An approach to determining quiet soundscape in urban areas and a model proposal for Turkey

Quiet/calm areas were evaluated as qualified sound environments in the soundscape studies carried out in the 1970s. The quiet/calm areas were included as "quiet/calm areas in agglomeration" in the 2000s, within the scope of acoustic comfort regulations, in the Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49 /EC, in force for the European Union members, and in the Regulation on Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise, in force for Turkey as areas to be determined and conserved. This situation has accelerated the progress of scientific studies on the subject. In the doctoral study, the approach based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods, and the Weighted Sum Analysis (WSA) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in order to determine the "quiet/calm areas in agglomeration" in line with the legislation, has been developed and its conceptual model has been explained. The conceptual model of the approach was followed in order for Turkey with all its stages, the theoretical framework of the quiet/calm area determination model proposal, the research of the applicability of the theoretical framework with field studies (Istanbul Historical Peninsula and Eskisehir) were carried out. As a result of these studies, a comprehensive and easy-to-apply quiet/calm area determination approach and model proposal, which includes main factors that are effective in the perception of quietness/calmness have been revealed with the soundscape approach.