Urban iconic soundscape, when historical perception overshadows acoustic perception: the case of preserving Yogyakarta's iconic sounds

Abstract A series of studies have been conducted to preserve the iconic soundscape, including the soundmarks of Yogyakarta, a city renowned for its rich cultural and historical heritage. Owing to limitations in implementing in situ approaches, the idea of virtual preservation through a virtual museum is being explored. The goal of this study is to present preliminary findings to local stakeholders for further data identification, confirmation, and validation and to gather acoustic perceptions through virtual soundscape surveys conducted at iconic locations, which will serve as guidance for advanced virtual preservation. A structured focus group, which invited local stakeholders and incorporated Q methodology, was employed to achieve the objective. The results show that stakeholders of a historically layered city such as Yogyakarta tend to select iconic places on the basis of the town's history rather than its visual and acoustic environment. The research concluded that preserving the entire city’s soundscape is unnecessary; instead, key locations that deeply reflect the city's historic places should be focused on. This targeted approach ensures that the essence of Yogyakarta's historic identity is preserved and communicated effectively through the city's iconic soundscape and soundmarks.