Sustainable Cities: A Reflection on Potentialities and Limits based on Existing Eco-Districts in Europe

A Planning Framework for Urban Resilience toward Climate Adaptation and Mitigation: Potentials and Limits of “Eco-Districts”

In order to contribute to the debate on climate-proof urban regeneration, the study illustrated in this paper pays attention to the references for eco-districts as possible integrated frameworks that include urbanism and ecology toward urban resilience linked to environmental, social and governance “commitments”. To this end, the research activity has given answer to a need for a contextualization of the urban phenomena and the state of the art on sustainable development and climate proof urban resilience, pointing out the French context as an emblematic scope of study through a literature review of European best practices of eco-district. In consistency with this research framework, the study has developed a case study analysis, focusing on the description and evaluation of four best practices of French EcoQuartiers. The methodology adopted has selected with an inductive method the mitigation and adaptation strategies developed in the implementation of the French emblematic eco-quartiers, combining the official sources of the projects with on-site visits and surveys in order to define an experimental proposal of a grid of methodological-operational references relating to eco-districts. Furthermore, the discussion points out the potentials and limits of the proposed framework, related on the one hand to the quality, innovation, integration, and dissemination of the design solutions, and on the other hand to the economic and social costs of the EcoQuartiers that find a synthesis in the concept of “greentrification”. Finally, the conclusion highlights the interest of the contribution of the French context in climate proof planning and points out research interest in the other national contexts toward a European framework for eco-districts.

Valuation of Ecological Retrofitting Technology in Existing Buildings: A Real-World Case Study

The world’s existing buildings are aged, in a state of deterioration and in need of interventions. When selecting the type of possible intervention to be applied, the choice falls between two alternatives: simple unsustainable ordinary maintenance versus ecological retrofitting i.e., an increase in the quality of the indoor environment and building energy saving using local bio-natural materials and products. The present research seeks to respond to the requests of recent comprehensive reviews which ask for the retrofitting of the world’s huge existing building stocks and portfolios by proposing an approach and testing it in a specific case study (at the unit, building and urban block level) which can then be carried out and repeated in the future on a larger urban scale. The real-world experimentation in the provided case study achieved the important outcome and goal of a Green Building strategy and post-carbon city framework i.e., the significant enhancement of the thermal performance of the buildings as a result of a few targeted key external works and the consequent saving of energy in those already existing (but not preserved and not included in the state national register or record of monuments) Liberty-style constructions. All the above show that these important existing buildings can be ecologically retrofitted at an affordable cost, although initially slightly more expensive than the cost of ordinary unsustainable maintenance. However, this difference is offset by the favorable pay-back period, which is fast, acceptable and of short duration. The tried and tested approach, the positive proposed case study and the experimental database-GIS joint platform (the details of which can be found in an additional supplementary research which is currently being carried out) are the bases on which a future decision support system will be proposed. This support system can be carried out as a tailor- made solution for the ecological retrofitting of the enormous existing building stocks and portfolios which must be considered on a larger scale i.e., at ward, quartier, city, regional and country level.

Towards Sustainable Urbanization. Learning from What’s Out There

The incremental recognition of the importance of land as a finite resource has led to the adoption and implementation of an increasing number of sustainable land use practices in European cities and regions. This paper reflects on these experiences, building on the evidence collected in the framework of the ESPON SUPER pan-European research project. In particular, the authors look at the project’s database, which includes 235 examples of sustainable urbanization interventions gathered from all around Europe. In doing so, they reflect on the outcomes of these interventions, focusing on both their scope and objectives and the types of instruments that were adopted in their implementation. The objective of this contribution is to critically analyze the rich set of practices collected throughout the project and to provide guidance for decision and policy makers aiming at promoting a more sustainable use of land. In this light, it suggests a number of recommendations and warnings, bearing in mind that no “right instruments” or “right targets” exist that could prove successful for all European cities and regions.

Life Cycle Assessment and Economic Energy Efficiency of a Solar Thermal Installation in a Family House

Designing solar strategies is a powerful step forward to set up an adequate residential house in terms of energy. Many types of research have simulated the energy needs for residential buildings. Designing an improper installation can contribute to a growth in the overall energy expenditure in ensuring thermal comfort. The use of solar thermal processes in Slovakia is on a rise as compared to recent years. This study models twelve solar water heating systems created on the roof of the household. Solar energy techniques are carried out to comply with the demands of heating and domestic hot water. The analysis deals with the most efficient alternative for the arranged solar systems of the building. Considering these installations and the corresponding overall prices of machinery, the best workable alternative is selected. The potential energy performance of auxiliary heating and the energy output of the solar thermal installation are examined. The required amounts of the different energy contributions are modelled and simulated in specific software for a family house in Kosice, Slovakia. We determine the limits of the design for an apartment and analyse which procedure is used to provide the typical average water expenditure and heating need, covering a multi-criteria analysis considering costs, energy, and life cycle analysis of every installation. This approach can support professionals to decide the best scheme considering these criteria, and this method can be satisfactorily applied. In these conditions, converting a conventional gas boiler into a solar thermal system involves monthly economic savings of around EUR 140–250, with payback periods of 2.5–7 years. The energy requirements are fully covered by the solar thermal schemes and the life cycle assessment resulted in reasonable impacts on the environment.

