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The Urban Soundscape of Western Harbour
Soundwalks and Psychoacoustics in the Western Harbour area in Malmö
Lisa Persson
Degree of Master of Sciences (20 credits) in Urban Studies (Two-Year)
Master Thesis
Spring Semester 2021
Supervisor: Chiara Valli
The Urban Soundscape of Western Harbour
Soundwalks and psychoacoustics in the Western Harbour area in Malmö
Lisa Persson
Summary
Sustainable urban design requires human wellbeing to be prioritized, considering all human
senses (Torigoe, 2002). Sound, which is often overlooked in the municipalities planning
offices, affects health in both positive and negative manner. The general approach for
handling sounds in cities are through quantitative measurements such as noise abatements and
decibel measurements, while the qualitative visual and audial perception; also known as
psychoacoustics, is disregarded (Raimbault & Dubois, 2005; Steele et al., 2020; Cerwén,
2016). Research also show that urbanisation decreases pleasant sounds to the human ear
(Steele et al., 2020; Beatly, 2012), and some scholars argue that people are losing their skill to
identify and name what they are hearing (Schafer, 1994 & Westerkamp, 1974). In this thesis
the Western harbour area in Malmö, flagged as exemplary sustainable urban development
model, has been using soundscape methodology of soundwalks to contribute to a better
understanding of sound perception and the functions of the identified sounds. The Western
harbour has previously had troubles getting BREEAM-certifications in the past due to noise
(ÅF, 2013), and previous surveys by the Malmö municipality present that the wind is a large
unpleasant factor to both residents and visitors’ perception of the area (Kristensson, 2013).
The results show similarities to presented studies, for example with birdsong being identified
as a pleasant sound whilst traffic being an unpleasant sound. Moreover, most identified
sounds by the soundwalk respondents were loud and intense, indicating a lack of listening to
less-intense, more quiet sounds. The thesis show that qualitative soundscape methodologies
can highlight further dimensions of sound beyond decibel levels, positions sound as a central
dimension of sense of place. The thesis provides suggestions for the municipality to have
updated information and state what sound actions is being made in each area in the city to
include sound and acoustic wellbeing as a central dimension of their sustainable urban
development, in order to be able to reach their own goal of having all stakeholders working in
the same direction. Along with the fact that the Swedish noise abatement law’s approach is
preventative, but does not include the aspect of social change in a space after it is built (Kling,
2013; Malmö comprehensive plan, 2013; Dalman, 2013), since the city of Malmö have grown
quickly and is still facing a rapid expansion in demographics (SCB, 2021), as Raimbault &
Dubois (2005) argue, denser cities are more noisy.
___________________________________________________________________________
Key words: Urban soundscape, Psychoacoustics, Noise, Western harbour, Malmö.
Table of Content 1. Introduction, Aim & Problem ............................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Layout of Thesis ........................................................................................................................... 2
2. Previous Research & Theoretical Framework .................................................................................... 3
2.1 The Soundscape’s Historical Development .................................................................................. 3
2.2 Psychoacoustics ............................................................................................................................ 4
2.3 Physicality’s of Sound .................................................................................................................. 7
2.4 Regulations of Noise .................................................................................................................... 9
3. Method: Soundwalks and mapping .................................................................................................. 12
3.1 Empirical Gathering: Structured Soundwalks ............................................................................. 12
3.2 Empirical Gathering: Pilot Soundwalk ....................................................................................... 13
3.3 Empirical Analysis: Maps .......................................................................................................... 14
3.4 Empirical Analysis: Functionality Figure ................................................................................... 15
3.5 Limitations, Bias & Reliability ................................................................................................... 16
4. Site of study: Western Harbour ........................................................................................................ 19
4.1 From Industrial Global Frontrunner to Sustainable Global Frontrunner ..................................... 20
4.2 BREAAM-Certifications and Noise Investigations in Western harbour ..................................... 21
4.3 Affected Areas of Western Harbour in the Soundwalk ............................................................... 22
5. Results .............................................................................................................................................. 25
5.1 Introduction of the Presented Data ............................................................................................. 25
5.2 Soundwalk No.1 ......................................................................................................................... 25
5.3 Soundwalk No. 2 ........................................................................................................................ 27
5.4 Soundwalk No.3 ......................................................................................................................... 28
5.5 Soundwalk No.4 ......................................................................................................................... 29
5.6 Segment-based Results of Soundwalk 1 & 2 .............................................................................. 30
5.7 Segment-based Results of Soundwalk 3 & 4 .............................................................................. 31
5.8 Total Amount of Sounds per Segment ........................................................................................ 32
6. Analysis: Identified sounds vs. Function .......................................................................................... 33
7. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 35
8. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 39
8.1 Further studies ............................................................................................................................ 41
9. References ........................................................................................................................................ 42
10. Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 49
10.1 Respondents Paper ................................................................................................................... 49
10.2 Description of a Sound event in Schafer (1994) ....................................................................... 49
10.3 Results from Pilot Soundwalk .................................................................................................. 50
10.4 Results-deviations Table........................................................................................................... 50
1
1. Introduction, Aim & Problem
‘We should listen to our cities as the native did to the forest’
- Westerkamp (1974)
Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city with approximately 350 000 residents (SCB, 2021), and
has for a longer time period gone through rapid population growth and densification. As cities
become more crowded, they also become noisier (Raimbault & Dubois, 2005), which
significantly impact people's wellbeing and sense of place. Yet, sound is a dimension of urban
environment that is rarely considered by urban scholars (Hedfors & Berg, 2002). Soundscape
studies is the study of the urban environment along with the sound levels in an area, both
perceived pleasant and unpleasant sounds (Schafer, 1994). The definition of psychoacoustics
is the interdisciplinary science focusing on the psychological perception of sounds (Eomy,
n.d.). However, Steele et al. (2020) and Beatly (2012) underlines the shortage of research of
what is considered pleasant sounds. Bahali & Tamer-Bayazit (2016) mention that our sonic
environment is affected by many factors and it is important for research to have further clarity
of which sounds are pleasant in a city and which sounds are unpleasant for the human ear, for
an overall better quality of life (Cerwén, 2016).
Järviluoma & Wagstaff (2002) explains that people use sound to communicate and to orient
themselves in different environments. Listening, hearing and producing sound is a way to
show our own human sensibility and individual characteristics. Torigoe (2002) argue that a
city comes with a complicated set of relationships for people to understand, and soundscape
studies adds a new dimension to urban studies by introducing the sense of hearing.
Furthermore, each individual is unique in their perception and therefore there are many
‘types’ of ears in the same space of a city (Järviluoma & Wagstaff, 2002; Lindborg & Friberg,
2015). Schafer (1994) and Westerkamp (1974) both argue that people today rarely listen to
our environment, only hear sounds around us. The difference between the two terms is the
cognitive activeness that is required to listen, and the two scholars fear that our skill to listen
and identify sounds are fading away. Soundscape studies can prove insight on the profound
relation between individuals and their world (Torigoe, 2002) and therefore offer significant
insights for urban, architectural and planning studies as Cerwén (2016) points out, only by
offering residentials a multitude of moods, wants and needs can all people living in the city
find a sense of belonging and wellbeing.
2
The importance of a good sound level throughout the city is stated clearly in Malmö’s
comprehensive plan (2018). However, urban planning management practices mainly focus on
physical measurements, like decibel levels, and largely exclude the experiences and
perception of people, which according to Raimbault & Dubois (2005), Steele et al. (2020) and
Cerwén (2016) would instead be a fundamental qualitative dimension for assessing the
acoustic wellbeing. This thesis aims to contribute to a general understanding of the urban
soundscape in Western harbour, Malmö, drawing on a soundwalk methodology conducted
during the spring season in 2021. To complement existing quantitative analysis of
soundscape, this study investigates the human factor of how people are perceiving the sound
levels in the Western harbour district. The goal of the study is to compile a soundscape
analysis of some selected streets in Western Harbour to identify sound factors that either bring
pleasant or unpleasant feelings at respondents. The study has been conducted through
structured soundwalks with a mapping exercise that have later been analysed through a
functionality figure where the identified sounds from the respondents and their urban
functionality are contrasted. The research questions are: What sound factors can be identified
in the Western harbour and how are they qualitatively perceived? Which functions are the
sounds associated with? By answering these questions, the Malmö municipality can draw
lessons from a newly built neighbourhood into the many expansion projects happening across
the city, as a pleasant sound level is a priority stated in their own controlling documents. As
the quote above mentions, in order to reach an appropriate sound level in the city we need to
listen to it carefully, as the city, in a sense, speaks to us (Westerkamp, 1974).
1.1 Layout of Thesis
The coming chapter will explain the methods used and how the preparations of the soundwalk
were conducted along with secondary data. The third chapter consists of the theoretical
framework and concepts that the thesis covers, like urban soundscape and perceived sound.
Fourth chapter will present the site of the study, Western harbour from a historical perspective
moving into the current state of the district. Chapter five will cover the identified sound
results of the Soundwalks in forms of tables and a summarization of the pleasant and
unpleasant segments of the soundwalk. The analysis will include the functionality figure
where the identified sounds are contrasted to their function in an urban space. The discussion
in chapter seven will include the results and its relation to the secondary data and theoretical
concepts used. Last chapter will be the conclusions of the thesis. References and appendix are
found at the end.
3
2. Previous Research & Theoretical Framework
“Modern man has sought to escape both the wind and the sea by encapsulating himself in
artificial environments. And just as he has sought to control the sea in the fountain, he has
sought to tame the wind in the air-conditioner…”
- Schafer (1994)
This chapter will present previous research within the field of urban soundscape and cover
concepts that will be used for analysis of the research questions, to identified sounds and
sounds functionality. This have been combined due to the niche research field of urban
soundscape and sound studies in general in relation to the city. Furthermore, the basics of the
human hearing system and perception will be explained along with the necessary information
about the physicality’s of sounds. Last will a section cover the regulations on different scales,
but a focus will be on the municipality of Malmö and their efforts to combat noise in the city.
Another important aspect that should be mentioned in this introduction is the terminology of
listening and hearing. The two terms that should be separated in a sound study as mentioned,
since hearing is considered passive, compared to cognitively active listening in the way of
receiving acoustic information (Uimonen, 2002).
