Sound perception and acoustic comfort in urban spaces in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG

Abstract This aim of this paper is to present and analyse the responses of users of urban open spaces regarding perception of loudness and acoustic comfort evaluation, based on data collected during the year of 2013 in two squares in the city of Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. During field surveys, acoustic data were measured simultaneously with the application of questionnaires, which were used to collect subjective and individual variables. The LAeq, T index was used for the characterisation of the acoustic environment. The results show that, under the same acoustic conditions, regarding both the perception of loudness and the evaluation of acoustic comfort, individuals tend to be more tolerant in the square where the ambience and the thermal comfort conditions were better. As for the perception of loudness, the ranges defined in this study were: Low LAeq 68 dB (A). Regarding the evaluation of acoustic comfort, the ranges established were: Comfortable, LAeq 68 dB (A). We hope that these results will contribute to a better understanding of the issues related to acoustic comfort in urban spaces.