Acoustic Quality and Health in Urban Environments – The SALVE Project

The acoustic environment represents a characteristic of urban environments and can have an impact on the well-being and health of the population. So far, health research has often been restricted to the health risk factor noise, measured by sound decibel levels. Accordingly, public health interventions aim exclusively at the reduction of noise level below a certain threshold. Soundscape Ecology on the other hand comprises all acoustic events of the environment, including biophony, geophony and anthrophony, which are determined by sound level, frequency, time and space. It provides a suitable methodical approach to analyze the relationships between soundscapes, the built environment and human health. To identify criteria important for health-promoting acoustic environments in cities the two year interdisciplinary pilot project SALVE was launched in October 2018. By making yearlong direct and automated auditory measurements of a robust landuse sample at 750 locations in the city of Bochum, located in the highly urbanized Ruhr Area of Germany, one of the largest multi-seasonal urban sound datasets will be established. These data will be merged with health data from the longitudinal, population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall (HNR) study. With spatio-statistical models health effects of different types of acoustic environments in urban neighborhoods will be analyzed. SALVE is a starting point for an innovative approach to understanding the effects of acoustic environments on urban public health – beyond noise mitigation. The knowledge gained in this project will help to develop solution-based health promoting strategies in spatial planning.