2.1 The Soundscape’s Historical Development
The quote mentioned above is by Murray Schafer, one of the first scholars within the field of
soundscapes. The term soundscape was coined in Schafer’s book ‘The turning of the world’
that was released in 1994. Soundscape, according to Schafer, is ‘The study of effects on the
acoustic environment on the physical responses or behavioural characteristics of creatures
living within it’. In the first chapters of ‘The turning of the world’ Schafer (1994) describes
the first sounds heard to humanity; the natural soundscapes of water and wind, and how
historically humans tried to find explanations for the extreme weather in religion and divinity.
Westerkamp (1974) also write about the wind, and when the wind touches an object, a sound
is created, and refers to Emily Carr who writes about how trees take wind differently
depending on their leaves and velocity of the wind. Schafer (1994) also discuss sounds of life,
and the importance of birdsong and how it has been, and still is, one of the most pleasant
sounds to the human ear. A study made by Major Parris in 2011, where speakers of birdsongs
were installed along an American boulevard, and the Californian major claimed reduced
crime as a result (CBS Los Angeles, 2011). Insects are known to annoy people, by the
vibrations of wings in mosquitoes and wasps for example. Schafer (1994) explain that the
4
human ear is most sensitive to sounds that are middle to upper frequency areas, which many
wing flaps fall into, both birds and insects.
Schafer’s book follows the historical development of cities and discuss how the soundscape in
cities began to change during the same time the industrial revolution took place. By the time
of the twentieth century the sounds of technology had become accepted in the human ears due
to the major changes in the work environment for many people (Schafer, 1994; Butler 2006).
The working conditions were deficient, even inhumane at this time period, and the noise from
the machinery became equivalent to the inferiority of the workers. The first study to prove
deafness from heavy machines was in 1831 by Fosbroke, when researching the hearing of
blacksmiths and boilermakers. The research showed that 100 broiler workers were tested, and
not a single one of the workers had normal hearing. In other words, noise became a tool of
power (Schafer, 1994). A sound measuring instrument was not invented until 1882 by
Rayleigh but was not used extensively until 1930. Schafer (1994) notes that historically
sounds were discrete and interrupted, but from the industrial and electrical revolution until
this day, sounds are continuous; like a generator or air-conditioner. Westerkamp (1974)
reflects on the car industry and extremely fast-moving vehicles have created a new type of
wind sound. The traffic noise is mostly a continuous factor to be heard in cities today (ibid).
Roadside noise barriers are common at highways but require a large piece of land and cast
shades in the pedestrian’s path. Usually, there is a lack of space for putting these types of
barriers up in city cores (Tang, 2017). Green walls, vegetation climbing vertically, are an
effective method according to Elmqvist (2013), where they can reduce up to 40 decibel of
outdoor noise through absorption. Sounds that are not intended to be heard, or are trying to
mask other sounds, are in a category called ‘acoustic perfume’, or previously,
‘audioanalgesia’ (Schafer, 1994). The term was coined by having background music during
dental appointments to not fully hear the unpleasant tools and drilling instruments inside of
the mouth for pain relief but is now used in both private and public spaces. Music is played to
mask busy personnel or hide ventilation sound in restaurants, hotels and many other places
(ibid), to suite the consumer through sound of that area.
2.2 Psychoacoustics
The definition of psychoacoustics is the interdisciplinary science of psychological perception
of sounds, as mentioned in the introduction. Research within the field of perceived sound has
roots and terminology borrowed from the visual perception and psychology (Schafer, 1994).
The terms figure and ground are such terms, and Schafer (1994) explain that figure is the
5
focus or interest point, and ground is the setting or context. A soundscape is then a subject’s
relationship to the ground and the figure. A sound can be both ground and figure, depending
on the individual’s relation toward the field, the individual’s state of mind and partly the
acculturation, meaning that it has nothing to do with the physicality of the sound. Social
norms thus have an impact (Schafer, 1994 & Ipsen, 2002). An article by Lindborg & Friberg
(2015) researched the variations of sound perception based of personality traits. Lindborg &
Friberg (2015) used the big-five personality traits for their research, which is a theory within
psychology developed in the 1990’s and found that the different personality traits respond
differently to noise sensitivity and which sounds are found pleasant/unpleasant in general.
Spence (2011) argue that in a normal situation a living organism, as humans, perceive the
environment using all the senses simultaneously. When visual and auditory information is
presented, a cross modal perception is reflexively created by the perceiver. This is common as
through evolution our senses (feeling, hearing, seeing, tasting and smelling) have become
specialists in different areas for a species survival. Schaeffer (1996) explain that our vision is
a tool for precise spatial information and hearing provides temporal information. Our hearing
is always active compared to our vision; we cannot turn off our hearing in the sense that we
could close our eyes to shut out the world. Westerkamp (1974) mentions that audial
information wants to be processed in this sense. Liu, Kang, Behm & Luo (2013) mention that
80% of the human sensory input is visual, and stresses in their research that spatial patterns
and structures of urban landscape can affect the perception of sound.
As mentioned in the introduction, Järviluoma & Wagstaff (2002) highlight that people use
sound to communicate and orient themselves in different environments, as well as show our
own sensibility and individual identities. However, Uimonen (2002) mentions a difficulty for
people to talk and verbalise about their everyday sonic environment in the sense that they are
used to the sounds, and therefore no longer pay them any attention. If the listener pays
attention to a familiar sound, the sound can reveal itself in a new way and the listener can
construct a new meaning toward the sound. This is a paradox in the soundscape studies, how
do researchers gather empirical information that is not actively being observed by others? One
way to go around this is to take the respondents to somewhere they have been before to
activate memories. However, Uimonen (2002) mentions as well that local residents have a
better sense and awareness of change in the soundscape than residents from other areas, or
visitors.
6
The definition of noise varies, as it has a shading of meanings. Noise has shown negative
effects on communication, speech, learning, performance, sleep disorders, etc.
(Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019b; Steele et al., 2020). This relates to many social institutions in
the city, like schools, workplaces, residential housing, exercise and more. As Raimbault &
Dubois (2005) mentioned in the introduction, it is important that we prioritize human
wellbeing in every aspect, including the urban soundscape. Steele et al. (2020) highlight a
method that could bridge the gap between the urban planners and city-users, via workshop
format where a common language is formed around noise and sounds in the city. It is however
not commonly used (ibid, 2020). According to Schafer (1994), Noise could be unwanted
sound, unmusical sound, any loud sound or disturbance in any signalling system. Ipsen (2002)
reflected upon these definitions by Schafer (unwanted, unmusical, loud sounds or disturbance
in signals) and summaries that three of the four are related to the psychological expression of
frustration, unwanted sound, loud sound and the disturbance of signals. Frustration, in Ipsen's
(2002) meaning, means an interruption of a behaviour and the following feeling of frustration
is anger. This makes clear that sound and noise is a continuum and not dualistic in a cultural
sense as mentioned by both Schafer (1994) and Ipsen (2002), resulting in a complexity of
what sound level in a city is ‘optimum’. Bahali & Tamer-Bayazit (2016) and Elmqvist (2013)
mention that the local contexts also play a role in what sound level is appropriate as every city
has their own set of attributes and highlight that even silence and quiet areas also have
differential features due to local contexts.
Raimbault & Dubois (2005) mention however that the judgement of noise may have a
collective social value, but it might not be sufficient to remove the source of the noise,
depending on what the source of the noise is. An example could be a trafficked road with
heavy trucks for transportation, which could be vital for the infrastructure of the city. The
transportation would not be stopped, but perhaps a sound wall or re-route of the trucks would
take place as an action from the city council. This is also why sound, and noise have turned to
the quantitative measurements to find a middle ground between a collective social value and
its functionality. Raimbault & Dubois (2005) also discuss in their article what the ideal
soundscape in urban settings is, and research found that human produced sounds and activities
are the most wanted sounds in a city, and traffic was found to be unpleasant to hear in the city.
This strengthens the case of sound being important to human’s well-being and further implies
the sense of place we feel when visiting an urban setting. It also implies a direct contradiction
7
toward how we describe urban soundscape as traffic is one of the most heard sounds (ibid;
Schafer, 1994).
Many soundscape scholars argue that people in cities are losing touch to the soundscape
around them due to disconnect from the rural site (Schafer, 1994; Westerkamp, 1974; Beatly,
2013). Beatly (2013) explain that it is important that we do not lose this skill in times where
the environment and animals within it needs protecting, as natural sounds have changed due
to the noisy cities and suggests that a systematic recording of sounds are needed to understand
the change that is currently happening in our ecosystems. Efforts to record sounds can be
collective, like collaborative GIS maps or open street maps. Westerkamp (1974) argue that by
listening to the environment around us, we have a subconscious discussion with our
soundscape, which also shapes our attitude towards the area and our internal balance is set. By
ignoring this dialogue with our environment, in this case the urban environment, the internal
attitude towards the sounds is filtered out which leaves us with a feeling of ambiguity (ibid).
2.3 Physicality’s of Sound
The Swedish public health authority, ‘Folkhälsomyndigheten’, (2019a) explains that sound is
small air pressure variations, created by vibration or pulsation that travels through a medium
as it needs particles to disturb and push. This pressure propagates as waves at a speed of 340
meters per second through the air, but the denser the medium the sound travels the faster it
propagates. For example, sound moves faster in water then in air, but cannot travel through
vacuum space. The sound waves reach the human outer ear, begin to vibrate the eardrum,
travel through the middle ear toward the inner ear. The inner ear is a closed fluid system
where the shell-shaped cochlea is, where hair cells act as receptors of hearing (Prakash, 2020).
After this step, the waves convert into signals that then reach the human brain and register the
sound waves as a sound (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019b).
Noise and sound waves are identical in physics but are perceived differently as wanted sound
or unwanted sound by the human due to the sounds character (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019a).
