The Sound of Cities poster was designed to visualize the impact of sounds in urban cities. I have field recorded several cities in the Helsinki area to visualize the sound information and analyze its impact on urban design.

The urban planner has been exploring and providing many innovative solutions for a good environment; however, most ideas are mainly focused on visual aesthetics, transport, waste, or energy issues. As Thomas Elmqvist states, “The dynamic sound perspectives in the urban environment, such as sonic diversity and acoustic ecology, are still very much neglected aspects in planning and architectural design.” Sound is everywhere, although sometimes unaware, our decisions, health, thinking, and moods are very much impacted by sounds around us. Generally being largely unaware of the importance of sounds and their impact on the quality of a place and a good living environment, the primary topic when discussing urban sound is noise abatement or noise reduction; however, although reduction of unwanted noise is an important factor, in growing cities, we cannot escape from sounds. Therefore, the urban planner should consider how designing of sound can or should be incorporated along with other urban designing processes.