SmellscapesinUrbanIntermodalTransit

Spaces:AcasestudyofSheffieldRailwayTransitNetwork

JielingXiaoxiao.jieling@bcu.ac.uk

27Jan2016

Smellscapeisthehumanperceivedsmellenvironmentofaplaceata4mepoint.DerivedfromHenshaw(2013)and

Porteous(1985)

Urbanintermodaltransitspacesareboth‘nodes’and‘places’.(Bertolini,2006)

‘ThestaQoniswherecitydwellerscanbuy

groceries,useabank,getahaircutorchangemoney.Itisacivicgatheringspace,wheremusic

canbeheard,wheretransitinformaQonisdispensed,andwherethedramaofurbanlifecan

bewitnessedinfullflow.’(Edwards,2013,p173)

Whatisthesmellscapequalityinurbanintermodaltransitspaces?

SheffieldRailwayTransitNetwork

•  SheffieldRailwayStaIon(IncludingthestaQonbuilding,taxirank,plaXorms,tramstopandSheafSquare)

•  SheffieldBusInterchange•  StaIonPathSheffieldRailwayStaIonhasbeenawarded‘thebestunbeatenlargestaIon’forfouryearsforitsenvironmentandservicesamongallstaIonsmanagedbyEastmidlandsTrains.

SmellwalkinSheffieldCase

•  Groundedtheory•  Smellwalka)  OnsiteobservaIonsb)  Semi-structured

interviewsc)  PleasantnessScale-

raIngsurveysa)  Subjects:19intotal

(female10andmale9),agebetween18and70

Figure1SmellwalkroutewithstopsinSheffieldRailwayTransitNetwork

1) Sheffield interchange stand

2) Station path including the greenery

3) Railway station concourse

4) Railway station platform

5) Railway station tram stop

6) Railway station taxi rank

7) Sheaf square including the water feature

Figure2IllustraQonsofstopsalongsmellwalkinSheffieldRailwayTransitNetwork

Examplesofpeople’sdescrip1ons:‘someQmesithasaoldsmell.HowcanIexplainthis.Youknowmodernbuildings,italwaysassociateswiththecleansmell.Buthere,ithasabitdustysmell.Itnotthatdusty,but,fornow,itiskindofhumidanddustyfeeling.’(s09atstop1)‘Icansmellthegrassandflowers,itisali]lebitpowering.Itisabitlikeapark.Iliketosmellgrass,itsmellsnice.IthinkitisbecauseIliveclosetogreenfields.LikewhenIusedtowalktoschool,likemyprimaryschool,thereisareallybigfield,ithastwoparks.AndwhereIlivenow,itissuburbs,inthegreenbelt,therearemoreopenspacesandgrasslands,Ithinkitassociateswithhome,myassociaQon.’(s07atstop2)

‘itislikemixtureofsmells.Icansmellthefood,youhaveacoffeeshop,apastyshopthere.Idon’tknowhowtodescribethisgenericsmellofthiskindofspaces.whatIgetalotisthesmellofcoffee,pre]ydominant.’(s17atstop3)‘Iabsolutelyhatethesmelloftrains,gascomingfromtheengines…IwentpastStarbucks,Ismeltsomecoffeewhichisnice.Butthen,thesmellfromthetrainisabsolutelyoverwhelming…’(s11atstop4)‘Abitwaterysmellandlessfumes.Icansmellthechlorineinthewater.Itmakesmefeelcleanandremindsmeofthesmelloftheswimmingpool.Itisanicechemicalsmell…Itmakesmefeelhappy.Ilovewaterfeatures.Actually,Ilikethesoundofrunningwater.Itmakesmefeelfree.Well,thesmellofcourseplaysapartofit.Butthesounditselfisverysoothing.’(s08atstop7)

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Figure4Detectedsmellswithfrequenciesateachstopalongtheroute(smellcategoriesusedaredrawnfrom

Henshaw’s(2013)summaryofsmellsinEnglishciQes)

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Figure3MeanvaluewithSTDofparQcipants’smellscapepleasantnessraQngsinSheffieldCase

ElementsemergedinfluencingsmellscapesinSheffieldcase

Smellsandsources:•  Sources,includingtype,locaIonand

temporalcondiIons.•  Intensity,i.e.disInct,strong,slightly,etc.•  Quality,includingfresh,clean,stuffy,

arIficial,etc.•  PsychologicalreacIons,relaxing,calming,

soothing,etc.•  Backgroundsmell,whetherthereisa

backgroundsmell•  Smellmarks,whethertherearesmellmarksPlace:•  FuncIonandlocaIon•  Builtformandscale•  VenIlaIonandopenness

•  Boundariesandsurroundings•  Seatsandsanitaryfacility•  Landscapeelements•  LighIng,acousIcsandthermalenvironmentEnvironment:•  Timeandweather,includingtemperature,

wind,humidity,etc.•  Peopleandtrafficflows

Perceivers:•  SocialandculturalcharacterisIcs•  PhysiologicalcondiIons,i.e.gender,age,

sensiIvitytosmells•  Pastexperiencesandpreferences

Figure5AperceptualprocessofsmellscapeemergedfromSheffieldcase

Perceptualpaaerns

Forexample:•  Recognising•  PeopleweretryingtoidenIfytheir

surroundings,liketypesofbuildings,weather,smellsources,andperceivedsmells,whentheyevaluatesmellscapes,andwhethertheylikeitornot.

