An Analysis of Residents’ Free Descriptions on Industrial Noise in Industrial-Residential Mixed Use Areas in a Soundscape Perspective

摘要

The present study analyses free descriptions about industrial noise given by the residents living in two areas of traditional textile and metalworking industries in Japan, casting light upon social/local contexts concerning the noise. The results of the analysis indicate that industrial noise is described primarily as disturbing noise on one hand, and other types of descriptions regarding the noise as affirmative and accepted on the other hand. A theory that could explain the fact is that there are local contexts affecting community response to the noise. The contexts can be classified into three factors: (1) diachronic context of local sonic environment, (2) social context of sound source, and (3) social context of community members. The results suggest that community response to noise is partly dependent upon local contexts concerning the noise, and that management of the sound environment would be successfully achieved, especially in areas having characteristic noises, by taking the local context of sounds heard in the area into account.