For some years, noise has preoccupied the inhabitants of French cities. Surveys have made it clear that the sound environment is one of the main sources of dissatisfaction in urban areas, however, they have shown that the tools which urban planners dispose of (mainly based on the quantitative estimation of noise levels) are generally judged insufficient to apprehend and manage the sonorous situation in its complexity. In consequence, new research perspectives are currently leading urban developers to take into account qualitative data, in order to better apprehend the relationship of inhabitants with their sound environment. The first works of Jean-François Augoyard at the CRESSON 1 date from 1979. Since then, research in this domain has always been fruitful. Based on interdisciplinary methods, it has led to a better understanding of the relations citizens possess with their sound environment and has given experienced planners food for thought. However, at the very moment when the dimension of sound (and not only noise) is forming one of the main preoccupations, it is often judged that the vocabulary and the results of these analyses are of a complex nature and are too difficult to exploit. The GIS (Geographical Information System) is currently asserting itself as a privileged means of mediation for different urban services, and deserves to be used in order to go further than simply integrating noise levels, with a more participative and operational objective. Working hypotheses The sound environment with which inhabitants identify contains qualities which the urban manager can take into account. To highlight these means of identification, the ChAOS database-its contents shall be explained below-was created, in order to differentiate the perception of sound by inhabitants from the perceptions of experienced observers (acousticians, sociologists, architects and urban planners) who investigate in the field (...)