Volume 10,Issue 5
Soundscape Evaluation and Optimization Strategies for an Urban Riverside Wetland Park in Arid Northwest China: A Case Study of Yintan Wetland Park, Lanzhou
Urban wetland parks in arid regions are simultaneously exposed to ecologically valuable natural sounds and urban acoustic disturbances, yet their soundscape dynamics remain less documented than those of parks in humid regions. This study evaluates the soundscape of Yintan Wetland Park in Lanzhou, a riverside wetland on the Yellow River, by integrating field sound-level measurements, a sound-source inventory, a questionnaire survey, and GIS-based ordinary Kriging interpolation. Twenty-eight accessible measurement locations were surveyed in May 2025 during three periods (08:00–09:00, 12:00–13:00, and 19:00–20:00), and 76 valid questionnaires were obtained. A total of 24 typical sound sources were identified; natural sounds, human-activity sounds, and mechanical/traffic sounds accounted for 38%, 32%, and 30%, respectively. Mean A-weighted sound levels across the 28 locations were 54.04 dB(A) in the morning, 51.71 dB(A) at noon, and 54.25 dB(A) in the evening. Higher levels were concentrated along the northern traffic edge and at localized evening activity nodes, whereas areas with more continuous water and vegetation generally exhibited lower levels. The park-wide mean of the point-based representative values was 53.33 dB(A), corresponding to a mean study-specific relative noise index (PN) of 0.71. Visitors showed stronger preferences for birdsong, rustling foliage, and water sounds, and weaker preferences for construction, motor-vehicle, and broadcast sounds. Based on the combined physical and perceptual evidence, the study proposes traffic-edge buffering, conservation of natural-sound core areas, temporal-spatial management of activity nodes, context-sensitive integration of cultural sounds, and long-term acoustic monitoring. The findings provide planning and management implications for riverside wetland parks in arid Northwest China.
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