Modelling perceived oppressiveness and noise annoyance responses to window views of densely packed residential high-rise environments

This paper studies the effects of densely packed high-rise residential settings on human perceptions of oppressiveness and annoyance induced by road traffic noise. Earlier studies have discovered that negative oppressive feeling would be developed when people on the streets were surrounded by high-rises at proximity. However, little has been understood about whether the spacing between tall buildings and the distance separating them from the viewers living in opposite high-rises affect their perceptions of oppressiveness and noise annoyance. This study aimed at developing multivariate models to predict the probability of evoking the feeling of oppressiveness when dwellers come across views restricted and obstructed by closing-in high-rises, and the response of noise annoyance in relation to the visual attributes associated with the oppressing environment. 46 cases were used for statistical analyses after the recruits were successfully administered in 2 stages of laboratory experiments where they were exposed to 12 scenarios through projected composite images and to 18 scenarios experienced in immersive virtual reality. The results showed that separation distance and building spacing were inversely related to perceived oppressiveness and noise annoyance. Further, the models revealed that participants implicitly were willing to trade off 4 m of spacing for extending 15 m of separation distance, and 60 m of separation distance for reducing 5 dB(A) in sound pressure level.