A joint study by Associate Professor Takumi Kato of Meiji University's School of Commerce and NEC and other companies has revealed that children's voices increase people's desire to visit city parks. The study shed light on the problem that listening only to the voices of the noisy minority in local government urban policies can lead to ignoring the opinions of the silent majority, which can lead to incorrect policy decisions. The study was awarded the Japan Society of Kansei Engineering's Outstanding Presentation Award.
According to Meiji University, the research group created a video in which they inserted the sounds of trains, bells, and children's voices into a common image of a park, and showed it to a total of 20 men and women aged 44-45 and 69-2,250 living in Japan, asking them to rate on a 5-point scale whether they found the inserted sounds favorable.
The results showed that only childless women aged 20-44 rated the sound of children lower than the sound of trains, while all other generations, women with children, and men overall rated the sound of bells and the sound of children more favorably.
Many working women in their 20s to 40s struggle to balance work and childbirth, and some even give up on having children in order to pursue their careers. The research group believes that these outdated social systems and bad customs are tormenting women and undervaluing the voices of their children.
In urban planning and urban policies of local governments, the opinions of the silent majority are often not reflected, and only the voices of the vocal minority are adopted. In cases where parks have been closed or new construction of daycare centers has been halted due to complaints that children are too noisy, the research group suggests that if the opinions of the silent majority are not reflected, the atmosphere and vitality of the city will be lost.