However, exposure to intense noise and unwanted sounds during a longer period of time can
cause direct harm to the human ear like tinnitus or sound distortion (Folkhälsomyndigheten,
2019b). Humans hearing threshold is between 0 dB to 120, around 140 is painful to hear
according to public health authority (2019). Schafer’s (1994) research show that people in the
global north are more disturbed by noise and speak more softly when compared to people in
the south. Loudness of a sound depends on the pressure and the frequency composition, and
despite a wanted sound, loudness can cause hearing damage due to the physical stress-
8
reaction of the eardrum (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019b). Frequency is measured in the unit
Hertz (Hz), and the human ear can hear from 20-20,000 Hz, but the range decreases with old
age. An increase in the sound level by a few dB is perceived as stronger, and probably more
disturbing, when it is a low-frequency sound, compared with the same pitch for a high
frequency sound. Our hearing is however generally not as sensitive, in terms of damage, to
low-frequencies as high-frequencies (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019b).
The physical description of sound itself can be described in a chart as picture 1 below show,
where on the horizontal plane sound consists of attack, body and decay. This presents how
quickly a sound starts to happen (attack) and decay presents how quickly, or slowly, the sound
falls off. These terms are mostly used by sound engineers or music producers, in order to add
dynamics to a song for example. However, in a sound study, it is important to understand the
general pathway from start to finish of a sound. (Schafer, 1994). The frequency is the
complete waves passing a point in a given amount of time. Any fluctuations or grain of the
attack can have small changes to them, in terms of milliseconds of a beginning of a sound,
this is again mostly important to music producers and generally not including urban
soundscape (Cunningham, 2017). Another detailed picture of a sound event can be found in
the appendix 10.2 created by Schafer (1994).
Picture 1. Description of sound event (Schafer, 1994).
The context of the sound is researched from different perspectives. The acoustics describes
what sounds are, and psychoacoustics describe how sounds are perceived, semantics describe
what the sound means and the aspect of aesthetics research if the sound appeals to people
(Schafer, 1994). As some sounds have a common reaction toward them, like nails scratching a
black board. However, there is also a large variation in reaction toward one common sound
(ibid, 1994). There are more details to the physics of sound that will not be raised by this
thesis due to relevancy of the connection to physical environment in cities.
9
2.4 Regulations of Noise
Today, noise is commonly regulated in noise abatement laws. As mentioned in the
introduction, urban planners have a clear understanding of which sounds needs regulation.
However, the research of sounds that are pleasant to the public are less common (Steele et al,
2020; Beatly, 2012). Some global goals, national goals and laws will be covered in this
section, along with some research articles suggesting some noise reducing options in cities.
The global sustainable development goal 11 ‘Sustainable cities and communities’ are linked
closely to urban soundscape studies and regulations. The goal roots in developing cities with
ecological, social and financial sustainability in mind. Sustainable urban development
includes the construction and planning of residential housing, infrastructure, public spaces,
etc. This also nudges for new innovative technology and cooperation’s between sectors in a
society. The goal highlights the need for inclusivity in urban planning to make cities safer and
sustainable for future generations (Global goals, n.d.). Paragraph 11.3 states that by 2030,
more participatory and inclusive planning should be achieved in all countries. Sweden also
has their own national environmental goals, and the goal ‘God bebyggd miljö’ (Well-built
environment) are related to sound and noise in an urban setting. The goal suggests that all
built environments must constitute a healthy living environment. Buildings and facilities must
be located and designed to have an environmentally friendly manner that consider both
natural and cultural values in the local context. Long-term management of water, land, and
other resources must also be considered. According to the National Board of Housing,
Building and Planning ‘Boverket’ (2021) website, Sweden will not be reaching their goal for
‘God bebyggd miljö’ in 2021 due to the larger cities’ expansion of demographic along with
expansion of shopping centres outside of the cities’ core which promotes transportations via
car to reach the shopping centres.
Sweden has selected the Public Health Authority 'Folkhälsomyndigheten', to act as guidance
authority in the matter according to Miljöbalken (1998:808), the section in the Swedish law
book covering all environmental related laws. Sweden has an Ordinance (2004: 675) on
ambient noise saying that municipalities with over 100 000 inhabitants are obliged to map the
ambient noise within the municipality and produce strategic noise maps. The definition of
ambient noise in this ordinance is noise from traffic and industrial noise. This map however
show a blank area over the Western harbour due to unknown reasons. Therefore, the Swedish
Transport Administration ‘Trafikverket’ also has a requirement to map noise from traffic,
including railway, seafaring and air traffic. According to paragraph 8 a §, Anyone who draws
10
up noise maps must draw up a proposal for an action program every five years and approve it,
in this case, it is the authorities. If any major changes, the action program could be
reconsidered. All of this information produced by the Swedish municipalities are required to
send this to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency ‘Naturvårdsverket’, the Swedish
information is condensed before it is forwarded to the European Union, according to Directive
2002/49/EG. The European Union has this directive to establish a common approach among
the member states to prevent and reduce ambient noise, where the union requires noise maps
in all the larger cities but the action plan to be of own national preference. The directive also
highlights the importance of noise in built-up areas, in public parks or other quiet areas in
densely populated areas due to sleep and learning environments.
One of Malmö’s priorities stated in the comprehensive plan (2018) is to densify and to create
a socially balanced space with good living conditions with the least possible environmental
impact. It is also stated that to reach the environmental quality standards for air, noise and
water quality many actions and decisions need to be made (ibid, 2018). A suggestion in the
comprehensive plan (2018) is to plant more trees to capture and absorb sounds, provide shade
in the city and to create better air quality through photosynthesis. Green spaces are known for
their environmental benefits and social value in the city. Van Renterghem (2018) researched
that vegetation can play a big role in soundscape studies. Vegetation that is visible, presence
and acting as a source of sound could influence a person's perception of a space. However,
due to noise their restorative potential could be at stake (Aletta, Renterghem & Botteldooren,
2018). Good public health is a prerequisite for achieving positive sustainable development. As
mentioned in the introduction, Malmö is Sweden’s third largest city and is facing a sharp
increase in population. This also means that more people are moving in the same patterns
since the city has become denser. One of the reasons Malmö Stad (2018) wishes to densify is
to save the valuable agricultural land that lies just outside the city, which is one of the city’s
most important natural resources. This is common with other cities in the Skåne region, to
densify and build closer to the city core (Malmö’s comprehensive plan, 2013).
By densifying the city, Malmö Stad (2018) hope to see a transition for the residentials to use
public transportation instead of cars as areas with low noise levels are few and need to be
more. The municipality (2018) also states awareness of the consequences of densification of
increased noise levels, exposure for contamination, reduced air quality, reduced solar input
due to shading of buildings, but refers to that environmental quality norms will not be
compromised. Malmö Stad (2018) hopes to reach these goals by underlining that all
11
stakeholders need to work in harmony and share the same holistic view. An interesting point
that Malmö Stad (2018) states in their conflict-of-interest section is that all discussions need
to be had over a situation, but that a ‘good enough mentality’ and compromises seems to be
acceptable within the municipality. Every five years, the city of Malmö creates noise maps
and associated control documents to silence the noise in the city, according to law. The most
common noise in Malmö is the traffic according to the municipality. The controlling
documents called ‘Plan för god ljudmiljö i Malmö’, provided from different public
administration offices working together. The plan from 2020 to 2028 highlights the residents'
importance of sleep, learning and finding peaceful places like parks or recreational areas,
aligned to the global goals. The plan for good sound levels in Malmö (2020) states that
including noise early on in a planning stage is important, but that with Malmö’s current
expansion it has become problematic to address both densification and good sound levels.
One approach that is mentioned is to limit the noise directly from the source, meaning that
traffic noise should be reduced at the vehicle and the pavement of the roads. The European
union have also considered targeting noise at its source and have an ordinance of marking of
tires (EG 1222/2009). This introduced minimum requirements for rolling distance, wet grip
on wet surfaces, and external tire and road noise. This explain the municipalities plan and
nudge for further electrification of public transportations, due to the large differences of the
electric and petrol driven engines, and the municipalities current cooperation with
Skånetrafiken (local private transportation company).
Another approach is to build noise-absorbing facades of apartment buildings. Windows are
the weak link in a facade, regarding noise, and provide both natural ventilation and light
(Martello et al., 2016; Beatly, 2012). Sweden has a planning and building act (2010:900)
which states (Chapter 2 §5.4) that noise conditions need to be possible to prevent in the
drafting of a building or an area. Meaning that investigations must be made regarding sounds
in an area before any physical action is made there. Sweden has an ordinance of traffic noise
at residential buildings (2015:216) that applies in the same manner as the previously
mentioned ordinance, suggesting that buildings should be faced in a direction where least
noise can be an issue, but no requirements. Therefore, research has been done and found a
noise protecting solution to double and triple glaze the windows to further shut out noise from
a lively city (Tang, 2017). However, just like the comprehensive plan mentions, the
municipality (2020) reserves the right to deviate from noise measures if this jeopardizes any
kind of accessibility and safety for the cities’ residents and their health.
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3. Method: Soundwalks and mapping
This chapter will cover the thesis methods for both empirical and analytical purposes. The
main methods are soundwalks, mapping and a functionality figure created by Raimbault &
Dubois (2005) that have been inspired from Schafer (1994) in order to produce and analyse
primary data, which has support in the secondary data used in this thesis.
3.1 Empirical Gathering: Structured Soundwalks
Soundwalks are a method used to consciously study the sounds of an area whilst being in
motion (Engel et al., 2018). The walks include the researcher with a single or multiple
respondents, commenting on the sound levels that are being perceived, on a predefined
walking route using a sonic evaluation device to collect data (ibid, 2018). Trixier (2002)
explains that the researchers are putting the respondents in a context where they are asked to
analyse, when usually respondents provide information to the researcher in regard to
interviews or surveys to be analysed. In a soundwalk, the information is already provided by
the time and location. The selection of respondents could be anyone who has full hearing and
have visited the Western harbour previously. A secondary data source is Westerkamp (1974),
which highlights the awareness of change that this soundwalk method can bring. By listening
closely and paying attention to the urban soundscape, one can also identify needs and
adjustments toward the location. The soundwalk as a method can differ in many aspects, with
regards to the sound measurements, collection of visual information, walk duration, and more
(Engel et al., 2018). Both Westerkamp (1974) and Schafer (1994) advocates ‘ear-opening’
exercises before a soundwalk. That means a short moment to close your eyes and listen to the
sounds and flows of the body, the breathing and heartbeat, in order to focus your attention to
then be fully able to listen to the sounds of the city in a similar manners as how you’d listen to
yourself.
