smellscapes in urban intermodal transit spaces: a case study of sheffield railway transit network
TRANSCRIPT
SmellscapesinUrbanIntermodalTransit
Spaces:AcasestudyofSheffieldRailwayTransitNetwork
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.