The impact of the community's sound environment on social interactions among residents

The built environment significantly influences social interactions, which are crucial for residents, but little is known about how these interactions are affected by the community's sound environment. This study conducted sound intervention experiments in the community to investigate the impact of alterations in the sound environment on residents' social behaviours. The social interaction situations under five sound intervention conditions were recorded and evaluated from three dimensions: participation, occurrence, and depth. The results indicated that a more natural sound environment in the community leads to a higher proportion of socially interactive residents and an increased occurrence of social interactions among residents. Birdsong interventions increased paired social interactions by 16.3 % compared to traffic noise, while water sound interventions increased grouped social interactions by 16.6 % compared to the control. Compared to the frequency in the lowest group, individual prolonged pair social interactions increased by 0.26 occurrences with birdsong intervention, and prolonged group social interactions increased by 0.19 occurrences with water sounds intervention. The findings can inform community designers about the strategic use of sound to enhance the environment and promote social interactions among residents. • Birdsong and water sound promote 11 % and 12 % more people socializing. • Birdsong increases paired social interactions by about 0.2 occurrences for each person. • Water sounds increase grouped social interactions by about 0.14 occurrences for each person. • Natural sound interventions encourage more prolonged social interactions.