Il paesaggio acustico delle aree urbane pedonali. La ricerca CALM-Controlled Areas for Acoustic Level Mitigation

The conflict between different types of movement flows – in particular automobile, cycle, and pedestrian – is expressed in urbanized areas in multiple and heterogeneous ways, which often overlap. The interferences caused by different speeds, different directions, different volumes of traffic, and different characteristics of movement, produce consequences that involve planning and design projects in a multi-scale continuum that consequently engages different design fields. A particularly invasive interference is the disturbing noise produced mainly by motor vehicles. The problem transversely involves a large part of the resident population in urban areas: areas that are potentially attractive for pedestrian use, often suffer from significant noise pollution, which hinders their use, or makes it unpleasant. The CALM – Controlled Areas for Acoustic Level Mitigation project addresses the problem of noise pollution in the creation of public spaces, with the aim of providing a design tool to create urban spaces that are compatible with uses that require favourable environmental conditions to take full advantage of the potential of pedestrian urban areas. CALM is a research project funded by the Università degli Studi di Padova-DICEA and Unimpresa, developed in partnership with Inarch servizi Srl. The research took place between 2020 and 2021 and lasted 24 months.