Poniendo en valor el sonido urbano: introducción a la norma ISO 12913

Abstract

Urban soundscape, the acoustic environment or acoustic climate of the city, has proven to be an element that affects the quality of life of citizens and can also have an important influence on the overall appraisal of the city by its visitors. Beyond urban noise as a form of pollution, interest in the sounds of the city as a positive characteristic has grown considerably in recent years. Talking about sounds and not only about noise is the first step to understand that the acoustic climate of the city affects people’s health, become aware of its potential value not only for tourism but also for heritage preservation and that, therefore, it must be taken into account in urban design. A design not only for environmental noise prevention and control but also seeking to create urban spaces characterized by the value that their sounds adds to the quality of life and the overall satisfaction of residents and visitors of the city. That is, city sounds and urban soundscape as a resource of extra value in urban design. With this in mind, the important problem of the objective evaluation of subjective perception arises. A task that comes together with the necessity of designing indexes for the adequate characterization of those elements of the city that give value to the acoustic climate, a set of indices for soundscape assessment. This is the background for ISO 12913, a standard that aims to standardize the human evaluation of the soundscape in context. A standard that is still under development but that already provides the basis for carrying out this type of assessments. This article explains the three parts of the standard already published and illustrates with some examples its application, the problems encountered and what type of results are found. Taking into account that the standard will undergo modifications in the future and even the incorporation of a fourth part, this paper aims to contribute to the gradual introduction of ISO 12913, highlight its importance and the value of soundscape management as a complementary tool for urban design and the development of noise action plans in accordance with Directive 2002/49/ EC and current legislation for the management of noise pollution.