Factors Influencing Residents’ Attitudes toward New Childcare Centers and Their Evaluation of the Surrounding Sound Environment

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate residents' perceptions of sounds from childcare centers as environmental noise and to examine the relationship between these perceptions and social tolerance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three urban areas in Tokyo, distinguished by their presence or absence of arterial roads and childcare centers, were selected as case studies. The study combined objective field measurements and a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was extended beyond those used in previous studies to include variables related to social capital, such as levels of social engagement and the strength of community ties, to investigate their influence on residents' tolerance of noise from childcare centers. RESULTS: Satisfaction with the sound environment was strongly correlated with equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure levels (LAeq,10min) (r = -0.78, P < 0.016), whereas the perception of childcare center sounds showed no significant association. Mixed-effects logistic regression analysis (sites C-H and T1-T3) revealed noise sensitivity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.530, P < 0.001), willingness to participate in open events (OR = 3.851, P < 0.001), gender (OR = 2.176, P = 0.002), and ownership (OR = 0.332, P = 0.008) as significant predictors of opposition to new childcare centers. In the refined model for sites T1-T3 incorporating social capital variables, degree of trust was also significant (OR = 0.805, P = 0.005), with higher trust associated with lower levels of opposition. CONCLUSION: Residents' perceptions of sounds from childcare centers were not significantly related to their satisfaction with the sound environment. Residents' attitudes toward childcare centers reflect physical factors such as ambient noise as well as social factors such as interpersonal trust. Centers can minimize negatively perceived sounds and encourage community interaction to promote acceptance and coexistence.