The Border Between Perceptual and Physical Urban Space: An Aural Encounter

The perception and the effects of urban spaces are being studied in many dimensions. The porous border between how urban open space is recalled and how it exists physically exists as a consequence of individual senses, as well as personal, social and cultural backgrounds. The impalpable aural experience at these tangible spaces, often subconsciously, is a crucial factor in understanding the users’ impression of the space. Over the course of history, various objective and subjective evaluation techniques have been used in an effort to make sense of aural perception. Objective evaluation techniques based on measurements and calculations are used by many scientists and policymakers. Subjective evaluation techniques, on the other hand, use mostly surveys to determine relationships between sound, user and space. This point of view transforms space and sound from being physical entities into interpretable phenomena, therefore, helps to understand the elaborate dynamics of the border between perceptual and physical space. This chapter takes examples of aural perception at urban open public spaces, from Mediterranean countries such as, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Libya and Algeria and attempts to evaluate them through objective and subjective evaluation techniques, by focusing on the encounter of physical and perceptual space.