## 2 Methods
### Method for Assessing the Acoustic Environment and Soundscape
#### 2.3.2 Soundscape Assessment  
As the soundscape concept deals with the perception of acoustic environments by communities, this feature is usually evaluated by distributing questionnaires to help understand how individuals perceive urban spaces. These forms include semantic scales with descriptions of the soundscapes [3]. It is, therefore, imperative that the public must participate in the soundscape evaluation process [29].  
These studies apply a method referred to as \"soundwalk\" in the ISO 12913:2 standard [6]. It is the most frequently used method for data collection and to explore areas where local experts open a data field for triangulation, allowing the identification of a soundscape and its components. The protocols can vary in several aspects, including the way acoustic measurements are taken, how participants are asked, the sampling of participants, sample size, soundwalk duration, education level and the collection of visual information [4].  
In order to assess a users' perception of the places evaluated and their soundscapes, a questionnaire was handed out following the ISO guidelines on soundscape [1] and the Environmental Experience Model [8], which included the developments made by various researchers. This questionnaire gathers data on around 60 variables structured into two parts:  
1. General questions to be answered at the start of the evaluation of an urban place. This section includes the following items: 1. Personal factors (24 variables): Sociodemographic variables, residential factors, perception of self-health and emotions, and psychosocial issues. These variables provide a full characterisation of the respondent. 2. Previous experiences (2 variables): The participants are asked to report on how they generally used the place prior to the analysis, including frequency and reason for use.
2. Current experiences in the place (30 variables): Questions to be answered on site at the same time as the acoustic variables are measured. The questionnaire includes the following aspects: 1. Landscape (6 variables): General perception of the place is assessed by applying a semantic differential (SD) that contains items such as: pleasantness, tranquillity and beauty (5-point scale). The SD is defined according to general criteria [20]. The participants are also asked about what they like most and least about the place and if they would use the place for relaxing in. * Soundscape (10 variables): Participants are asked about their perception of the acoustic environment and the global acoustic atmosphere, as well as their evaluation of the congruence of the sounds with the urban place. The soundscape is evaluated using a SD that contains descriptors such as: pleasantness, tranquillity, relaxing, natural, vibrant, informative, and congruent (5-point scale) [30].  
Our case studies are aimed at explaining the soundscape experienced in the place (dependent variable), for which the soundscape pleasantness was used as a general indicator. This variable is proposed through a 5-point SD scale, where 1 indicates completely unpleasant and 5 means completely pleasant.