Hitting the ‘pause’ button: What does COVID-19 tell us about the future of heritage sounds?

Abstract

Human existence is accompanied by environmental sounds as by-products of people’s activities and sounds that are intentionally generated to allow human society to function. The resulting soundscapes that surround people’s daily existence are subject to technological, as well as behavioural change. Cultural heritage management has begun to address the question of which sounds and soundscapes should be preserved and maintained as part of humanity’s legacy to future generations. A side-effect of the dramatic social and behavioural change caused by governmental responses to COVID-19 has been a dramatic temporary alteration of urban cultural soundscapes. In this paper we will consider the nature and extent of these and will explore to what extent the COVID-19-induced reality can be employed to project a future of urban cultural soundscapes if no active heritage intervention were to occur.