Study on the Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Soundscape in Famous Historical and Cultural Towns: a Case Study of Labrang Town, Xiahe County, China

Abstract

This study based on field measurements of the acoustic objective data of Labrang town, draws a sound level map and depicts the soundscape characteristics from the perspective of space-time. The distribution of sound levels is imbalanced in the old urban area of Labrang town. The spatial characteristics show that the eastern region has higher sound levels than does the western region; the core area, higher than the edge area; and the nodular area, higher than the homogeneous area. In the typical “Tawa” community and temple area, the sound level is low, and there is a high level of sound in the area along the traffic line and the “nodule area”. The spatial distribution of the soundscapes is closely related to the urban functional area and crowd behaviour activities. The time characteristic has an obvious fluctuation and particularity. The changes in sound levels and the characteristic of soundscapes are related to the life rhythms of monks and residents. From the point of view of sound protection in historic and cultural cities, it is necessary to pay attention to the construction of soundscapes in order to optimize the urban functional structure and strengthen the management of the sound environment.