iCity 1: Urbastics

Noise pollution in urban districts has a considerable impact on the quality of life of the inhabitants. For the analysis, planning and design of the acoustic conditions of such areas, special software is used which has implemented simple standards-based calculation rules for noise prediction. These calculations are based on highly abstract geometric data of the building and terrain structures.

Within the framework of the strategic partnership for the intelligent city i_city the following question is considered: Can the prediction of noise in cities be improved by more detailed city models using innovative calculation methods?

In this i_city subproject, simulation methods are to be adapted and further developed in order to provide a tool for the analysis and optimization of acoustic conditions in urban quarters. Interventions are to be made at several points in order to be able to specifically investigate changes in building structures (façade construction, façade geometry, façade design) and changes in the acoustic properties of urban surfaces and their effects on urban acoustics.

This requires higher-resolution geometric data of building structures and urban surfaces. The effects of changed acoustic properties of the surfaces should not only be calculated analytically by means of correction factors, but also dependent of the frequency, thus enabling a significant improvement in the accuracy of prediction. These data must be read and used by simulation software to perform calculations.

Furthermore, the current state of research in room acoustics offers more physical propagation models, which include room geometries with a higher degree of detail and their acoustic surface properties.

The development in hardware technology should make it possible to apply these computationally intensive methods to complex urban areas.