An Economic Analysis Algorithm for Urban Forestry Projects

Public-Private Negotiation of the Increase in Land or Property Value by Urban Variant: An Analytical Approach Tested on a Case of Real Estate Development

The insufficiency of public resources in Europe, which increased due to the debt crisis of 2010, has raised the need for combined financing forms to activate urban settlement transformation processes. Among these is the partial recapture of surplus value generated by interventions that derogate from urban planning tools as a regulation form of the differential rent phenomenon. This form of financing recalls the concept of land value recapture; it consists of an extraordinary charge of urbanisation (ECU) paid to policymakers. In Italy, the national law (2014) assigns responsibility for ECU determination to local decision-makers. Their plurality of operational guidelines are generally inspired by the transformation value criterion, and are sometimes methodologically incoherent and dispersive in their modus operandi. To support policymakers in the programming of public works within the limits of their available financial resources, the aim of the present work is to test a coherent, rational and applicable procedure in the field of estimation in order to analytically determine the “surplus value” generated by the intervention ante and post urban variant. The proposed procedural model is based on the structural characterisation of multiple methodologies used in practice and in the literature. The procedure was tested on a case study in the Italian context of Rome City. The results deduced from its implementation clarify that the ECU evaluation must also appropriately weigh the mutual benefits according to the “timing” and “riskiness” of the investment.

A Logical-Mathematical Approach for the Implementation of Ecologically Equipped Productive Urban Areas

Sustainability is a complex phenomenon that refers to economic, environmental, and social aspects. Any concept of sustainable urban development must incorporate sectoral concepts; these must be well integrated into the overarching urban, regional, and governance policies. One sectoral policy of great importance is the redevelopment processes of disused industrial areas into Sustainable Industrial Areas (AIS), Ecologically Equipped Productive Areas (APEA), or Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP). These territories, as socioeconomic systems that are being observed in the framework of the development of sustainability monitoring, are complex objects for evaluation due to the presence of a large number of interconnections between the constituent elements and hierarchical levels (sectors and spheres). For this reason, it is necessary that a new interpretation of economical, natural, and social phenomena, following a systemic and integrated approach, is able to reinterpret them for the dissemination of an ecologically and socially sustainable economy. The purpose of this work is to analyse the state of realisation of APEA on the Italian national territory, in order to understand the real benefits of production areas managed through eco-efficiency standards and to guarantee an integrated management system of environmental aspects. An additional aim is to consider a logical-mathematical model that would be able to support territorial policies in the identification of suitable areas to be converted into APEA, in order to promote sustainable development of the territory.

Enhancement of Small Towns in Inland Areas. A Novel Indicators Dataset to Evaluate Sustainable Plans

In response to the abandonment and depopulation of small towns in inland areas, it is necessary to provide analysis and technical-economic evaluation tools with the aim of selecting effective recovery and valorization strategies. In the light of what criteria and indicators should this selection be carried out? The principles of sustainability guide us to a new definition of social, economic, environmental, and historical-architectural criteria. The intention is to outline a new way of classifying the judgment criteria, exclusively referring to the peculiarities of small towns. In turn, the criteria are specifically defined in sixteen sub-criteria, again able to represent the salient features of small municipalities: Local traditions, genius loci, urbanization levels, but also prevailing economy, environmental (flora and fauna, water, soil, air, etc.), and historical-architectural components (relations between the small town and the immediate context, formal relationship between building and urban core, etc.). This is followed by the drafting of a novel dataset of evaluation indicators, capable of expressing the project actions’ capacity to pursue the objectives expressed by the criteria. These are datasets that give back 24 indicators for the social sub-criteria, 42 for the economic sub-criteria, 34 for the environmental ones, and 38 for the historical-architectural ones. The goal-criteria-subcriteria-indicators structure outlined in this paper opens up research perspectives on the characterization of a hierarchical model of multi-criteria analysis.