•  ‘Ithasanoldsmell.HowcanIexplainthis.Youknowmodernbuildings,italwaysassociateswiththecleansmell.Buthere,ithasabitdustysmell.Itnotthatdusty,but,fornow,itiskindofhumidanddustyfeeling.Becauseitiswarmhere.’S09

RecognizingAssociaIng ConnecIng

AnIcipaIngOrienIngContextualisingPersonalisingSituaIonalisingComparingGeneralising

Socialandculturalcontext

Individualdifferences

Physicalenvironment

Smellsandsmellsources

Figure6Smellscapeperceptualpa]ernsemergedfromSheffieldcase

•  Associa4ng•  AssociaInghappens,whenpeopletry

toexplaintheirdescripIonsorevaluaIons.Thesimplestexamplefoundinstudiedcasescanbeperceiverassociatecigareaesmokewithhealthproblems,carfumeswithairpolluIonandtoiletsmellswithpoorsanitarycondiIons.

•  ‘Thisisthebusinterchange,Iwouldnaturallyassociateitwithtrafficfumes,dustandcrowdsofpeoplewalkingaround,whichmakesfeelabitnegaQveabouttheairqualityandsmellscape.’S19

•  Personalising•  Personalisinghappenswhenpeople

refertopersonalcondiIons,likepastexperiencesandsmellpreferencestoevaluateperceivedsmellscapes.Whenpersonalising,peopleareoeenawareofreasonstheygivemaybelongtopersonaldifferences.

•  ‘Icansmellthemeatinthepasty,itis

aquitestrongsmell,butitisnotquitepleasant.Iamnotreallyabigfunofpasty,maybeitismypreference.’S07

Indicatorsforsmellscapepleasantness

Figure6IndicatorsofsmellscapepleasantnessderivedfromSheffieldcase

Cleannessandfreshness

•  Cleannessassociateswithhygiene,healthconcerns.

•  ‘Thecleanandneutralenvironmentthatsmellslikeahealthyenvironmentisthemostpleasantinsuchspaces.’(S01)

•  ‘Ithink,someQmes,whenitisbeencleaned,andyouarethefirstpeopleenteredthestaQon,youcansmellthecleaningliquid,thatcleansmell.IthinkIlikesmellingthecleanness.’(S07)

•  Freshnessassociateswithmoods,like‘soothing’,‘pleasing’and‘relaxing’.

Likenessandfamiliarity

•  Likenessassociateswithsmellpreference,nuisance.

•  Familiarityassociateswithlivingenvironmentandhabits,feelingsofsafe,calmandknown.

•  ‘Ilikeithere(therailwaystaQonconcourse).Itismorewelcomeandfamiliartome.IliketosmellfoodinstaQons,thoughitsomeQmesmakesmefeelhungry.Butitsmellssomehowabitlikehome.’(S04)

•  ‘Iguessthisitmorefamiliarwithme.Ihaven’tbeentothebusstaQonbefore.ButIamveryfamiliarwiththetrainstaQon.Icamehereeveryweek.So,Ithinkthisisdefinitelymorepleasanttome.IthinkitisbecausethecombinaQonofsmelloffoodandfamiliaritymakesmethinkso.’(S01)

Purityandintensity

•  Purityandintensityindicatethevarietyandscaleofsmellsources.

•  Mixedandintrusivesmellsinspaceswillreducepeople’shedonicdegreesofsmellscapes.

•  ‘Ithinkwhencometospacelikethisyouwouldn’tliketosmelltoomuch.Therearesomesmellsinthebackgroundwhenyouwalkingthrough.Butyouwouldn’tlikesomethingoverwhelmingyouwhenyouwalkintothedoor.’(S13)

Naturalnessandappropriateness

•  NaturalnessitreferstowhetherperceivedsmellswerearIficialorthefactwhethersmellsperceivedmatchedvisualpercepIons.

•  ‘Ithinkitisgoodaslongasyoudon’tnoQceitisbeenscentedandyoufeelitisnatural.Ifsomebodyjetthepopcornsmellintheair,andyoudon’tseepopcornsmadeinthespace,that’swired.But,ifyouhavepopcornmachineinthecornerwhichactuallymakesfreshpopcorn,that’sgood.Itwillremindyouofchildhoodandhappyplace.’(S16)

•  Appropriatenessreferstowhethersmellsorsmellsourcesareappropriatetobeinthephysicalcontext.

•  ‘Idon’texpectchlorine,itusuallyassociateswithswimmingpool,itisanindoorenvironment,obviously,outsideturnstobemorenaturalwatersmell.ItisnowIcansmellchlorine,Idon’texpectthat,I’dwishtosmellmorenaturalwater,maybenotseawater,butjustnotarQficialsmell.’(S07)

Overall,designforapleasantsmellscapeinurbanintermodaltransitspacesneedto

considertheindicatorsemergedfromSheffieldcase.TheyprovideevaluaIoncriteriaandcaninformoveralldesignobjecIvesforsmellscape

designinsuchspaces.

Thankyou!Reference•  Bertolini,Luca.(2006).Fosteringurbanityinamobilesociety:

linkingconceptsandpracIces.Journalofurbandesign,11(3),319-334.

•  Edwards,Brian.(2013).ThemodernstaQon:newapproachestorailwayarchitecture:Taylor&Francis.

•  Henshaw,Victoria.(2013).UrbanSmellscapes:understandinganddesigningcitysmellenvironments:Routlege

•  Porteous,JDouglas.(1985).Smellscape.ProgressinPhysicalGeography,9(3),356-378.