Another limitation of this method is the weather, time of day and activities at the site. It is
important to cover as much information that could affect the sounds as possible, but a
complete description is nearly impossible to create according to Hedfors & Berg (2002). One
can attempt to do the soundwalks on a constant weather/season, wind and traffic condition
along with the same time of the day and day of the week (Hedfors & Berg, 2002; Schafer,
1994). According to the Public Health Authority (2019a), the propagation of sound is affected
by weather. The sound absorption in the air varies with frequency, humidity, temperature and
more. In tailwind (wind in the back) the sound is perceived as louder, and in upwind (wind
against you) the sound is perceived as quieter (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019a).
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3.2 Empirical Gathering: Pilot Soundwalk
This thesis used the soundwalk method in the Western Harbour in Malmö to identify the
sounds and indirect factors which relate to the psychological response of the respondent. The
pathway had been decided before the soundwalk was made with the respondents for a
structured approach to the research. This path was chosen as it covers the dense areas as well
as green spaces in the district, providing a range of sounds. See a map over the structured
soundwalk below (figure 1), and an area specific map in chapter four where area names are
provided within the district of Western harbour (figure 3).
The walk begins at Klaffbron. On the drawbridge is a main road heavily trafficked with
pedestrians, bikes, cars and buses as it interconnects the Western harbour to
Universitetsholmen. The first segment ends at a large building called Gängtappen. The second
segment covers the road from Gängtappen toward a crossing, walking past office buildings, a
construction site to build more residential housing and a parking house. The third segment
covers Stapelbäddsparken, the Ohboy eco-hotel with green walls, three construction sites for
residential housing, Varvsparken and ends at the Turning Torso skyscraper. Fourth segment
covers a large parking house, a CrossFit gym, the Western harbour school and residential
housing. The fifth segment is a smaller, walking-speed road which has residential housing on
one side and on the other side is the Scania Park. The sixth segment is Sundspromenaden
along Bo01, covering Daniaparken and the residential housing and some smaller restaurants.
The seventh segment covers a larger coffee shop chain Espresso house and a larger restaurant
with outdoor seating, along a smaller marina. There are also a few mixed business buildings
before the bridge is crossed onto Ankarparken. The last segment is covering the Kockum
Fritid, a leisure centre for physical activities, more business buildings, a preschool and lastly a
padel centre. All of these locations are filled with different types of sounds and noises, they
are also the most active roads for both traffic and people to visit.
A pilot soundwalk was made on the 25th of February (Thursday) around 10 pm, to listen
carefully what different sounds there was to be heard in the area, which was written down, to
test the decibel measurer app and to clock the soundwalk. The soundwalk is around 2,9km
long and took around 45 minutes, whilst taking notes and making short stops for sound
measurements. It was a sunny day, and the temperature was around 10 degree Celsius. It is
worth mentioning that a heat wave had recently hit Malmö after some cold arctic winds had
swept snow and negative degrees over the entire region, which I believe was a reason for
more people being out than normal to catch some sun rays after a week of grey weather.
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Figure 1. The soundwalk in Western harbour. The circles represent the location’s the soundwalk groups stopped
to write down thoughts on the papers provided to the respondents. Image created by author in Google maps
2021.
The main sounds in the area were traffic, construction and conversation. A detailed table of
results from the pilot soundwalk is presented in the appendix. The decibel measurements
varied from 50-90. A secondary data source was used, an app created by the Swedish work
environment authority, called ‘Buller’ which in Swedish means noise. In the description of the
app, it is stated clearly that a phone is not the optimal sound measurer because the microphone
is suited for the frequency range of the human voice, along with that depending on which
phone is used, the microphone’s quality can vary. However, the Swedish work environment
authority provides a list on their website of which phones are most suitable for this app, where
iPhone 7 was adapted (which was in situ) (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2021). The app states that it
works best from 40 to 100 decibel, which is the frequency range the study will cover
discovered via the pilot soundwalk. Furthermore, the app is not equivalent to a professional
sound meter but gives approximate values. The app also gives clear instructions of how to
hold your phone to get an optimal sound result. Therefore, the app is used in this research
study to get rough sound levels of the soundwalk, as it is not an interest to get exact results.
As Raimbault & Dubois (2005) mentioned in the introduction, just measuring the decibel
alone is not sufficient to research a pleasant sound level in a city.
3.3 Empirical Analysis: Maps
During the soundwalks the respondents drew on a map which was printed out before hand
over the area with different colours; red for unpleasant sounds and green for pleasant sounds,
15
to further highlight which sounds is preferred. See the paper the respondents were provided
with in the appendix. Secondary data sources suggest that spatial expansion of sound becomes
clearer with colours, and the colour reflects the perceived sound underlines Hedfors & Berg
(2002). By drawing on a map, one also allows the respondents to identify any sound
regardless of if it is close or distanced, as the respondents were asked to make a circle of any
point of ‘sound-interest’. This will result in a summarization table for soundwalk 1 and 2, as
they were in the end of winter/beginning of spring and a separate table will be presented for
soundwalk 3 and 4 as they were in the middle of spring, to see if the season had an impact on
the soundscape in the Western harbour. The respondents for this thesis were selected through
personal contacts and snowball assembling with the requirements that the respondent had
visited the area previously and was not a resident of the area.
3.4 Empirical Analysis: Functionality Figure
The primary data have been analysed following a functionality diagram adapted from Schafer
(1994) and Raimbault & Dubois (2005). Schafer (1994) classifies and conceptualizes sounds
by source in the book about soundscapes. A few of them are: ‘natural sounds', 'human
sounds', 'sounds and society', 'mechanical sounds', and 'sounds as indicators'. Raimbault &
Dubois (2005) use some of Schafer’s classification in their article about experiences and
knowledge of soundscape studies: road traffic, other transportation, working machines, music,
and people’s presence (speech, walking), and nature. The classifications used are
environmental or objective descriptions. These are then categorized into two headings
‘transportation and construction’ and ‘people presence’ for analytical purposes, see figure 2
below. The headings were then divided into subheadings. The transport category was set up to
‘people’s presence’ and ‘without’ indicating if a human is hearing the sound or not. The
‘people presence’ heading is set up to ‘lively’ and ‘relaxing’ indicating more human produced
sounds or natural sounds. The example figure is taken from Raimbault & Dubois’s article
(2005) to show how the classification is presented, where the identified sounds are on top of
the functionalities of those sounds. These classifications are also compared to their functions
in society for urban planners to base decisions of (ibid). This creates a clear image of what is
heard at a location and see if that sound or noise fills a function. It can also present a hole or
gap in the planning like Westerkamp (1974) suggested. The critique of this figure is the
merging of categories in order to make the figure readable, resulting in a brief presentation.
One could change the approach and analyse each sound individually in order to make a
profound analysis of the identified sounds. The data collected from the soundwalks were
16
analysed using a diagram inspired by figure 2 and resulting in figure 4 (see chapter 6.
Analysis: Identified sounds vs. Function).
Figure 2. Soundscape categorisation/classification according to Schafer (1994) in Raimbault & Dubois (2005).
3.5 Limitations, Bias & Reliability
All of the methods mentioned above have limitations and have been touched on briefly in
their sections above. In this section the limitations and bias of this thesis will be covered more
in-depth. The reliability of the results from this thesis will mainly come from the soundwalk
and mapping as they were answered in situ. The thesis uses the definition of validity and
reliability by Hjerm, Lindgren & Nilsson (2014). Firstly, limitations of the structured
soundwalk and the overall area of the Western harbour. The northeast area contains the dry
dock but is mostly surrounded by restaurants, office buildings and residential housing. This
area was excluded due to the length and duration of the soundwalk.
According to Bryman (2011), qualitative research methods could be subjective and difficult to
replicate along with an issue of generalization and concretization of method usage. As
mentioned in heading 3.1 by Trixier (2002), the respondents are asked to analyse and identify
sounds that are being provided to them by the time and location of the soundwalk. This could
be a difficult task for the respondents and the level of ambition and preciseness can vary from
respondent to respondent. The contexts that need to be analysed can differ in many ways
according to Engel et al. (2018). As Hedfors & Berg (2002) suggested, the soundwalks were
held during the same days and times in order to make a comparison between the four
soundwalks in a way that they could be replicated. The weather and traffic conditions were
17
factors that could not be controlled in relation to when respondents had time to join. A
structured approach was chosen due to consistency in the soundwalks for comparative reasons
which was controlled via a pilot soundwalk before the respondents joined for the empirical
gathering used in the result section. The limitation of choosing a structured approach is the
loss of spontaneity and walking toward a sound source for example.
Another limitation of the soundwalks and mapping is the number of respondents that could
join, as both methods are used simultaneously along the soundwalk. There are many factors
like work hours and willingness to consider when asking respondents to join. This resulted in
mainly young adults in the age 20-40 that joined this thesis, and it is important to highlight
that people in that age group have a different hearing range than elderly for example. A
limitation of some respondents was their focus, where small talk could take place instead of
directing full attention to the sound walk, even though the instructions were provided before
the walks started. This small talk could have affected the other respondents' answers, where
they heard conversation between respondents instead of the urban soundscape. The ear-
opening exercises were not included in the soundwalk, due to the duration.
The mapping method also had limitations. The drawing on the maps was also a factor that
many respondents misunderstood and made dotted lines or mixed colours on a single
segment. The respondents also drew arrows and made comments outside of the map on the
paper they were given, which some were helpful to understand why they were feeling the
pleasant/unpleasant feeling. The respondents were asked to clarify and correct any mistake
before handing in their answers, which could have affected their results if they were not
certain of their perception in that specific area. By only providing the respondents with two
colours which represent pleasant and unpleasant, a forced decision was asked to be made by
the respondent’s even though some respondents would have liked a middle option. Despite
the methods’ limitations, the research question is about the perception of sounds in the
Western harbour and by bringing the respondents to the site and walking around the area
strengthens the reliability of the study where they could write down their identified sounds
and highlight the feelings, the respondents felt with the colours provided. As Bryman (2011)
suggested, the researcher could have misinterpreted the results given by the respondents
which could have affected the results, analysis and the discussion along with conclusion.
