Search

The past two decades have seen an ongoing paradigm shift from noise control to soundscaping, and soundscape approaches have been applied in noise management projects. However, cost-benefit analysis (CBA), which is widely used for economic appraisals of projects that would impact on the sound environment, is still noise-based and residential-location-focused. As a result, benefits of wanted sounds are omitted, and only very limited receiver types and contexts are covered. While there is a wealth of literature on valuing the costs of noise and the benefits of noise reduction little research has been done on soundscape valuation, and consequently there is little evidence on the monetary value of soundscape, which is essential for developing soundscape-based CBA. Starting from the costs of noise this paper will discuss the motivation of soundscape valuation, methodology for primary soundscape valuation research, and the use of soundscape values, to contribute to the development of holistic soundscape CBA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardised soundscape methodologies are now being commonly applied to measure and interpret the perception of acoustic environments, in context. Different tranquillity assessments exist that make use of objective measurements of sound levels, interpretation of the sound sources present, and visual features in the surroundings. These have been shown to work well but with the advancements in soundscape research is it possible to improve or supplement these methodologies through the addition of a specific soundscape assessment oof the tranquillity of a space? Using the data collection methods of soundscape principals defined in ISO 12913-2:2018 the proposition was to develop a supplementary assessment method for small urban spaces that could be valued for their tranquillity by local communities and individuals. The method considered existing research on Attention Restorative Theory and optimum tranquil spaces to identify a set of perceptual variables, or attributes, for use during a 'Tranquillity Soundwalk' in a related questionnaire. The methodology was tested by the authors as a pilot study by conducting a Soundwalk at a set of heritage locations within the Knowledge Quarter of London. The findings are supportive with recommendations for further development of the method that should be tested with a statistically significant sample of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black holes with a mass a million times the mass of our Sun or more—i.e., supermassive black holes—tend to reside in galactic centers. The mass of a supermassive black hole scales with the mass and stellar velocity dispersion of the bulge of the host galaxy. Thus, the central supermassive black hole in a galaxy appears to grow in conjunction with its host, but the physical mechanisms leading to such a coupling are not yet understood. Accreting supermassive black holes also comply with similar scaling relationships, which suggests that the accretion process plays an important role in the evolution of the host galaxy. We are exploring this question using a multiwavelength investigation of a sample of about 130 nearby southern galaxies that have accreting supermassive black holes. This study began as the Siding Spring Southern Seyfert Spectroscopic Snapshot Survey (S7), and we have obtained integral field spectroscopy for the central regions of all 130 of the galaxies. Radio-imaging follow-up work is ongoing, using the Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Several individual galaxies in our sample have been studied in detail as well. All of our data are intended for public release, with the first two releases already done. We present a brief status report of our investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]