Impact of Car Sharing on Urban Sustainability

The article gives us an insight into the key issues of car sharing and its impact on urban sustainability. A selection of 314 articles published in peer-reviewed journals from the Scopus database were analysed using Leximancer 5.0 for Automated Content analysis. A total of seven themes were identified explaining the researched topic of the car sharing situation in Europe, which are sharing, economy, model, systems, electrical car sharing, policy and travel. There are two ways of sharing owned cars in Europe; access to cars from the fleet of private organisations and P2P car sharing. Sustainable environmental solutions in the context of the electrification of cars are used. Car sharing usually takes place online and can be free or for a fee as defined by The European Economic and Social Committee. The article provides an overview of understanding the concept of urban car sharing in Europe.

Evaluating the Transition Towards Post-Carbon Cities: A Literature Review

To achieve the new European targets concerning CO2 emission reduction, the concept of a post-carbon city has been promoted, which is focused on low-energy and low-emission buildings provided with intelligent heating and cooling systems, electric and hybrid cars, and better public transport. This paradigm entails the inclusion of aspects not strictly related to energy exploitation but referring to environmental, social, and economic domains, such as improvement in local energy security, people’s opinion on different energy solutions, economic co-benefits for private users, environmental externalities, and so on. In this domain, it is of particular importance to provide the decision makers with evaluation tools able to consider the complexity of the impacts, thus leading to the choice of the most sustainable solutions. The paper aims to investigate the scientific literature in the context of evaluation frameworks for supporting decision problems related to the energy transition. The review is carried out through the scientific database SCOPUS. The analysis allows for systematizing the contributions according to the main families of evaluation methodologies, discussing to what extent they can be useful in real-world applications. The paper also proposes emerging trends and innovative research lines in the domain of energy planning and urban management. While the energy transition is an important trend, the analysis showed that few studies were conducted on the evaluation of projects, plans, and policies that aim to reach post-carbon targets. The scales of application refer mainly to global or national levels, while few studies have been developed at the district level. Life cycle thinking techniques, such as life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis, were widely used in this research field.

Questioning Low-Carbon Transition Governance: A Comparative Analysis of European Case Studies

To achieve the international emission reduction targets, current researches underline the need to overcome the dominant techno-centric approaches to energy transition, in favor of analyses that explore in more detail those practices and organizational assets that play a role in favoring a transition towards a low-carbon society. In this light, the article focuses on governance practices and, in particular, on the different tools and actors involved across variable scales and temporalities. Drawing on the activities of the ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership for Higher Education LOTUS (Locally Organized Transition of Urban Sustainable Spaces), a selection of European case studies is explored and compared in light of (i) the implemented actions in terms of energy production and efficiency measures, (ii) the legal framework and the origin of the funding and (iii) the number and type of involved actors and their partnerships. On this basis, the analysis outlines, from both a theoretical and a practical stand, a number of critical issues that characterize these episodes of energy transition governance. In particular, the authors reflect upon the interaction between energy measures and urban contexts, the need for synergies among government level and the emergence of new forms of partnership among public, private and third parties’ actors.

Supporting Policy Design for the Diffusion of Cleaner Technologies: A Spatial Empirical Agent-Based Model

Renewable energy resources and energy-efficient technologies, as well as building retrofitting, are only some of the possible strategies that can achieve more sustainable cities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Subsidies and incentives are often provided by governments to increase the number of people adopting these sustainable energy efficiency actions. However, actual sales of green products are currently not as high as would be desired. The present paper applies a hybrid agent-based model (ABM) integrated with a Geographic Information System (GIS) to simulate a complex socio-economic-architectural adaptive system to study the temporal diffusion and the willingness of inhabitants to adopt photovoltaic (PV) systems. The San Salvario neighborhood in Turin (Italy) is used as an exemplary case study for testing consumer behavior associated with this technology, integrating social network theories, opinion formation dynamics and an adaptation of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data/characteristics for both buildings and people are explicitly spatialized with the level of detail at the block scale. Particular attention is given to the comparison of the policy mix for supporting decision-makers and policymakers in the definition of the most efficient strategies for achieving a long-term vision of sustainable development. Both variables and outcomes accuracy of the model are validated with historical real-world data.