However, the secondary data suggest that the methods can be performed in a certain way,
which this study has similarly replicated appropriately to support empirical collection that
18
responds to this study's research question. A misinterpretation may adversely affect the study
as it affects the quality and credibility of what this sound study has concluded.
My personal bias and positionality would be that I have restrictions of my own perception and
hearing in situ, which could have created a basis of a deficient structured soundwalk along
with deficient notes from the four different soundwalks. However, as Hedfors & Berg (2002)
argue, it is almost impossible to be able to capture everything when describing what is
happening in an area at an exact moment. The collection and understanding of the secondary
data could also be deficient or misunderstood, but the result from this thesis is not to
generalize through non-similar locations in cities, but focuses on the local context of
closeness to the sea and an urban walk with parks of different sorts, and the results should be
applied to a similar setting.
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4. Site of study: Western Harbour
This chapter will present the site of study, Western harbour. An introduction of the area
followed by an historical point of view of Malmö as an industrial city will be explained. The
current state of Western harbour and their work toward certifications will be covered at the
end, followed by the areas and sections in the soundwalk in-depth compared to the method.
The Western harbour is an area in Malmö. The district is placed on a peninsula with
approximately 175-hectare range with canals surrounding it in the north-western of the city
(Anderberg, 2015). The peninsula was built by filling in the sea, due to the large industrial
shipyard Kockums in the late 19th century. The sea was a large challenge for Malmö’s growth
and expansion previously, before landfilling’s were a common approach for expansion
(Malmö comprehensive plan 2013). The Western harbour is an important district in Malmö
for the overall city’s growth in the twentieth history due to the large shipyard (Holgersen &
Malm, 2015). Malmö municipalities plan for the area is not yet finished but according to their
timeline to have their last construction projects done by 2035 (Malmö Stad, n.d.). A
comprehensive plan was made in 2013 for the Western harbour only, where the municipality
states that buildings must be constructed with regard to the special wind conditions in the area
and that the sea front should be public with great accessibility for residents and visitors.
Figure 3. Areas of the Western harbour (HSB, n.d.)
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4.1 From Industrial Global Frontrunner to Sustainable Global Frontrunner
Since the war between Sweden and Denmark during the 16th century, Malmö has been an
important border town for Sweden. This is one of the reasons why the industrial development
got off to a quick start in the country (Malmö comprehensive plan, 2013). Malmö’s old
shipyard Kockums was known as the ‘Mecca of the Swedish labour movement’ in the 1950’s
and produced more ships per tonnage than any other country in the world with approximately
6000 employees. In addition to the shipyard there was also a carpentry shop, a foundry, a
machine workshop, a wagon workshop and offices related to the Kockums industry (Malmö
comprehensive plan, 2013). The launch of the Kockums crane in the 1970's, at the time, was
the largest crane in the world, became a monument of the industrial success in the city (ibid).
A decade later the shipyard industry had come to an end, due to the worldwide crisis.
Malmö’s attempt to save the industrial shipyard empire that had been built up had Saab take
over for car production through governmental- and municipal subsidies.
The plan only lasted two years until Saab was shut down, as well due to the economic crisis.
Sweden’s financial state declined until the 1995's from the loss of not only the Malmö
harbour but the successful port of Göteborg along with it (Holgersen & Malm, 2015).
Malmö’s crisis led to change in many aspects; raised taxes, massive unemployment, and loss
of identity. Between 1990 and 1994, around 25 % jobs were lost in Malmö (Holgersen &
Hult, 2020). The richer and well-off residents of Malmö fled to neighbouring municipalities.
A turning point for Malmö was the elected new mayor Ilmar Reepalu, who began a
comprehensive vision-work for the city. Reepalu wanted to lift Malmö from its crisis and
planned for a city of knowledge and information. After the 1990s, Malmö’s economy was
looking brighter and was expanding through construction projects within the transport and
communication infrastructure. During the same moment in time, Sweden’s Prime Minister
Göran Persson proposed the ‘Green people’s home 1996 ‘, which influenced Malmö’s
newfound focus on sustainability which also was the starting point for Sweden’s green global
reputation today (Holgersen & Hult, 2020).
The Western harbour is today known as a sustainable district in Malmö (Holgersen & Hult,
2020). The focus on environmental issues came into urban planning in Malmö’s
comprehensive plan of 2005, where the physical planning was now defined as attractive and
sustainable (Malmö Stad, 2006). Persson & Rosberg (2013) mentions that there was a big
questioning to build in the area considering the soil pollution from the industry, as well as the
fear of isolation according to Kling (2013), as the district was not as tied into the city core as
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well as it is today in 2021. Malmö had won the European competition to host the millennia
housing fair (Persson & Rosberg, 2013), therefore, the starting shot for the rebuilding of
Western Harbour was the preparations for the big housing fair Bo01 – City of Tomorrow;
‘Bo’ means living in Swedish and 01 stands for the year 2001. Holgersen & Hult (2020)
mentions that the housing fair was very important for the transformation of Malmö not only
for financial reasons but for the overall image of the city and social identity, which had been
shaken by the loss of Kockums industry. However, through interview research held by
Holgersen & Hult (2020), the environmental focus that is the selling point of Bo01 was not a
part of the plan intentionally. One of the main reasons for the fair was to attract taxpayers to
the city, as they fled to neighbouring municipalities prior due to the financial crisis in Malmö
and shutdown of the shipyard industry. The sustainability planning was therefore used as a
business strategy, not mainly as a climate change counteraction. However, Holgerson & Hult
(2020) mentions that the spectacle of the housing fair was low, and the company organizing
the fair went bankrupt not long after the fair. The residential housing that was built for Bo01
was simply too expensive and not as energy efficient as promised (Holgersen & Hult, 2020;
Anderberg, 2015). Around 10 years later, Malmö had gained a large reputation as one of the
green cities and won many awards for the specific district of Western Harbour: third greenest
city in the World, finalist for the European green capital both 2012 and 2013, earth hour
capital 2011 and the list of awards goes on. See a compiled list in Holgersen & Malm (2015).
4.2 BREAAM-Certifications and Noise Investigations in Western harbour
In 2013 there was an extensive noise investigation in the Western harbour due to BREEAM
certifications on several buildings in the area (ÅF, 2013). To understand the context,
BREEAM is an environmental building certification that follows Swedish rules and standards
but is also able to be compared internationally. The requirements on environmental standards
are strict to get a certification of BREEAM, which contributes to a better environment and
investment for developers. BREEAM is one of the oldest environmental certifications on the
market and are highly used in European countries. The environmental performance of the
newly produced buildings covers several factors that are assessed and then scored, such as
energy use, water management and waste management (Swedish green building council,
2018). Sound levels are also a part of the certifications, which had to be investigated in the
Western harbour in 2013. The problem was the noisy traffic outside of the buildings ranging
up to 70 decibel, but decisions were made so the indoor sound would keep a suitable decibel
range compared to the outside. Along with the noisy ventilators from the large supermarket
22
Ica Maxi, that were masked by silences and noise screens. The other arguments were that
once the building stage of the construction was done the traffic would slow down outside (ÅF,
2013).
Two broad surveys have been done in the Western harbour on orders from the municipality in
2007 and 2011 (Kristensson, 2013). The surveys had an aim to investigate what residents and
visitors thought of the area and included approximately 200 people. The conclusion of both
the studies is that there is an overall positive attitude toward the Western harbour, and both
residents and visitors share the same opinion of what they enjoy and dislike in the area.
Kristensson (2013) highlights a few disagreements. Visitors think that the housing is too
expensive in the Western harbour, where some residents think that there are too many people
in the area. Most people think of the ocean and the Turning Torso when asked what they
associate with the area according to the surveys. They usually move in the daytime for a walk,
and more people are happier with walking pathways then bike pathways. ‘Sundspromenaden’,
the urban pathway along the ocean at Bo01 is the most popular area. The wind is a common
factor for disapproval of the area, along with the densification of the area.
The noise investigations by the municipality have however not been analysed in the same way
over the recent 10 years and the municipal environmental office state clearly of noise that
‘The condition of the area is predominantly poor’ [area being an environmental focus area].
The municipality have divided noise into three subcategories, traffic noise, troubled by noise
and quiet areas. The results over the years are presented in graphs and does not specify any
particular area in Malmö but generalises the results (Miljöbarometern, 2021).
4.3 Affected Areas of Western Harbour in the Soundwalk
The soundwalk path was briefly covered in the method section. This section provides a deeper
insight of the areas and segments in the soundwalk before the result chapter where the
identified sounds have been provided in larger tables.
The southeast area of Western harbour lies closest to the city core, coming in from the
university area into the Western harbour over Klaffbron, a historical drawbridge that was the
entrance to the shipyard area when the industry was active. This makes Klaffbron an
important flow point for pedestrians and traffic (Malmö comprehensive plan, 2013). The first
segment begins at this bridge and moves along the main road stopping at the large building
called Gängtappen, or previously called Kockumshuset, which acted as head building for the
ship industry Kockums AB. Gängtappen is large, around 15 000 square meters and designed
23
by Paul Hedqvist to mimic a triangular threaded pin used in the ship industry. Today, the
building is owned and used by the insurance company Länsförsäkringar. The second segment
cover a few high-rise buildings of mixed use along with a construction site, generally a calm
street with low activity from personal experience. The third segment enters the centre of the
Western harbour district and contain Stapelbäddsparken. It is an area that contains a large
skate ramp where many kids and adults use as a shared space for wheel-activities. The
intention for this area was not a skate park, but an industry park around the last preserved
slipway for ships. The plan was changed due to the realization of who was visiting the new
district, and to create a space for the residents (Kling, 2013). The segment also covers
Varvsparken and ends with the Turning Torso tower which is a popular tourist point.
The north-western area is covered with Flagghusen and Scania Park. Flagghusen is a block
with high-rises in the Western harbour, and Hellquist (2013) describes the area to have a
strong insider/outsider feel. These buildings had more of a stronger sustainability planning
than the housing in Bo01, as these were built right after Bo01 where the planners could take
learning lessons. There are no public attractions in Flagghusen (ibid.), and therefore the
soundwalk will only cover a small bit of the neighbourhood on the edge of Daniaparken
which is north of Flagghusen (see picture above). The proximity to the sea has justified some
intrusion of construction in the Scania park that was not initially intended (Malmö
comprehensive plan, 2013).
