317 Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 14 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3637-6.ch014 ABSTRACT This chapter presents the debate on the conceptual framework for the virtual soundwalk as a tool for soundscape assessment for use within urban design tasks and the management of urban open spaces. A hybrid model between a soundwalk in situ and a listening test in laboratory conditions is needed to gain benefts from both methods by simulating links between spatial relations and soundscape changes in actual urban open spaces. This link is vital due to the widely accepted architectural theory background on the urban open space experience. A prototype of a virtual soundwalk tool is described. It was used by the authors during laboratory research conducted in 2014 and 2015 and developed further in 2017. The prototype was based on partial virtual reality reconstruction of visual and aural feld recordings. Its potential use is illustrated using a case study of the waterfront promenade in the historical centre of Zadar, Croatia. The future prospects for the method described are debated according to the most recent developments within the feld of soundscape research. INTRODUCTION Urban open spaces are always experienced in context. Whether a set of open spaces, or a series of interiors and open spaces, the inescapable fact of the urban pedestrian experience when moving from one point to another is that each space is experienced through a certain spatial sequence. It is like music, where each note or chord has a relative function within the tonality of the entire piece, alongside its absolute characteristics, such as pitch, or frequency. Each note and chord can be perceived quite differently, de- pending on what the listener hears immediately before, or the sounds that follow. Towards a Virtual Soundwalk Tin Oberman University of Zagreb, Croatia Bojana Bojanić Obad Šćitaroci University of Zagreb, Croatia Kristian Jambrošić University of Zagreb, Croatia