THE SOUNDSCAPE PERCEPTION IN TAIPEI

The concept of the soundscape is a broad one, accommodating the complete sound environment in a location and the human response to it. This project was proposed to collect soundscapes in Taipei and survey the Taipei residents’ perception on soundscapes in Taipei. The purposes of this survey were (1) to study the participants’ approval of representative for soundscapes in Taipei and corresponding two-dimensional emotion (displeasure to pleasure and non-arousal to arousal); (2) to invest the differences in soundscape type, gender, age level, and residence duration in Taipei. Twenty-two 12-s long segments of soundscape videos were produced. Data were collected through electronic questionnaire or paper ones consisting with questions using Likert 5-point scales. 102 participants completed the survey. Descriptive statistics, T-test, and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the perception on soundscapes in Taipei. The results showed that among the four categories of soundscapes, transportation ones were the most representative soundscapes in Taipei, natural ones were the most joyful, cultural ones were the most exciting, and community ones were the most non-arousal. Regarding the effects of the background of participants, males were more pleased with Shihlin night market while females had higher representative approval of the New Year Eve 101 building firework. The university students were more pleased with community activities while the elders preferred cultural activity. People with shorter residence felt more excited about entertaining activities while the ones longer residence enjoyed cultural or religious activities more.