The fourth and fifth segment have low activity, based on personal experience, and contains
mixed used buildings like a school and high-rises. However, the south-western area has many
social points for the Western harbour. Bo01, the athleisure centre ‘Kockums Fritid’,
Ankarparken to mention a few. The comprehensive plan from 2013 that was directed toward
the wester harbour states that Bo01 would be imbued by human ecology ideas and thoughts
about light and sound. The municipality (2013) wanted to create a variety of sight and hearing
impressions as well as opportunities to experience silence. The plan architect Tham described
the physical planning for Bo01 as ‘a net many hands have dragged in’, which results in a
deformed net. The idea was to stop and hinder the cold winds from sweeping into the
neighbourhood according to Hellquist (2013). This has resulted in a rather people empty
Bo01, with the exception of the waterfront, and a complexity to finding a quiet space to sit.
Kling (2013) reflects on the same matter and concludes that it is because people want to visit
Bo01 to get access to the ocean. The pathway along the coast in Bo01 is the most populated
area to sit and walk on, which is where a segment of the soundwalk is. Dalman (2013)
24
mentions that housing was intended to be closer to the ocean, but that it was stopped by the
idea of having an urban pathway with water view, since the other locations in Malmö either
have housing or beach near the water. The pathway is also not planned for any car traffic or
parking but is enough space for a car to get by (ibid). The seventh segment contain a coffee
shop and a smaller marina as mentioned in the method section. The eight and last segment
contains the same main road as in segment one, including a pre-school and mixed used
buildings.
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5. Results
In this section of the thesis the results from each soundwalk will be presented. The individual
respondents' answers along with the authors notes will be provided in forms of tables created
in the Office program Excel 2016, where identified sounds are on the y-axis and the
respondents answer will be on the x-axis, the numbers in the cells represent the different
segments of the soundwalk. A summarization of the maps will also be presented in tables
which will be presented after the results of each soundwalk. At the end of this chapter will a
table of which segment had the most sound be presented for a further analysis of which
changes, or improvements can be done regarding the urban soundscape in the Western
harbour in Malmö.
5.1 Introduction of the Presented Data
In the results, the respondents gave variations of the sounds they heard which was not able to
fit into the tables, hence the combined identified sounds like ‘traffic’ or ‘children’. Examples
of this are ‘children that play’ or ‘children yelling’, which was closely linked together and
therefore merged into one identified sound. The traffic can also be varied in the sense that
there could be heavy traffic or just a single bicycle riding by, but in order to shorten the
tables; all who were in traffic were gathered into the traffic category with the exception of
pedestrians. An interesting finding permeates almost all the results from the respondents,
which are their descriptions of the physical environment and not the sounds they heard (which
was the instruction). An Example of this was ‘green area’ in segment 5 from respondent 1 in
soundwalk No.1. This ties into the discussion provided earlier in the thesis by Spence (2011),
Schaeffer, (1996) and Liu, Kang, Behm & Luo (2013). These result-deviations are not
addressed in the tables presented below but are presented and analysed in the next section of
the thesis. Another disclaimer that needs to be addressed is the author’s notes which are
included in the result tables. As the sounds constantly changed for every soundwalk and the
contexts were never identical for the soundwalks, a list was made by the author in the manner
as the respondents, due to the soundwalk’s ethnographic and phenomenological character
(Hellström, 1998). The results by the respondents are the primary data, and the identified
sound by the author is added due to the knowledge of the secondary data.
5.2 Soundwalk No.1
The first soundwalk was on the 3rd of March (Wednesday) around 13.45 with four people.
The respondents were recruited by personal contacts and snowball assembling. All of the
respondents were female, and their age ranged from 25 to 40. Respondent 1 is a technician
26
trainer for a large auto company, respondent 2 is a store employee for a large foodstuffs
company. Respondents 3 and 4 are an environmental consultants/master students.
The time of day was decided based on a respondent’s suitability to join, where the rest of the
group adapted to this. The soundwalk began with a small informational meeting where
instructions were given to the respondents on what was going to happen. Maps were provided
to the respondents and on the same piece of paper there was a list of numbers and space to
write (See appendix). I asked the respondents to draw on the maps with either red or green
pencils for sound level comfort on the pathway, and to take notes on the sounds they
perceived. Small breaks were taken at the end of each segment for the respondents to collect
their thoughts and finish their writing, during the same time sound levels were measured on
the iPhone 7 with the ‘Buller-app’, which resulted in ~60 decibels in every location. The
weather was cold and quite foggy, around 1, 5-degree Celsius. The sounds on the walk
consisted mainly of traffic, construction sounds, birds and boat honks, due to the thick fog.
The overall perception of unpleasant sounds were the construction sites, the traffic and some
seagulls along the waterfronts. The pleasant sounds were the waterfall at the fifth segment,
birds, the ocean and waves, the boat honks and some conversations heard from people
walking past us. The radio sound where circumstantial, a plumbing job was being done as we
walked by, normally there is no radio playing out in the open. The music was appreciated by
the respondents when asked what they thought about it. At the end of the walk, I asked the
respondents to give the maps and their notes back to me and realized that some of the lines
were not filled in, which I asked again to have them filled in properly. The soundwalks
duration was an hour. A table is presented below where the individual’s results are presented
along with the identified sounds by the author. The numbers represent each segment in the
soundwalk. A table of deviations will be presented in the appendix but will be analysed in the
next section of the thesis.
27
Table 1. Individual results from Soundwalk No. 1 where identified sounds are on the y-axis and respondents are
on the x-axis, the numbers represent the different segments of the walk where the identified sounds were heard.
5.3 Soundwalk No. 2
The second soundwalk took place on the 6th of march (Saturday) around 15.15 with nine
people. The respondents were recruited by personal contacts and snowball assembling
happened with the respondents of financial profession. There were six male respondents and
three female respondents, and their age ranged from 24 to 30. Respondent 1 is a male
accountant at a large accounting firm. Respondent 2 is a female project leader and in charge
of digital communications for a large furniture store. Respondent 3 is a male risk advisor
manager at a smaller consultant company. Respondent 4 is a male supply chain administrator
at a large sales company. Respondent 5 is a male accounting manager at a car company.
Respondent 6 is a male auditor at a large audit firm. Respondent 7 is a female medical
student. Respondent 8 is a male service technician at a lifting company. Respondent 9 is a
female auditor at a large audit firm.
The time of day nearly matches the soundwalk No.1’s, but the day was now on a weekend.
Same as the last soundwalk, a meeting was held and information about the walk was provided
and maps were handed out along with pencils. Small breaks were taken at the same locations
as the previous soundwalk, and decibel levels were measured with the same app, which
resulted in 70-80 decibels in every location. The weather was around 5-degree Celsius but
according to the iPhone weather app it felt like 1 degree Celsius. The wind was strong with 20
mph and wind gust of 30 mph, this resulted in a very windy walk where many other sounds
were overpowered by the wind. In this walk there is a cafe in the middle of the pathway,
where two respondents asked to purchase a coffee which I allowed. It did not disturb the
28
soundwalk or the research overall. Most sounds during the walk consisted of wind, traffic,
water and skateboards. The pleasant sounds were the water, a kite in Varvsparken, dog steps,
footsteps and some conversations of people walking past us. The unpleasant sounds were the
traffic, the strong wind, seagulls, the ticking street lights, and a flagpole string that was
vibrating by the wind. In this larger group there was a contrasting view of the bird, skateboard
and trees/leaves sounds. In segment 2, respondent 1 did not enjoy the trees but in segment 3
they did. Some respondents enjoyed the skateboards, and some did not, similarly to the bird
sounds, where the fifth respondent felt like the birds made an unpleasant aspect to the sixth
segment. The walk duration was around an hour. A table is presented below with the
respondent’s individual results along with the author’s notes of identified sounds.
Table 2. Individual results from Soundwalk No. 2 where identified sounds are on the y-axis and respondents are
on the x-axis, the numbers represent the different segments of the walk where the identified sounds were heard.
5.4 Soundwalk No.3
The third soundwalk was on the 15th of April (Thursday) at 14.00 with two people that
participated on soundwalk 1 for comparative purposes. Respondent 1 (previously 3) and
respondent 2 (previously 4) are the environmental consultants/master students.
General impression of the respondents was that this second walk presented a calmer
environment than last time, or that they remembered it to be noisier than the last soundwalk.
A smaller lunch was held just before the soundwalk. Information and maps were given at the
café close to Klaffbron. Decibel measurements was taken at the same locations as previously
and ranged around 50 db. It was a warmer day of 11 degrees Celsius. The wind conditions
were calm. Most sounds heard on the soundwalk were traffic, construction, birds and
29
conversation between people we walked by. More children were out playing on the
schoolyard with both skateboards and playing basketball. The common unpleasant sounds
were mostly traffic, construction and the children riding skateboards. Respondent 1 enjoyed
the waterfall at segment 5 whilst the second respondent did not. At the sixth segment both
respondents circled a lift who were cleaning windows in Bo01 which was loud to walk past. A
common pleasant sound was the ocean and soft waves. The soundwalk duration was around
45 minutes. At the end of the soundwalk I received the maps back from the respondents and
thanked them for joining the study. As mentioned, a table is presented below where the
individual’s results are presented along with the identified sounds by the author. The numbers
represent each segment in the soundwalk.
Table 3. Individual results from Soundwalk No. 3 where identified sounds are on the y-axis and respondents are
on the x-axis, the numbers represent the different segments of the walk where the identified sounds were heard.
