About Project

An element of Sensory City, a project about deepening our connections to place and environment, undertaken by students and faculty in the UVA Department of Urban Environmental Planning

Sounds are an essential, though often underappreciated, aspect of the communities in which we live. Every community, every place, will have its own distinctive soundscape, a complex mix of natural, mechanical, and human sounds, that change by the hour, day, and season. While some sounds may be distressing, many are glorious and reassuring and therapeutic, and attentiveness to this orchestral community sound show occurring around us them has the potential to deepen our connections to place and to each other, to build greater appreciation for the unique and special qualities of this place on Earth.

The sounds around us, we believe, must increasingly be viewed as essential aspects and assets of place, and given their due in our planning and design deliberations. We must learn to ask some new questions? How will a building or project change the community’s soundscape? How do community land use changes and growth patterns affect the patterns and qualities of sounds? And how might this soundscape be recorded and analyzed and mapped so that it becomes the basis for future planning and design decisions? The Sound Map presented here, with its Sound Walks, Sound Sampler, is one beginning step.

Credits: The Sound Map of Charlottesville is a collaborative project, representing the work and thinking of the following: Prof. Tim Beatley, graduate planning students Meg Johnstone, Regine Kennedy, Lisa Hardy, and the students of PLAN 551, Sustainable Communities