## 1 Introduction  
Soundscape and acoustic satisfaction are important parts of overall physical environmental satisfaction [1; 2; 3; 4]. The study of urban soundscape [5; 6; 7; 8; 9], as well as of urban public open spaces [10] has been very extensive. Throughout the soundscape research of public open spaces with different functions and in different regions, the soundscape framework has been gradually established, in terms of sound, space, people and environment [11]. The soundscape paradigm recognizes environmental, social, and cultural significances and importance for a given community [12]. Noise pollution represents a major health problem for the modern world and reducing noise exposure of inhabitants [13] would help avoiding the well-known health effects: sleep disorders [14], learning impairment [15; 16], hypertension ischemic heart disease [17; 18] and risk for diabetes annoyance [19]. Such noise exposure is generally produced by common source roads [20; 21], railway traffic [22], airports [23], and industrial plants [24]. A multivariate model has been developed to predict the probability of invoking a high noise annoyance response due to combined water sound and road traffic noise exposure [25]. The influence of spatial contexts on soundscapes in urban spaces have been explored [26; 27]. In terms of sound and space within the soundscape framework, research on combined sound sources [28; 29; 30] and their distribution related to spatial contexts have been carried out. The evaluation of how sound influences people depends primarily on subjective response, rather than merely being based on objective parameters [31]. Response to sound depends on the listener's mental, social and geographical relation to the sound source and its context [32]. Countryside soundscape has been also studied through human preference [33]. The effect of demographic and social factors on sound evaluation and perception in urban public open spaces have been studied as well [10; 34; 35; 36]. Considerable investigations have been carried out from the viewpoint of physical environment influence on soundscape. [PERSON] et al. [37] analyzed the effects of landscape factors on soundscape perception in city parks. [PERSON] et al. [38] combined landscape, acoustics and light to investigate perceptions of urban soundscape. They concluded that urban soundscapes can be characterized by soundmarks, and soundscape perceptions are dominated by acoustic comfort, visual images and daylight. [PERSON] et al. [39] presented an optimal relationship between the soundscape and the visual composition of a location for a \"tranquil space\". Moreover, the audio-visual interaction and perception of water features used to mask road traffic noise were examined [40; 41]. Cross-national studies on soundscape perception in different regions have been conducted as well. [PERSON] et al. compared the sound quality [42] and emotional expression of various environmental noise sounds [43] using semantic differentials in Japan, Germany, the U.S.A. and China. Comparisons of semantic evaluation of noise with tonal components were conducted in Japan, France and Germany [44]. Responses to questionnaires of Arab and Turkish residents were compared for indoor soundscape perception in residential spaces, in terms of cultural, social and habitual criteria [45]. The effect of road traffic noise with horn sounds on annoyance evaluation between the Vietnamese and Japanese has been examined [46]. The effect of socio-cultural context, including language, on soundscape assessments in urban parks through laboratory experiments has been examined in France, Korea and Sweden as well [47]. However, the integral studies of soundscape framework are still limited. Moreover, cross-national comparisons have not been carried out systematically within the soundscape framework, which include contexts of environment indicators, social/demographical factors and sound sources. The aim of this paper is to focus on a cross-national comparison between two countries, based on soundscape framework.