This paper presents the concept and methodological framework of the rector’s grant project City in the Rhythm of Colours and Sounds, which explores how OpenStreetMap can support multisensory, socially engaged and educational forms of urban mapping. The project combines three fields that are usually developed separately: community mapping, soundscape studies and building-level urban data inspired by the Colouring Cities approach. Its main aim is to show that OpenStreetMap may serve not only as a source of spatial reference data, but also as a practical civic platform around which different users can observe, describe, discuss and better understand the everyday urban environment.
The project is grounded in the idea of volunteered geographic information, understood as a shift from citizens being only consumers of geographic information to becoming active producers of spatial knowledge [1]. OpenStreetMap is one of the most important examples of this process, as it combines local observation, community editing and open geographic data into a continuously developed map of the world [2]. At the same time, the project recognises that OSM data should be used critically. Earlier studies have shown both the high potential and the spatial variability of OSM quality, especially when its data are used for analytical purposes rather than simple cartographic display [3]. Recent research on crowdsourced building information also indicates that OpenStreetMap can be highly valuable for urban studies, but that the completeness and consistency of building attributes vary between countries, cities and thematic categories [4]. This makes OSM particularly suitable for an educational project in which participants learn not only how to use open data, but also how to evaluate, verify and improve them.
The project focuses on selected small and medium-sized towns in Poland, including Tuchów, Krosno, Pabianice, Andrychów and Szczyrk. These towns represent different urban contexts: historic centres, post-industrial districts, residential estates, transport corridors and tourist landscapes. Such diversity allows us to compare how the built environment, street network, land use and public space structure influence the sensory experience of the city. Instead of treating the city only as a visual or functional system, the project proposes to study it as a lived environment composed of colours, materials, sounds, rhythms, movements and social practices.
OpenStreetMap plays several roles in this framework. First, it provides the spatial base for fieldwork: streets, paths, building footprints, land use, amenities, green areas, public facilities and transport infrastructure. These data help plan soundwalk routes, select observation points and define local urban contexts around each point. Second, OSM supports the interpretation of the soundscape by allowing researchers and participants to relate acoustic observations to mappable urban features, such as road hierarchy, building density, service concentration, green space distribution or proximity to railway lines and industrial areas. Third, the project creates an opportunity for social OSM activity. Participants can verify existing map data, identify missing elements and improve the representation of local public spaces. The intention is not to overload OpenStreetMap with subjective or temporary sound impressions, but to use the project to strengthen verifiable mapping: paths, benches, crossings, public facilities, green areas, land-use details, building functions and other features relevant to everyday urban experience.
The methodological design consists of two connected parts. The first part concerns the preparation of an urban sound route and a building-based “colour map” inspired by Colouring Cities. The Colouring Cities approach has been developed as an open platform for collecting, verifying and visualising building-level urban data, including information on building age, use, type, structure and sustainability-related characteristics [5], [6]. In this project, building footprints and selected urban attributes are prepared using OpenStreetMap and complementary open data where necessary. Attributes may include building function, approximate age, height, use, relationship to public space and surrounding land use. This creates a spatial background for reading the city as a material and functional environment.
The second part involves guided soundwalks with different groups of participants, such as students, residents or local stakeholders. During these walks, participants document the soundscape at selected points, noting dominant sound sources, perceived intensity, time of day, weather conditions, spatial context and their own perception of comfort or disturbance. This approach refers to soundscape research in which the acoustic environment is understood not only as a measurable physical phenomenon, but also as something perceived, interpreted and evaluated by people in context [7]. Previous studies have shown that soundscape perception can be described through dimensions such as pleasantness, eventfulness, calmness or annoyance, and that these dimensions can be linked with the spatial character of urban environments [8], [9]. Soundwalking, in turn, is treated as an empirical and participatory method for identifying components of the soundscape in specific places [10]. The collected observations are then linked with the surrounding mapped environment, for example through buffers around soundwalk points or comparison between historic centres, housing estates, industrial areas and tourist zones.
A central element of the project is multisensory cartography. The map is treated not only as a technical product, but also as a medium for translating embodied urban experience into shared knowledge. Sound is mapped together with colour, function and morphology. This makes it possible to ask questions that are difficult to answer using conventional urban maps alone. Do older town centres sound different from newer residential estates? How does traffic structure influence perceived acoustic comfort? Are tourist spaces dominated by seasonal and human sounds, while industrial areas produce more mechanical or background noise? Can building form, street width or the presence of greenery help explain differences in sound perception? By connecting soundscape data with OSM-based urban layers, the project aims to develop a clear and replicable method for analysing the sensory character of small and medium-sized towns.
The proposed approach has a strong social dimension. OpenStreetMap is understood here as a form of civic infrastructure: open, editable, locally grounded and understandable to non-specialists. The project uses this potential to encourage residents and students to become active observers of their environment. Participants are not only asked to consume maps, but also to question them, verify them and contribute to better local spatial knowledge. In this sense, mapping becomes a form of public education. It helps users notice what is often ignored: acoustic comfort, accessibility, the relation between buildings and streets, the quality of public space, the presence or absence of greenery, and the everyday sensory atmosphere of the city.
The expected outcomes include soundscape maps, OSM-based urban context layers, comparative profiles of selected towns, educational materials and an interactive presentation of results. For the State of the Map community, the project offers a case study of how OpenStreetMap can support local civic research without losing its core principles of openness, verifiability and community value. It argues that the future of community mapping can be not only more detailed, but also more attentive to how people actually experience urban space: through movement, sound, colour, memory and everyday use.