5.5 Soundwalk No.4
The fourth soundwalk was on April the 24th (Saturday) at 15:10. There were 9 people
participating, where 7 of the responded were participants in soundwalk 2. The two
respondents who were not included in soundwalk 2 were: Respondent 7 is a male business
controller at a large company, and is 27 years old, and respondent 8 is a female auditor at a
large firm and is 27 years old. The time and day were the same as soundwalk no. 2. The
general impression of the respondents was that the weather conditions were similar; windy
and cold, but this time there was sunshine along the walk. It was 9 degrees Celsius outside
with approximately 50 decibel across the soundwalk. The common identified sounds were
traffic, wind and birds. The respondents found many different sounds pleasant; the pinwheel
at segment six, dogs walking, the skateboards from Stapelbäddsparken, the outdoor restaurant
30
at segment seven, one respondent enjoyed all the wind sounds except from the fifth segment
where the wind was very strong, the birds were found pleasant, one respondent wrote down
people that fish as an enjoyable sound. The respondents found the wind to be an unpleasant
factor across the walk, along with traffic. Some respondents did not enjoy the waterfall at
segment five. Other unpleasant sounds were a flag waving in the wind, a construction gate
opening and general construction sites, footsteps from other people, a door shutting, a
manhole cover bumping as a car drove over it, trees and ventilations were also found
unpleasant sounds. Some contrasting views were the seagulls, the wind and children along the
soundwalk, were some respondents enjoyed them and some respondents did not. The duration
of the walk was about an hour long. A table is presented below with the respondent’s
individual results along with the author’s notes of identified sounds.
Table 4. Individual results from Soundwalk No. 4 where identified sounds are on the y-axis and respondents are
on the x-axis, the numbers represent the different segments of the walk where the identified sounds were heard.
5.6 Segment-based Results of Soundwalk 1 & 2
The collective perception of the soundwalks in late winter/early spring was that the first two
segments of the walk were noisy and not pleasant. Whilst the soundwalk moved into the
centre of the Western harbour area the respondents felt more a pleasant soundscape. The
urban beach ‘Sundspromenaden’ was ticked green by all respondents. Some points of interest
were circled by the respondents, the most common one in soundwalks 1 and 2 were Klaffbron
and the noise coming from the cars passing by. The bridge is able to open up for boats to pass
by in the water, and is therefore not intact like a normal bridge, hence the loud bumping
sound. There were mixed feelings at the respondents near the skateboard park, where some
31
enjoyed the sounds of the skateboards and children whereas some respondents felt the
opposite. A pleasant circle was made at the fifth segment, where a bursting waterfall is found
below a small bridge. One respondent also circled the marina as a pleasant sound event, where
the waves softly crashed into the stone and land edge and ship masts were flickering in the
wind. A red circle was made at the beginning at segment 8, where currently a construction site
is where heavy machinery was heard.
Table 5. A table presenting the summarized colouring of the respondent’s maps for each segment of soundwalk 1
and 2.
5.7 Segment-based Results of Soundwalk 3 & 4
The collected perception of the soundwalks in the middle of spring was that the second and
third segment, along with segments six and seven were most pleasant. Some points of interest
were similar to the soundwalks 1 and 2, for example the noise from Klaffbron when cars pass
by. At the third segment one sound event was the skateboard kids, and another was the strong
wind that was highlighted by the respondents. In the fifth segment most of the respondents
disliked the striking difference in the wind conditions coming from segment four moving into
the fifth segment. The last points of interest were the positive feelings toward the water in
segment six and seven.
Table 6. A table presenting the summarized colouring of the respondent’s maps for each segment of soundwalk 3
and 4.
Figure 4. A summarization of the data presented in table 5 and 6.
32
5.8 Total Amount of Sounds per Segment
A final table will summarize all the sounds from each soundwalk heard on each segment. It
becomes clearer in this table that for segment 1 and 8, which contain the busiest roads, present
a significantly lower number of different sounds heard then the segments without the larger
roads, suggesting that a segment with louder sounds mask other sounds in that segment. Some
of the sounds were only heard by a single respondent during one walk, but it captures the total
amount of sounds per segment and the respondent’s perception of the segments.
Table 7. A table presenting the total number of individual sounds per segment of the soundwalk.
33
6. Analysis: Identified sounds vs. Function
The analysis of the results presented above will be through a figure of the identified sounds
versus their function in the urban soundscape in the Western harbour. The functionality figure
will cover a few themes of the most common sounds but also lift the uncommon or
circumstantial sounds that were identified during the soundwalks. The figure was created in
the platform Miro and the shape has been tweaked from the figure presented in the method
section.
Figure 4. A functionality figure that contrasts identified sounds and their urban functionality. Created by the
author (2021).
34
The common identified sounds were the traffic, weather and construction sites. These sounds
could be heard along the entire soundwalk, see table 7. The soundwalk was along roads open
for traffic but some segments are not main roads. The weather is also a factor that needs to be
considered when walking in an area so close to the sea, relating to the breeze and wind. The
construction sites also indicate strong, intense, sounds even though there was no construction
site at each segment. The functionality of the common sounds is many in a society, where the
traffic flow and traffic lights indicate movement in the area. The Western harbour contain
many workplaces and offices along with residential area, suggesting that many people have
daily routes of movement in the area. The construction and building sites indicate that the
Western harbour is expanding, which is according to the development of the area written in
the comprehensive plan. The human-produced sounds like conversation, laughter and children
playing along with the skateboards indicate a used pedestrian area with both a green park and
an urban skate park. Both parks are somewhat sheltered by the wind from the large old
shipyard buildings surrounding the Stapelbäddsparken. However, the construction sites are
just beside the parks and the Western harbour school, causing intense sounds in the area
which many respondents found to be noisy.
The uncommon, identified sounds were the boat honks, the wind caught in trees, a family
playing with a kite in the park, doors, and a pinwheel decoration on a balcony on
Sundspromenaden at the waterfront, and some people fishing in the marina. Some of these
sounds are circumstantial and relates to the weather. When the boats were honking multiple
times during the first soundwalk, there was a thick fog covering the area. The kite and
pinwheel cannot make any sounds if the wind is not strong enough. The people fishing in the
marina must have been a silent rambling through fishing equipment or if the fishing pole hit
the water to produce sound, as only one respondent wrote this down. However, the
functionality of the uncommon sounds is similar to the common sounds. They suggest a used
pedestrian area with a marina where people sit at the cafés and at the waterfront.
Noone of the results gained from the four soundwalks indicated that any sound was out of
place or had a dysfunctional to the society. There was also no larger difference between the
identified sounds found in end of winter and the identified sounds found in middle of spring.
The level of activity was lower, but similar, at the end of winter than in middle of spring, most
likely due to the raise in temperature.
35
7. Discussion
‘There is a huge connection between awareness of sound and awareness of the present
moment...Being aware of sound is a huge gateway into being aware of yourself’
- Leslie (2010).
As Schafer observed in in 1994, most sounds are continuous since the industrial and electric
revolution. The urban sounds, however, are not so continuous. The built environment in The
Western harbour allows people to find spaces in the city where silence is almost absolute. The
site of study is no exception of this, and through soundwalks most identified sounds had a
clear start and a natural decay. However, it is a problem that people have difficulties finding
these quiet areas in the Western harbour as Hellquist (2013) suggests. Liu et al. (2013)
mentions the importance of spatial patterns and physical structure of a space and how it could
affect a person’s perception of that area, however, most people come to the area to sit by the
waterfront and be a part of the urban walk as Kling (2013) mentions. The identified sounds
presented in the result section show that the figure and the ground, the focus and the context,
are somewhat similar through the respondents answers even though those concepts can
depend on the respondent’s personal relation and mind set toward the area. This relates to the
research by Lindborg and Friberg (2015) with the article of personality traits. As not all
respondents provided the same answers during this thesis soundwalk, indicates that there was
a variation of personalities among the four different groups, suggesting a variation of noise
sensitivity and what the respondents simply find as noise.
The results also presented many deviations in forms of physical/environmental descriptions.
A common deviation that the respondents wrote down was ‘calm’ or ‘nice view’. Two
respondents wrote down ‘noise’ which was unspecified. As many secondary sources
suggested (Schafer, 1994; Lindborg & Friberg, 2015; Liu et al., 2013), the visual and audial
go and hand in hand when perceiving a space, especially when doing so with a task at hand,
which was asked of the respondents. Uimonen (2002) discuss the difficulty for residents to
verbalise the sounds in their everyday as the sounds have become a background in their
presence. The paradox is then, when asked to recognize that the sounds now are a part of their
everyday and no longer being filtered away by our brains, when sounds reveal themselves in
ways the resident did not expect, and therefore change their attitude toward a specific sound.
During the soundwalks, as mentioned, some small talk did occur. Whilst I as researcher did
not join in the conversation, many respondents did talk about how they felt toward different
36
sounds with each other, the strong winds were a major talking point. Children yelling or
skateboarding was also a talking point for many respondents, where some respondents found
the sounds of children’s activities pleasant, and other found it unpleasant. The results, along
with the witnessed small talk, suggests that the identified sounds in the Western harbour did
not unlock new meanings or attitudes, but only inherent values showed in the research.
Another reflection upon the same topic of difficulty of verbalisation could simply be the lack
of terminology of the respondents. An example of this is the thoughts of Westerkamp (1974)
and reflections of Carr, of how the winds grasps onto different objects in our surroundings, or
blows through different tree crowns, leaving us with an insufficient vocabulary, or no
common terminology of how to describe the sounds.
The respondents found the singing birds, the waves and water and human-produced sounds to
be the most pleasant out of the identified sounds in the Western harbour. The boat honks were
also pleasant according to the respondents from soundwalk 1. This aligns with Schafer’s
(1994) research of how birdsong is one of human’s favourite sounds. Whilst the unpleasant
sounds were the construction sites, the traffic, the seagulls close to the water, the strong
winds, the ticking street lights and a flagpole string vibrating in the wind. There was
contrasting view on some identified sounds, like the waterfalls at segment 5 and 7. Some
respondents found it pleasant whereas some respondents found it loud and noisy. Same
contrasting view was on children and skateboards, where some respondents found the wheels
rolling against the skateboard ramp, Children yelling and cheering on each other when
someone does a jumping skateboard trick or grind on a metal bar, to be unpleasant. Ipsen’s
(2002) reflection on frustration have some empirical support through this thesis. Some
respondent’s results wrote a negative adjective before the subjective of the sound they heard
or added a few exclamation marks after a sound written in a red pencil; suggesting a stronger
negative emotion toward that specific sound.
Both Westerkamp (1974) and Schafer (1994) argue that people are losing touch with their
sonic environment and are slowing losing the skill to identify and listen to our environment.