Urban planning decisions: an evaluation support model for natural soil surface saving policies and the enhancement of properties in disuse

Purpose

The present research aims to develop and test an evaluation support model for decisions alert soil surface saving to be used in the redevelopment of abandoned and degraded properties through involvement of private developers.

Design/methodology/approach

Adapting operations research principles to the public–private partnership features that are typical of urban planning issues, the model pursues a complex objective function, that concerns urban parameters to be attributed to properties to be recovered. An elaboration of a Pareto-optimal frontier has defined possible scenarios for different trends of the variables under consideration.

Findings

The efficiency of the model is verified through application to a real case study concerning urban renewal of a property in disuse located in a city in Southern Italy. The outputs confirm the potentialities and flexibility of the proposed model to support urban planning decisions by improving the implementation of conservation policies, in terms of a reduced impact of urban transformation projects on the available natural land surface.

Practical implications

Depending on the objectives of public sector, the model can generate a range of urban parameter combinations to be attributed to the recovered properties to achieve low consumption of natural surfaces, with bargaining between the public and private sectors around these parameters. The model can also be used in the initial phases of the renewal initiative, when it is necessary to define the costs and the revenues involved or to assess alternative solutions capable of reducing impacts on the environment.

Originality/value

The model can be applied to identify the appropriate rewards in a project that can stimulate the private developers to realize further public infrastructures and services than minimum quantities established by the current local urban regulations. In this sense, the model represents an original scientific reference in the current strategies promoted by the European Union for achievement of a “no net land take” by 2050, aimed at reducing natural surface occupied by buildings and roads.

Consumer Support and Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Solar, Wind, and Cow Manure in the United States: Evidence from a Survey in Vermont

Information on public support and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy from alternative sources is critically important for the development and evaluation of renewable energy policies and programs. This study assesses consumer support and WTP for electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and on-farm anaerobic digester systems (ADS) in the United States, using data collected from a household survey in the state of Vermont. Empirical results suggest that solar power was the respondents’ top choice for public investment, and cow power (electricity generated from ADS) was the least-favored choice. Also, the variations in the likelihood of being willing to pay a premium for each renewable electricity across respondents were closely associated with factors such as education, political affiliation, homeownership, and local agricultural engagement. The relatively low level of public support and WTP for cow power is likely the result of unfamiliarity with this renewable source of electricity, and more educational efforts are highly needed to promote this renewable energy with many environmental benefits for a dairy state.

Household Energy and Water Practices Change Post-Occupancy in an Australian Low-Carbon Development

This research comprises a longitudinal study of a cohort of residents moving into a low-carbon development and their pre- and post-occupancy household practices that consume energy and water. They are the early adopters of living in low-carbon households and provide valuable insight into the influence of design and technology on household practices. Household energy and water consumption levels are measured and normalised to the metropolitan average to discuss the influence of design and technology on use. Heating, cooling and showering practices consume the largest proportion of household energy and water use and so the changes to thermal comfort and personal hygiene practices are examined along with a consideration of the influence of lifestyle and family composition on cooling practices. Household water and energy use decreases due to technology and design influences post-occupancy. However, the personal practice history of residents influences water and energy consumption. Changes to the meaning element of personal hygiene practices show how these are interlocked and unlikely to change in their duration when there are other demanding practices to be undertaken.

Assessment of Urban Green Space Based on Bio-Energy Landscape Connectivity: A Case Study on Tongzhou District in Beijing, China

