Elsevier

Applied Acoustics

Volume 99, 1 December 2015, Pages 135-144
Applied Acoustics

Individual and shared representations on “zones calmes” (“quiet areas”) among the French population in urban context

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2015.06.007Get rights and content

Abstract

Since the European directive 2002/49/EC, European cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants have had to define quiet areas. To take into account the feelings of inhabitants, some cities have conducted questionnaires in-situ or workshops. These methods allow giving local definitions of quiet areas. In this paper, another approach has been tested, known as Q-methodology. This method makes it possible to reveal the representations shared by people who have similar attitudes related to life experience. Through an online survey, 302 participants were asked to rank 47 sentences which describe opinions about quiet areas with a Likert scale going from −5, “most disagree” to +5, “most agree”. A Principal Component Analysis was conducted and the selected factors were interpreted with the exclusive contributors of each group. Three main groups can be characterized by (1) the need for social relationships, (2) the need for nature, and (3) the need for silence. Some less important groups focus on the need for safety and the rejection of children. These different representations can be a challenge for French cities which choose to promote diversity and try to imagine how to satisfy, in a same location, all types of people.

Introduction

Since the publication of the European directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise, quiet areas have become an important issue [1]. Cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants were required to select their quiet areas and set up action plans to protect them against a potential pollution. In order to help European cities, various projects have been conducted at national or European level [2], [3]. In addition to the LDEN proposed in the directive, various kinds of indicators can be also calculated: acoustic indicators such as the percentile levels, L95 or L50 [4], [5], or urban configurations which are favorable to calm as for example the size of the area [6]. These indicators can also be completed by psychological criteria through questionnaires or workshops with inhabitants [7], [8]. This last approach was chosen by the city of Paris to identify their quiet areas [9]. Several workshops held in Paris showed that focus groups made it possible to suggest a common local definition of these specific areas. Yet, trying to find such a consensus could mask individual representations about quiet areas.

This study therefore provides an overview of all the different viewpoints, shared or not by population groups, as far as these areas are concerned. In order to get informed on the people appraisal from their experience of these urban areas, Q-methodology seems to be well adapted [10], [11]. With this method, it is possible to reveal the representations shared by people who have similar beliefs and attitudes related to life experience. It has already been used in various fields, such as political sciences [10], marketing [12], health economics [13], and recently in acoustics about aircraft noise annoyance [14].

The aim of this paper is thus twofold: (1) to identify the different viewpoints with regard to quiet areas, and (2) to characterize the different groups of people who share these viewpoints. In this study, the hypothesis is that the viewpoints are built on people experiences and feelings in urban quiet areas. These experiences are reminded by people and allow them to build their own representations and viewpoints about these specific areas.

Section snippets

Q-methodology

This method was developed by William Stephenson, a psychologist and physicist, in the 1930s [15], and was widely described by Steve Brown [10], [11]. The main thesis is that people are able to rank sentences which describe opinions about a specific topic, according to their degree of approval. The rankings make it possible – through principal component analysis – to gather people who share the same opinions. The first advantage of this method is that participants are required to choose, among

Results

Three PCAs were carried out keeping 10, 15 and 20 factors. After rotation and correlation coefficient calculations for each person with each factor, some factors and persons were not taken into account for the first step of the analysis, following the previously presented criteria. For these PCAs, respectively 8, 9 and 7 factors were interpreted. Finally, the PCA composed of 15 factors was chosen because it keeps 9 interpretable factors after the rotation and the selection of exclusive

Consensus

Among all the Q-statements assessed in this study, some sentences have always been evaluated with negative scores (“do not agree”) and some others have always been assessed with positive scores (“agree”).

Sentences s1, “In quiet area, I feel free from my work and routine”, s4, “In quiet area, there is an atmosphere that lets me escape”, s5, “In a quiet are, I feel timeless. s11, “A quiet area is a refuge”, s27, “For my quality of life, it is important to have a quiet area nearby” and s42,

Conclusion

Contrary to participative workshops or focus groups whose aim is to create consensus among people, the aim of this study was to reveal typical frames of representations shared or not by people on quiet areas. It is important to remind that this study was conducted on the French word “calme”. It does not have the same meaning as “quiet” in English, or as other translations of the word in other European languages [21]. The results of this study are then only relevant for French representations of

Acknowledgment

This work was accomplished within the framework of the French Ile-de-France sustainable development program (R2DS).

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