Quantitative and qualitative characterization of the soundscape of Bixiga, a traditional neighborhood in the city of São Paulo

Preliminary study of the historicity and culture of Bixiga's sound marks

Abstract

In the context of urban planning, traditional approaches are limited to quantitative noise analyses, ignoring other dimensions associated with its subjectivity. For a complete assessment, human activity and its relationship with environmental sounds must be considered to understand the historicity and culture of the sound marks. The present work is an initial study for the comprehension and application of the ISO 12913 methodology. To this end, a quantitative and qualitative characterization of the soundscape of the Bixiga neighbourhood, in the city of São Paulo, was carried out. Bixiga is one of São Paulo’s most traditional neighborhoods, popularly remembered for its Italian accent and rich musical and cultural activity. For the quantitative sound evaluation, measurements were carried out at strategic points in the neighbourhood, seeking to record different sound level parameters. The qualitative sound characterization was carried out with experts in the field and invited guests, with the aim of understanding the soundscape. The qualitative evaluation took place through the application of questionnaires regarding the characterization of local sound sources and the sound perception of the interviewees. Simultaneously, sound and binaural sound measurements were performed for the application of psychophysical models that characterize auditory sensations.