The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School SEEING NOISE: THE CORRELATIONS BETWEEN URBAN CONFIGURATION AND SPATIAL PERCEPTION OF NOISE IN NEW YORK CITY A Thesis in Architecture by Sohail Sadroleslami © 2020 Sohail Sadroleslami Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science August 2020 The thesis of Sohail Sadroleslami was reviewed and approved by the following: Thesis Adviser Daniel Willis Professor of Architecture Loukas N. Kalisperis Professor of Architecture Peter Aeschbacher Associate Professor of Architecture Mehrdad Hadighi Professor of Architecture, Stuckeman Chair of Integrative Design Head of the Department of Architecture ii Abstract The research question of this study is how does the urban configuration correlate to people’s spatial perception of noise in cities? The methodology of this research includes the following four major steps: gathering information and data, visualizing data, constructing an experiment, and interpreting the results. We perceive our surrounding environment by different means and senses, one of which is our auditory sense. In most parts of urban areas, especially in megalopolises, noise is conceived as an unpleasant element. This study focuses on two features of this problem that have not been extensively studied. First, it concentrates on the mental perception of noise rather than the acoustics of source noise. Second, it illustrates the co-relationships between spatial and material characteristics of the urban environment and the subjective perception of noise. This could lead to design modifications of urban environments that are perceptively peaceful. I began by studying neighborhoods in New York City. Of particular interest to me were “outlier” neighborhoods that reported either many more noise complaints or many fewer than those of their surroundings. This distinction is based on the number of complaints from each neighborhood, gathered from data hub of NYC’s 3-1-1 call center. The relationship between the design elements of these outliers and their different perception of noise was then examined in some detail. Three elements were studied for the urban configuration. The shape and density of residential buildings, the heights of buildings, and the density of the tree canopies in the neighborhoods. Ultimately, I chose to focus on the presence and density of trees, and to ask how trees might contribute to the perception of a pleasant or acceptable sonic environment, beyond what would be expected from their objectively measured sound- blocking characteristics? Or, to state this another way, how do visual environment cues affect sound perception? iii Table of Contents List of Figures………………………………………………….……………...………v Acknowledgments ………………………………….……………………………… vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….1 Research question…………………………………………………………………2 Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………….….….. 3 Urban Spaces and People…………………..……………………………………...3 Noise and Technology in Urban Spaces………………………….……………….6 Chapter 3. METHODOLGY……………………………………………………….17 NYC 311 Call Center …………………………………………………………... 17 Data Visualizing Calls …………………………………………………………...17 Mapping Perceptive Complaints ………………………………………………...18 Direct Survey ………………………………………………………….………...19 Chapter 4. OUTLIER NEIGBORHOODS ……………………………………… 21 Explanation of outliers…………………………………………….……………..21 The indication of factors of urban configuration……………………………….. 37 Comparison and Interpretation…………………………………………………. 60 Chapter 5. HUMAN PARTICIPATION SURVEY……………………………… 63 Survey process…………………………………………………………………...63 Chapter 6. FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION……………………………… 68 Direct survey discussions………………..……………….……..………………..73 Survey findings ………………………………...………...….…………………..74 Survey limitations………………………………………………………………. 78 Future directions ..………………………………………………………………. 79 General findings ..………………………………………………………………. 81 Appendix A: Noise Hunter Website….…………………………………….…..…. 83 Appendix B: Questionnaire…………….………………………………….…..….. 97 Bibliography ……………………………………….…….………………………...106 iv List of Figures Figure 1. A typical NYC neighborhood profile ……………………………………………...1 Figure 2. Perceptual maps of London and Barcelona ………………………………………...6 Figure 3. Georeferenced photos ……………………………………………………………...7 Figure 4. Raw data tables ……………………………………………………………………18 Figure 5. Color-coded overall map of NYC …………………………………………………22 Figure 6. Zoomed-in map of Manhattan-Queens ……………………………………………23 Figure 7. Zoomed-in map of NYC……………………………………………………………23 Figure 8. Zoomed-in map of NYC………..……………………………………….…………24 Figure 9. Central Park……………………………….………...…………….………….……26 Figure 10. Rikers Island…….…………………………………….………….………………27 Figure 11. LaGuardia Airport………………….......……. ……..…...…………….…………28 Figure 12. JFK Airport ……………. ………...