ABSTRACT
Travel patterns have dramatically changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism has been both a vector and a victim of the disease. This paper explores the pandemic’s impact on rural tourism, using the theoretical framework of the “mobilities turn” to investigate issues of corporeal and communicative travel found between the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 874 guests visiting the Italian region of South Tyrol, where rural tourism is the norm, identified different patterns of physical travel and approaches to collecting on-site information on COVID-19. Results from a principal component analysis (PCA) and a cluster analysis highlighted at least two different approaches from visitors to the region: the first is more cautious, mostly practiced by domestic tourists, with limited mobility on-site, coupled with a need for information;the second is instead a more adventurous approach, with higher on-site mobility, more use of sustainable forms of transport and less interest in data evidence on COVID-19. Implications for rural tourism and its future are discussed. The hypothesis of an inverse relationship between corporeal and communicative travel needs further exploration in future research.
ABSTRACT
The present work constitutes the sequel to the analysis of data from an online survey administered to 464 home workers in London in January 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown. Perceived affective quality of indoor soundscapes has been assessed in the survey through a previously developed model, as the combination of two perceptual dimensions, one related to comfort (a comfortable - annoying continuum) and the other to content (a full of content - empty continuum). Part I of the study reported on differences in comfort, content, and soundscape appropriateness based on the activity performed at home during the lockdown, i.e. working from home (WFH) and relaxation. Moreover, associations between soundscape dimensions and psychological well-being have been highlighted. Part II of the study deals with the exploration of the influences of several acoustical, building, urban and person-related factors on soundscape dimensions and well-being. A mixed-method approach has been adopted by combining multivariate regression of questionnaire scores with the qualitative analysis of spontaneous descriptions given by respondents. Results showed that several sound sources, urban features, housing characteristics, working modes and demographic factors can influence (positively and negatively) soundscape dimensions differently depending on the task at hand. Notably, the perceived dominance of neighbours' noises during relaxation, moderated by noise sensitivity, and the number of people at home were common factors negatively affecting both comfort and well-being, that partially explained the association between comfortable indoor soundscapes and better mental health. The discussion points out the importance of considering the different impacts that acoustical factors (e.g. sound typology), building (e.g., house size), urban (e.g., availability of a quiet side), situational (e.g., number of people at home), and person-related factors (e.g., noise sensitivity) can provide on building occupants depending on the specific activity people are engaged with at home and the opportunities to foster people's well-being through building, urban and acoustic design.
ABSTRACT
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a result of the adoption of worldwide lockdown measures, the home environment has become the place where all the daily activities are taking place for many people. In these changed social and acoustical contexts, we wanted to evaluate the perception of the indoor acoustic environment in relation to traditional and new activities performed at home, i.e., relaxation, and working from home (WFH). Taking London as a case study, the present paper presents the results of an online survey administered to 464 home workers in January 2021. The survey utilized a previously developed model for the assessment of indoor soundscapes to describe the affective responses to the acoustic environments in a perceptual space defined by comfort (i.e. how comfortable or annoying the environment was judged) and content (i.e., how saturated the environment is with events and sounds) dimensions. A mixed-method approach was adopted to reinforce result validity by triangulating data from questionnaires and spontaneous descriptions given by participants. In this first part of the study, the main objectives were: (1) evaluating differences in soundscape evaluation, in terms of comfort and content dimensions, based on the activity performed at home, (2) identifying appropriate conditions for WFH and relaxation, and (3) investigating associations between psychological well-being and indoor soundscapes. The results showed that the environments were perceived as more comfortable and slightly fuller of content when rated in relation to relaxation than for WFH, thus suggesting a stricter evaluation of the acoustic environment in the latter case. As regards the second objective, spaces that were more appropriate for relaxation had high comfort, whereas spaces appropriate for WFH resulted more private and under control, i.e. with high comfort and low content scores. Lastly, better psychological well-being was associated with more comfortable soundscapes, both for WFH (rs = 0.346, p < .0005), and relaxation (rs = 0.353, p < .0005), and with lower content while WFH (rs = -0.133, p = .004). The discussion points out the need of considering the implications of changed working patterns to rethink the design of soundscapes in residential buildings, also in relation to potential well-being outcomes that will be further investigated in the Part II of the study.