April 29, 2026

Cities and Urban Cultures

Paulo Peixoto e Rogério Proença

This thesis proposes a reinterpretation of urban listening, examining how soundscapes and city life are mutually configured. Based on a comparative analysis of the neighborhoods of Aruana, in Aracaju (Brazil), and Solum, in Coimbra (Portugal), the study investigates the relationship between sound, public space, and architecture, arguing that active sound, understood as deliberate intervention in acoustic environments, can profoundly transform the urban experience.Here, sound assumes the role of an epistemological and sensitive operator, and its marginalization is rejected as mere acoustic background or noise. The soundscapes of Aruana and Solum are analyzed as living archives of affections, conflicts, resistance, and collective memories. By prioritizing situated and shared listening, the research proposes to discern the urban sphere through diverse ways of listening and attributing meaning to the territory.The research refutes the hegemony of the visual field in urban planning, exposing the deafness of social sciences towards the sonic dimension. Inspired by authors such as Murray Schafer and Henri Lefebvre, the adopted methodology combines soundwalking, sensory ethnography, and acoustic mapping. The study reveals that urban sounds, which can range from car engines to birdsongs, popular festivals, or the intermittent silence of parks, are active agents in the production of social space.The research unfolds in three interdependent phases. The first, qualitative in nature, focuses on sensitive wandering through neighborhoods, proposing a reading of the city guided by listening. The second, quantitative, analyzes responses from locally administered surveys, highlighting acoustic perceptions and modes of spatial appropriation. In the third phase, in-depth analysis of soundwalks and brainstorming sessions reveals how participants react critically to acoustic environments, reinterpreting the territory based on the sounds that reverberate within it.The originality of this thesis lies in the creation of a replicable methodological model that combines statistical rigor, interpretative depth, and aesthetic sensitivity. Through the proposal of active sound reinforcement as a tool for urban intervention, it is herein demonstrated that intentionally introduced sounds can reframe spaces, encourage citizen participation, and strengthen emotional bonds with the built environment.In the analyzed neighborhoods, the research reveals significant contrasts in the composition and appropriation of sound environments. While Aruana, where gated communities and street markets predominate, displays a cacophony of commercial, natural, and political sounds, Solum, linked to the academic and heritage fabric, echoes the rhythms of university life and sonic traces of its past. This interpretation attests that urban planning should not only control noise, but also value acoustic diversity as an expression of local identity. The thesis's conclusions demonstrate that urban listening constitutes an interpretative practice that broadens the understanding of space beyond its visible materiality. Sounds both reflect social dynamics and influence modes of occupation, circulation, and coexistence, becoming mediators of territorial relations. The research corroborates that sound can be used as an instrument of identity recognition, activation of collective memory, and political contestation, or, conversely, as a device of exclusion and control, depending on how it is regulated and perceived.Comparative analysis allows us to identify a contrast between muted listening practices, based on indifference and dissolution, as observed in certain areas of Solum, and densified listening, strongly imbued with political and affective meanings, as observed in several areas of the Aruana neighborhood. Thus, the act of active listening constitutes a means of accessing subjective and collective dynamics often rendered invisible in conventional interpretations of the urban environment.Finally, it is herein argued that acoustic planning should not be limited to noise mitigation, but rather take on a proactive and dialogic nature, integrating listening practices as a tool for diagnosis, mediation, and urban intervention. Thus, the thesis proposes that the future of sensitive cities depends on the ability to listen to their sounds with critical and affective attention, recognizing in these traces of belonging, present-day conflicts, and the desire for a more just and shared space.In a world where silence is a privilege and sound intrusion is a widespread phenomenon, this research affirms that the cities of the future must be designed not only for the eyes, but also for the ears, as it is in the acoustic interweaving of everyday life that the sensitive layers of urban life are revealed.

Key words: Rhythmanalysis; Active sonorization; Soundscapes; Soundwalks; Urban landscapes listening