Soundscape Heritage in Historic Environments: Implications for Authenticity-Oriented Sustainable Conservation

Abstract

Heritage conservation has traditionally privileged what can be seen, yet the continuity and authenticity of historic environments also depend on what can be heard. Place-specific sounds can embody cultural memory, everyday practices, and local character, but their role in heritage experience remains insufficiently understood. This study examines Xixinan Village, China, by integrating archival research, acoustic measurements, and an on-site visitor survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM), necessary condition analysis (NCA), Mantel tests, and correlation analysis were used to investigate the perceptual significance of historically and culturally meaningful sounds. Perceived soundscape authenticity(PSA) was positively associated with soundscape eventfulness(EV) (β = 0.682), soundscape pleasantness(SP) (β = 0.412), perceived landscape authenticity(PLA) (β = 0.404), and sense of place(SOP) (β = 0.317), with the strongest relationship observed for eventfulness. NCA further identified perceived soundscape authenticity as a necessary, though not sufficient, condition for achieving high levels of soundscape pleasantness (d = 0.233, p < 0.001) and sense of place (d = 0.226, p < 0.001). At the sound-source level, water sounds, birdsong, and traditional everyday-life sounds were consistently associated with favorable evaluations, whereas road traffic, construction, and electronic-device sounds showed negative associations. These findings indicate that soundscape heritage depends not simply on reducing noise, but on maintaining culturally congruent auditory environments. Sustainable conservation should therefore recognize place-specific sounds as heritage resources and protect the ecological, spatial, and everyday-life settings that sustain their continuity.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Sustainability, 2026 · DOI ↗