Addressing Social Sustainability in Urban Regeneration Processes. An Application of the Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation

The concept of sustainability is widely seen as fundamental to set up urban and territorial transformations. Sustainable development is a multidimensional and multi-perspective process that deals with the environmental, economic, and social dimensions, with the aim to find a balance among these. Despite this growing attention to sustainability the social perspective has been the less explored of these dimensions and only recently it is receiving consideration due the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim at creating sustainable and inclusive cities and communities. In the SDGs, specific attention is focused on the improvement of the quality of life of inhabitants through specific actions dedicated to the valorization of cultural resources, to the protection of the environment, and also to promote the involvement of the local communities in setting policies and programs. The final objective is defining projects based on the social needs shared by the communities. This paper aims at exploring the social sustainability related to urban regeneration processes with particular attention to social cohesion and community engagement. Six different urban regeneration strategies, developed for the regeneration of an urban area located in Northern Italy and based on social housing interventions, have been evaluated in accordance with their social impacts on the stakeholders involved. The paper proposes a multi-methodological approach based on the combination of the stakeholder analysis with the NAIADE (Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments) methodology, a particular type of Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation. The stakeholder analysis has been applied to identify the actors to involve in the evaluation, whereas the NAIADE methodology has been implemented for the selection of the most preferable strategy. This method allowed the assessment of the different strategies through the comparison and the mediation between the technical and the social rankings, thus considering the stakeholder preferences in the final evaluation. The final result is coherent with the initial purpose and it demonstrates that the inclusion of the stakeholder is fundamental for the achievement of a consensus solution.

An Application of the A’WOT Analysis for the Management of Cultural Heritage Assets: The Case of the Historical Farmhouses in the Aglié Castle (Turin)

In recent years, governments, public institutions, and local communities have devoted growing attention to the identification of promising strategies for the preservation and valorization of cultural heritage assets. Decisions on the management of cultural heritage assets based on multiple, often conflicting, criteria and on the stakes of various, and potentially non-consensual actors and stakeholders. In this context, in which the trade-offs between the preservation of assets historical symbolic values and the adaptation to alternative and economically profitable uses play a key role in investment decisions, multi-criteria analyses provide robust theoretical and methodological frameworks to support decision-makers in the design and implementation of adaptive reuse strategies for cultural heritage and public real estate assets. In this paper, we provide a multi-criteria decision aiding approach for ranking valorization strategies of cultural heritage assets aimed at promoting their restoration and conservation, as well as at creating cultural and economic benefits. In detail, we present a novel application of the A’WOT analysis to support the design and implementation of alternative management strategies of abandoned cultural heritage assets. The paper focuses on the potential reuse and management of four historical farmhouses (Cascina Mandria, Cascina Lavanderia, Cascina Gozzani, and Cascina Ortovalle) located in the Agliè Castle estate, one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, currently listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Examining the Impacts of Mega-Events on Urban Development Using Coupling Analysis: A Case Study of the Boao Forum for Asia

Mega-events, as a strategic approach taken by entrepreneurial governments, have the ability to transform the image of a city. This study explores mega-events and their relationship to urban development by developing a coupling coordination degree model and using the official statistics of Qionghai, China, from 2010 to 2015. The results of this study show that the dynamic of coordination between mega-events and urban development is a classical S-shaped growth curve. In the coupling system, this study also reveals that relevance index and the economy, as sub-indicators, make significant contributions to mega-events and urban development, respectively. Finally, the researchers concluded that the international large-scale events can significantly promote the urban development in host cities. This study reveals theoretical issues and practical implications for policy makers and event managers to achieve integrated and coordinated development between mega-events and urban development.

Dynamic Models for Exploring the Resilience in Territorial Scenarios

The present paper focuses on the role covered by dynamic models as support for the decision-making process in the evaluation of policies and actions for increasing the resilience of cities and territories. In recent decades, urban resilience has been recognized as a dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon that characterizes urban and metropolitan area dynamics. Therefore, it may be considered a fundamental aspect of urban and territorial planning. The employment of quantitative methods, such as dynamic models, is useful for the prediction of the dynamic behavior of territories and of their resilience. The present work discusses the system dynamics model and the Lotka–Volterra cooperative systems and shows how these models can aid technicians in resilience assessment and also decision makers in the definition of policies and actions, especially if integrated in wide evaluation frameworks for urban resilience achievements. This paper aims to provide an epistemological perspective of the application of dynamic models in resilience assessment, underlying the possible contribution to this issue through the analysis of a real case study and methodological framework. The main objective of this work is to lay the basis for future compared applications of these two models to the same case study.

Technological Drivers of Urban Innovation: A T-DNA Analysis Based on US Patent Data

Fast urbanization leads to several challenges in many cities all over the world. Thus, urban innovation is considered a common approach to deal with such questions. Although technologies are important factors in urban innovation, the development of technologies over time, how they affect urban innovation, in which relationship they stand to each other, and how they can be evaluated in a system approach are still not clear. To answer these questions, in our study, a Technology-DNA (T-DNA) is applied to US patents, which represent the most developed market in the world. Our paper provides some theoretical points in urban innovation and a systematic classification of technologies in this field based on patent classes. In addition, this research shows technological drivers in different system levels in urban innovation, especially in the super-system (representing city infrastructures) in detail. Therefore, it may help researchers, managers, politicians, and planners to focus on important technologies and to integrate technological drivers in urban innovation in their plans.