A Lightweight LCGRU–Wave-SkipConvNet Framework for Speech–Noise Separation in Urban Acoustic Environments and Performing-Arts Spaces Toward Sustainable and Equitable Acoustic Communication

Urban acoustic environments and performing-arts spaces strongly influence speech communication quality, acoustic comfort, and public wellbeing, particularly in noise-exposed shared environments such as transport hubs, campuses, healthcare spaces, public service facilities, music-education settings, and rehearsal or performance-related spaces. To address speech–noise separation in low signal-to-noise ratio and acoustically complex scenarios, this study proposes a lightweight two-stage deep learning framework termed LCGRU–Wave-SkipConvNet. In the preprocessing stage, a Lightweight Convolutional Gated Recurrent Unit (LCGRU) model is employed to achieve preliminary separation of target speech and background noise by capturing both spatial and temporal acoustic features. In the post-processing stage, a Wave-SkipConvNet model is introduced to further suppress residual noise and enhance speech quality. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves superior performance under different signal-to-noise ratios, sound-source angles, and target angle errors. For example, in the preprocessing stage, the LCGRU model achieved a perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) score of 2.64 at source angles between 0° and 30°, outperforming the convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) model by 1.17. In the post-processing stage, the Wave-SkipConvNet model achieved higher short-time objective intelligibility (STOI) and segmental signal-to-noise ratio (segSNR) values than the comparison models under different SNR conditions. The proposed framework provides an effective and deployment-oriented AI solution for improving speech accessibility and acoustic comfort in urban acoustic environments and performing-arts spaces. Beyond speech enhancement, it offers practical potential for supporting healthier, more inclusive, and more equitable acoustic environments in noise-sensitive public and educational spaces. It should be noted that this study focuses on the objective acoustic environment and signal-level speech enhancement, rather than subjective soundscape perception, musical perception, or human perceptual evaluation.