The result in this thesis suggests that the respondents had different ambition levels of how
specific they were in writing down their answers of what they heard during the soundwalk.
Therefore it became difficult to clearly understand if the respondents did not hear more than
they wrote down, or if they did not pay attention to the assignment at hand, or if the distances
between the point between the segments were too long and simply forgot everything they
heard if they waited to write until we stopped in the soundwalk [The respondents were
37
however able to write things down as they were walking as well, meaning that they did not
have to wait for a ‘break’ to write down identified sounds]. However, if some respondents did
not hear more than they wrote down, then I would agree with the research by Westerkamp
(1974) and Schafer (1994). Many different sounds were heard through all segments, as
presented in the tables above, and many respondents only wrote down one sound per segment.
The respondents also showed a lack of presenting a variation of a single sound. An example
could be that a respondent wrote down ‘bird’ but failed to specify what kind of sound the bird
was producing. A bird can sing, shriek, and flap their wings, etc. This ties into the previous
section that perhaps this could be because there is a lack of common language of how to
describe some specific sounds produced by the wind for example.
Malmö Stad is approaching their goals to obtain and maintain a good sound level in the city
by following the global goal 11 and the Swedish environmental goal ‘God bebyggd miljö’s’
agenda. Malmö’s plan is to plant trees for sound absorption, which has been done in the
Western harbour area. Every single segment contains trees in various sizes in order to slow
down the strong winds. Malmö Stad is also pushing for further usage of public transport in the
entire city, but in the Western harbour area there is a bus called MalmöExpressen traveling
within Malmö, connecting Rosengård and the Western harbour. The last approach that Malmö
Stad is taking is the noise-absorbing facades, which has been done with the Bo01 architectural
planning and design (Hellquist, 2013), as well with the green walls on the OhBoy eco-hotel
on segment 3 to reduce noise from the skate park and wind (Elmqvist, 2013). Tang (2017)
mentioned that noise barriers are a useful tool for cities to apply, however, in Malmö’s case
the barriers are too large to be implemented to fulfil their function and still remain an open
space, when the decibel levels are not above maximum levels. In segment one and eight,
where the traffic was heaviest, are short distances and a strong sign of tolerance was shown
during the soundwalks by the respondents. Masking, as Schafer (1994) mentions, is used in
segment seven in the restaurant/marina area. Music was heard coming out of the restaurants in
order to create a pleasant atmosphere for the people eating and drinking coffee at the café
there. Despite the approaches that can be taken against noise, Malmö Stad still choose to
densify the city due to the valuable agricultural land around the city edges. In order to
maintain an inclusive and cooperative planning process for other areas in Malmö, Steele et al
(2020) suggested that workshops can be held to create a common ground for the citizens and
use an understandable language when orchestrating a new district in the city. This could also
38
be useful for Boverket to discuss and find solutions in order to reach the Swedish goal ‘God
bebyggd miljö’.
An optimum level of sound in cities are hard to pinpoint (Schafer, 1994; Ipsen, 2002; Bahali
& Tamer-Bayazit, 2016; Elmqvist, 2013). Cities differ in many ways, as does the soundscape.
The collected values from this research show however that the wind is a strong factor on how
the Western harbour is perceived, which aligns with the results the municipalities research got
back in 2007 and 2011. One respondent from soundwalk 2 mentioned on the break between
segment 5 and 6 that if only the weather was warmer, she would have painted many segments
green instead of red. On this specific area, we walked past a high-rise building and a large
park next to it and we moved toward the waterfront. This relates to what Aletta et al. (2018)
suggests that a noisy urban soundscape could ruin the potential recreational value a green
space can offer a person. The respondent that mentioned that the temperature would make a
difference, suggest that the environment is pleasant with the surrounding green areas,
birdsong and closeness to the water, but the strong winds and cold weather causes a strong
unpleasant feeling. Considering the Major Parris (2011) broadcasting of birdsong, I believe
that there is a difference being in a natural living environment compared to a speaker shouting
out pleasant-to-the-ear sounds. To be able to see what creates a sound is important, according
to the research of Schafer (1994), Lindborg & Friberg (2015) and Liu et al. (2013), as all of
our senses work simultaneously. The seasons also have a large impact on urban spaces, as the
respondent suggests. However, having a false perception in a main pedestrian street in a city
could still keep a respondent’s line red despite the season. As mentioned, the Western harbour
is a popular place in the summer and highly visited by residents from all over Malmö and is
therefore associated with that when visiting the area in a colder season. As the results showed,
the respondents drew more red lines of the entire soundwalk in the end of winter than in the
middle of spring.
39
8. Conclusion
Hedfors & Berg (2002) argue that sound levels in cities need to be priorized by urban scholars
as it ties closely to residentials wellbeing and sense of place. Soundscape studies include both
pleasant and unpleasant sounds in the urban context, but both Steele et al (2020) and Beatly
(2012) argue that there is a significant shortage of what sounds are found pleasant by the
human ear, and personalities and difference ‘ears’ in the city varies on a large-scale making
noise difficult to pinpoint (Järviluoma & Wagstaff, 2002; Lindborg & Friberg, 2015).
Therefore, this study used soundwalks in order to capture the human perception in relation to
decibel measurements to understand which sounds the respondents were able to identify and
hear along with their feelings of pleasantness or unpleasantness regarding some areas in the
Western harbour.
To answer the first research question, what sound factors can be identified in the Western
harbour and how are they perceived? I have gathered empirical results and they show mainly
traffic and construction sounds which the respondents found noisy, results also presented a
shortage of identified sounds by some respondents, suggesting that Westerkamp (1974) and
Schafer’s (1994) research of loss of identifying sounds have empirical support through this
thesis. Most of the identified sounds were loud and intense, indicating a lack of listening to
less-intense sounds. The pleasant sounds that were identified were aligned with previous
research done by Schafer (1994) and Raimbault & Dubois (2005) suggesting that birdsong
and sounds produced by other humans are pleasant sounds to hear. Many respondents also
found the water to be a pleasant sound to hear during the soundwalks. Schafer’s (1994)
observation of cultural differences, of northern people being more noise sensitive than
southern, cannot be supported nor disregarded due to the results. One aspect to this thesis
research is the current state of the global pandemic of COVID 19, which could have impacted
the amount of people being out in public spaces such as the Western harbour. To what extent
the research was impacted is difficult to pinpoint.
Malmö Stad have no specific sound related documents on the Western harbour area but aim to
reach and maintain a good sound level throughout the city. The Western harbour district have
implemented many different approaches to lower the decibel levels in the area, for example
applying for environmental certifications like BREAAM and using green walls on building
facades. Those efforts have however been through developers and their responsibilities
toward the planning and building act (2010:900), and not through the municipality's pressure
40
to create and maintain a good sound environment in the city. However, if the municipality had
more updated information on their website and plans for every area in the city then it would
become easier to navigate through the decisions made by the developers and see if their
agenda matches the municipalities goals or not, regarding efforts to lower the sound levels in
the area. To reach the municipalities own wish, for all stakeholders to be working in the same
direction and goals (Malmö Stad, 2018). I would also argue that the written law has a
preventative approach as it states that noise should be considered before a building project
begins, however, there is a difference between envisioning a space and the sound levels it will
have before the area have had their residents move in and visitors use the space. As the
research suggests, the area of Western harbour had been used in a different way as the
municipality first intended (Kling, 2013; Malmö comprehensive plan, 2013; Dalman, 2013).
This is an important aspect to consider due to Malmö’s growth (SCB, 2021), where more
people in an already dense city is going to bring social change and spaces are more likely to
be used in different ways than previously. This would also result in a change in the urban
soundscape; therefore, it is crucial to listen and understand the current state of the soundscape
in order to detect change. As cities become more crowded, they also become noisier, as
mentioned by Raimbault & Dubois (2005). I’m assuming that here is where the municipalities
‘good enough’ mentality comes in play (Malmö Stad, 2018), to be flexible and patch mistakes
up as they come, or if they come. This suggests that the sound regulations are soft, compared
to other environmental regulations.
To answer the second research question, which functions are the sounds associated with? This
thesis used the functionality figure and through the analysis, no identified sound was
dysfunctional to the area. This could be due to the season, as mentioned the Western harbour
is a highly visited area during the summer period but remains a district in the city in Malmö
that is filled with residential and office buildings suggesting high activity despite season.
Malmö Stad has done well but can include more workshops for inclusivity (Steele et al,
2020). By including more residents in the conversation and qualitative analysis of
sustainability aspects such as sound help Sweden reach the national goal of ‘God bebyggd
miljö’. By exploring the human perception, the urban planners and municipality can learn
more about the local context and begin to create a sonic profile of the city as Bahali & Tamer-
Bayazit (2016) and Elmqvist (2013) suggests.
41
8.1 Further studies
My suggestion for further studies is to change the structured soundwalks to unstructured
soundwalks, to let the sounds guide the path in an area. The soundwalks could also be done by
walking with residents of the area and ask questions regarding memories and differences from
the past to present day to make a psychoacoustic timeline of the soundscapes, as Uimonen
(2002) suggested. Another suggestion, or limitation of this thesis, is to do soundwalks with
smaller groups on a shorter route and include the ear-opening exercises that both Schafer
(1994) and Westerkamp (1974) suggested. I believe that the route was too long for the
respondents to keep focus on their assignment and if the groups were smaller, then perhaps
less small talk would occur. The ear-opening exercises would have been interesting to try on
the groups to see if a difference could have been identified, but then the results would not
have been collected in the same systematic way. One last suggestion is to research closer on
construction sites and short distance to the schools in the Western harbour, to investigate if
the children are proving to have troubles focusing on their assignments due to the noise from
the construction sites (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2019; Steele et al., 2020).
42
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10. Appendix
The appendix pages contain information and results that are presented in-depth.
10.1 Respondents Paper
10.2 Description of a Sound event in Schafer (1994)
50
10.3 Results from Pilot Soundwalk
Table 8. The authors result from the pilot soundwalk where identified sounds are placed on the segment they
were heard.
10.4 Results-deviations Table
Table 9. The result-deviation table, containing the visual or physical descriptions of the environment during the
four soundwalks seen on the segments represented by the respondent.