…………….…………………………..……29 Figure 13. Great Kills neighborhood ……………………………………..……………….…30 Figure 14. Crown Heights Neighborhood……….. …………………….…………………....31 Figure 15. Hylan Boulevard ………………………..………………………………………..32 v Figure 16. New Brighton-St. George ……………………..………………………………….33 Figure 17. Green areas map of the Crown Heights ………………………………………….55 Figure 18. Brownsville neighborhood……………. ………...…………….…………………56 Figure 19. Green coverage map of the NYC………………………………………………….57 Figure 20. Buildings typology map of the Stapleton-Rosebank ……………………………..59 Figure 21. Buildings heights map of the Stapleton-Rosebank ……………………………….60 Figure 22. Green areas map of the Stapleton-Rosebank ……………………………………..61 Figure 23. Grasmere neighborhood…………………………………………………………..62 Figure 24. Buildings typology map of the New Brighton–St. George ……………………….63 Figure 25. Green areas of the New Brighton-St. George ……………………………………..66 Figure 26. Green areas map of the New Brighton-St. George ………………………………..66 Figure 27. Buildings typology of the Windsor Terrace ………………………………………68 Figure 28. Prospect Park …………………………………………………………………….70 Figure 29. Green areas map of the Windsor Terrace …………………………………………71 Figure 30. Park Slope – Gowanus neighborhood …………………………………………….72 Figure 31. High outliers noise typology map ………………………………………………...78 vi Acknowledgements Hereby, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude for my family, whose unconditional love expressed in various ways, has been always paving my way forward as a north star for me. Also, I’m so grateful for having my invalubale committee members, in particular professor Daniel Willis. His creative ideas, friendly manner and flexible approach was the keystone for the success of this research. Last, I’m very thankful for professor Mehrdad Hadighi, the head of the architecure department. He has been always supportive and understanding in my acdemic path at Penn State University. vii Chapter 1. Introduction Noise is present in every city, especially large metropolitan areas like New York City. In these large cities, noise complaints are a common occurrence for which people call 3-1-1. Noises in an urban environment can be from a variety of sources. Figure one is a drawing that depicts some of such sources in a typical New York City urban profile. Figure 1. This hand drawing sketch, iluustrates how various sources of noise in a typical street section in NYC can be impacting the residents (Source: Author). Throughout time and space, there may be unequal tolerance of noise and uneven responses to noise. Previous visualization studies have found ways to depict and allow users to manipulate, noise complaints in New York City. Several researchers have attempted to map noise, specifically in New York City. Hsieh et al. (2015) have researched the noise mapping in New York through the lenses of social media platforms such as Foursquare, Flicker, Twitter, and Gowalla in tandem with 3-1-1 noise complaints. The aim of these studies is to provide the user with a comprehensive map and understanding of what kind of noises are happening in different areas. It should be noted, however, that this research is based on the fundamental distinction between sound and noise. A sound is a form of energy that is transmitted by pressure variations which the human ear can detect. When one plays a musical instrument, say a guitar, the vibrating chords set air particles into vibration and generate pressure waves in the air. A person nearby may then hear the sound of the guitar when the pressure waves are perceived by the ear. Sound can also travel through other media, such as water or steel. Apart from musical instruments, 1 sound can be produced by many other sources such as a man's vocal cords, a running engine, a vibrating loudspeaker diaphragm, an operating machine tool, and so on. Noise is defined as unwanted sound. If skillfully played, the sound of a violin is referred to as music, as something pleasing. Depending on other factors, including the intensity or loudness of a sound, an otherwise pleasant sound may be perceived as noise. Noise perception is subjective. Factors such as the magnitude, characteristics, duration, and time of occurrence may affect one's subjective impression of the noise. In addition, there are some other immeasurable factors for a sound to be perceived as either pleasant or noise. The delightfulness of sound increases when sounds are novel, informative, responsive to a personal action, and culturally approved, as are birds and bells as studied by Michael Southworth (1970). Because the perception of noise is subjective, one sound can be acceptable (or even pleasant!) for one person, but annoying for someone else. This can be true while all other variables, such as the environmental context and characteristics