Green infrastructure is one of the key components that provides critical ecosystems services in urban areas, such as regulating services (temperature regulation, noise reduction, air purification), and cultural services (recreation, aesthetic benefits), but due to rapid urbanization, many environmental impacts associated with the decline of green space have emerged and are rarely been evaluated integrally and promptly. The Chinese government is building a new city as the sub-center of the capital in Tongzhou District, Beijing, China. A series of policies have been implemented to increase the size of green urban areas. To support this land-use decision-making process and achieve a sustainable development strategy, accurate assessments of green space are required. In the current study, using land-use data and environmental parameters, we assessed the urban green space in the case study area. The bio-energy and its fluxes, landscape connectivity, as well as related ecosystem services were estimated using a novel approach, the PANDORA model. These results show that (1) in the highly urbanized area, green space is decreasing in reaction to urbanization, and landscape fragmentation is ubiquitous; (2) the river ecology network is a critical part for ecosystem services and landscape connectivity; and (3) the alternative non-green patches to be changed to urban, urban patches which can improve landscape quality the most by being changed to green, and conservation priority patches for biodiversity purposes of urban green were explicitly identified. Conclusively, our results depict the spatial distribution, fluxes, and evolution of bio-energy, as well as the conservation prioritization of green space. Our methods can be applied by urban planners and ecologists, which can help decision-makers achieve a sustainable development strategy in these rapidly urbanizing areas worldwide.

Comparative Analysis of Multi-Criteria Methods for the Enhancement of Historical Buildings

The protection of cultural heritage is essential to preserve the memory of the territory and its communities, but its enhancement is also important. In this perspective, the theme of choosing the best use for historic buildings, which often make up a substantial and widespread part of real estate and which can become a driving force for the sustainable development of cities, is important. These decision-making processes find effective support tools in Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, able to consider the multiple financial, social, cultural, and environmental effects that the enhancement project generates. In order to identify the most appropriate evaluation approach to select the best use of the building, this paper proposes a comparison between some of the best-known MCDM methods: Analitic Hierarchy Process (AHP), ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE), Tecnique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and the Compromise Ranking Method (VIKOR). The comparative analysis gives rise to the validity of the AHP, which is useful for reducing the problem into its essential components, so as to make a rational comparison among the design alternatives based on different criteria. The novelty of the research is the characterization of the hierarchical structure of the model, as well as the selection of criteria and indicators of economic evaluation. The application of the model to a real case of recovery and enhancement of a former convent in the province of Salerno (Italy) verifies the effectiveness of the tool and its adaptability to the specificities of the case study.

Integrated Ecosystem Design: An Evaluation Model to Support the Choice of Eco-Compatible Technological Solutions for Residential Building

The technological components regarding building cladding are designed for ensuring thermo-hygrometric comfort conditions within habitable spaces and realising smart buildings. Often the solutions adopted are identified referring only to the characteristics of mechanical and energy materials without considering the ecological–environmental properties in an urban context. Thus, it is appropriate to choose technological components not only according to material type, but also ecological aspects pursued through presence and/or structured integration of natural elements. The technical-design forms based on “building–nature” integration allows, on one hand, the sustainable soil use with multiple benefits (ecosystem services) that natural systems produce, on the other hand, the identification of technological solutions sized referring environmental quality levels achieved through appropriate natural species use. In this way, it can be obtained lower buildings investment and maintenance costs, and greater energetic–environmental benefits. So, it is proposed an evaluation protocol for settlement transformation interventions structured considering environmental effects obtained with Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) into the project. According to ecological–environmental quality level achieved with NBSs, the technological component is sized according to preliminary design parameters (noise reduction and solar irradiation degree) obtained through NBSs. The total performance level of technological solutions is expressed using Economic–Environmental Indicators. The protocol is tested on social housing case in Anagnina district of Rome (Italy).

Greenwash and Green Purchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Green Skepticism

Along with the acceleration of green marketing in recent years, greenwash has been utilized by firms to get ahead of their rivals. Underpinned by the cognition–affect–behavior (C-A-B) paradigm, this study examines a model linking greenwash and green skepticism with green purchase intentions. It also investigates the moderating role of information and knowledge on the relationship between greenwash and green purchase intentions. Data were obtained from 419 Vietnamese consumers who had been involved in purchasing green vegetables using an online survey. Multivariate data analysis demonstrated that greenwash was negatively associated with green purchase intentions and that green skepticism mediated this negative association. In addition, the moderating effect of information and knowledge was confirmed. These findings enrich the extant knowledge on the relationship between greenwash and green purchase intentions. They also have important implications for firms that aim to reduce consumers’ skepticism and increase their intentions to purchase green food.