In Print: ‘Listening to Place: Participatory Soundscape Planning for Communities’

Publication title

Listening to Place: Participatory Soundscape Planning for Communities

Purdue author

Bryan Pijanowski

Publisher

Purdue University Press

Publication date

Dec. 15, 2025

About the book (from the publisher)

Urban planning often focuses on the visual world, missing elements necessary to create healthy communities. “Listening to Place” delves into the sonic world to reveal how sound serves as an essential element in community planning. This book provides easy-to-use tools that explore sounds, such as identifying and preserving distinct cultural sounds of place and identifying those that are harmful, particularly loud noise. It also supplies planners with step-by-step processes as well as an explanation of key terms that are important for soundscape planning. A comprehensive rubric of sound sources and how communities might better value them are included along with a unique ear-appeal assessment exercise that can be conducted by members of all communities. Finally, “Listening to Place” suggests new strategies for soundscape planning and offers references to several ordinances and other resources that describe soundscapes and the environment.

About the Purdue author

Bryan Pijanowski is a professor of forestry and natural resources and the director of the Center for Global Soundscapes. He is an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, the recipient of the International Association for Landscape Ecology — North America’s Distinguished Landscape Ecologist Award, the organization’s highest honor, and has also been honored with the Lowell S. Hardin Award for Excellence in International Agriculture for his extensive research and outreach abroad. Pijanowski is a recognized leader in soundscape ecology, a field of science and natural resource management that uses sound as a measure of environmental and cultural health.

About the In Print series

To celebrate our faculty’s excellence in scholarship, Purdue Today’s weekly book series highlights faculty expertise across diverse subjects and disciplines. Find out more about the Purdue University Books Initiative and how to suggest a book for the In Print series on the Office of the Provost website. Purdue University’s Libraries and School of Information Studies’ authored books collection is available here.