A method for identifying soundcape-related themes in urban environments through Google Maps reviews

Urban soundscapes shape how people experience cities, influencing perceptions of safety, comfort, and aesthetics. This study explores urban sound perception in Lisbon, Portugal, using a language classification method applied to user-generated Google Maps reviews. The objective was to test the method's effectiveness in identifying sound-related themes in urban environments. Reviews from parks and public squares were collected using the search terms Jardim (garden) and Praça (square). The texts, primarily in Portuguese and some automatically translated by Google, were tokenized to extract noun keywords associated with natural, human, and technological sounds. The keyword library included terms from previous research, such as cars, chatting, and music. Adjective keywords like pleasant, vibrant and chaotic were used to filter tokens and classify the context of the soundscape. The results highlighted concerns about noise, security, and visual appeal in areas with a high volume of comments. Many reviews also discussed positive aspects, such as relaxation places and events in the city. Additionally, many reviews included images and videos that can be analyzed with other techniques to deepen perception analysis. This study highlights the potential of linguistic analysis to map public perceptions of soundscapes, aiming to enhance acoustic comfort and overall quality of life.