# An Experimental Study on the Influence of Soundscapes on People's Behaviour in an Open Public Space
###### Abstract
In particular, silence or very repetitive and monotonous auditory stimuli representing absence of information about the surroundings might be expected to evoke feelings of stress or danger. While the study by [PERSON] et al. relied on a laboratory experiment, raising some issues about its ecological validity, it does show that music can modulate human perception and behaviours. All of the above-mentioned research focusing on public spaces explored the potential of sound to decrease anti-social behaviour and negative feelings such as anxiety and lack of safety in public areas. According to [PERSON] et al. [12], safety and sense of control are some of the outcomes included in the philosophy of soundscape. Communication, enjoyment, and comfort are other aspects underpinning the final soundscape construct. However, there is a current lack of research focusing on these latter aspects, and overall on the potential of the acoustic environment to support social cohesion in public spaces. The \"safer, cleaner, greener\" UK policy on \"live-ability\" [13] for well-designed and well-planned urban places was discussed by [PERSON] [14], who investigated the relationship between a good-quality built environment and social cohesion through the identification of features capable of providing quality in the built environment. Accessibility, inclusiveness, connectedness, and permeability were some of the analysed features, contextualized within a neighbourhood. The current research focused on the area under the Concourse Bridge, the improvement of which is one of the key projects of the long-term Masterplan proposed by the University of Sheffield and built upon the University Estates Strategy 2010-2015. The intention is to reinforce the link between the connected spaces and upgrade the quality of the area through a combination of traditional urban renewal practises based on visual aspects (e.g., light, greenery) [15]. In addition to this, the rationale for the current study was to test whether the sound--as a feature of the physical environment--would influence peoples' perception of a public place with no particular aesthetic and social dimension, through the introduction of music in order to create a more \"desirable\" public space and lead the end users to a satisfying experience without any kind of intervention on the existing buildings. In particular, the main aims of the study were: (1) to test whether there is an effect of added music sounds on the number of persons stopping in the selected public urban space; (2) to test whether there is an effect of added music sounds on people's duration of stay in the selected public urban space. For this purpose, covert behavioural observations were performed under the Concourse Bridge, an open public space at the University of Sheffield (UK), mainly used for connection between different buildings within the University campus. Three different music excerpts and a control condition (no music) were cyclically reproduced over a term week at different times, and video-recording data were gathered and processed for behavioural observations [10]. To the knowledge of the authors, this is one of the first attempts in soundscape studies to manipulate an actual acoustic environment in an open public space, collecting data in a systematic way through a covert observational protocol.