity' in the suburb: and this is determined partly by the existing physical conditions of the suburb, and partly by economic, governance, knowledge and cultural contexts. The paper describes the conditions that underlie the response capacity in suburbs, and reveals the complexity of attempting to 'climate proof' some of the most established and valued parts of the English urban landscape. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd