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

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

The Evolution of American “Historic Color Palettes”

“Historic Color Palette” is a group of paint colors that are supposed to have a historic connection to architecture. This thesis is a look at how these color palettes came into existence and how they have developed over time. The concept of linking certain color groups to particular time-periods and places is an intriguing one. It first emerged in the United States as a descriptor of historic colors discovered at Colonial Williamsburg. With time the palettes have extended beyond the Colonial period and now include even the mid-century modern. These palettes have grown over time to become a popular means of creating visual connections to the past. But what do these colors represent? This thesis was initially undertaken to explore where “historic color palettes” came from and to examine the evolution of the special color collections that form the American “Historic Color Palettes.” Representing specific regions and time-periods in history, the “historic color palette” is an important means of telling the story of the nation. For this research, a number of “historic color palettes” were selected as case-studies. These were not limited to palettes being produced commercially, and also included lesser-known palettes, which have made significant contributions to the development of respective areas. The research process entailed the study of historic paint brochures and early paint advertisements, along with archival research and interviews with people working in the development of the historic palettes. Advances in architectural paint research techniques and methodologies in the twentieth century have made it possible to identify many of the original colors that were used in different periods of the American history. The study and examination of these palettes led to the discovery that the “historic color palette” has not always been developed using evidence found in and on historic buildings. It has evolved as an amalgam of scientific paint analysis, historical research and imagination. It has also played a variety of roles primarily as a sales tool, educational model and proponent of historic preservation. The findings from this research however raise important questions of authenticity of the “historic color palette” and its effect as a tool promoting historic preservation in the United States

Efficiency, Fairness and Sustainability in Social Housing Policy and Projects

The provision of affordable housing for low-income households is a very complex issue that has long been debated in many countries around the world. Social housing (SH) is one of the tools for achieving fairness, social sustainability, and economic feasibility, and it is interrelated with politics, ethics, and economics, as well as the environment, architecture, and technology. In other words, national and local policies, as well as public and private financial resources, are all needed to provide SH.SH also involves social and urban transformations and is, consequently, linked to urban planning and redevelopment projects, real estate market dynamics, and cooperation between public and private stakeholders. Furthermore, decision-making on SH policies and projects has to be supported by assessments of economic feasibility and social and environmental sustainability.This volume presents studies on various topics to recompose the multi-faceted subjects of social housing within a unified framework

Sustainability in design: now! Challenges and opportunities for design research, education and practice in the XXI century

Copyright @ 2010 Greenleaf PublicationsLeNS project funded by the Asia Link Programme, EuropeAid, European Commission

Hybrid evaluation tools for operationalizing UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approach

The present research is part of the international debate about the role of cities in the achievement of sustainable development. The thesis stresses the role of cities and human settlements to shape the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an increasingly urbanized world. It aims to make operational concepts driving sustainable transformations of cities and territories in the evaluation field. Its purpose is to put into operational terms concepts and categories identified by international organizations, otherwise at risk of being confined to a purely abstract reflections. The thesis aims to provide an evaluation approach and a multidimensional indicators matrix for supporting the valorization/regeneration projects/management strategies of cities and territory, conscious that the Historic Urban Landscape conservation does not represents a cost, but an investment able to increase the city multidimensional productivity. The present thesis mainly focuses the attention on the historic port cities because of their peculiar characteristics. After an overview of the actual international debate about sustainable development, the recognition of the role of cultural heritage/landscape in sustainable development is analysed through the examination of international conferences and documents, with particular reference to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nation, 2015) and The New Urban Agenda (United Nation, 2016a). The UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape approach (HUL) (UNESCO, 2011), the latest contribution of the international debate on the identification, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, is analysed in depth. The notion of urban heritage is inseparable from its multidimensional nature, so it requires an “inclusive approach” able to include the dynamic dimension of cultural landscape and its multiple values/dimensions. In the perspective of Historic Urban Landscape, an operational indicators matrix has proposed for evaluating the multidimensional impacts of conservation/regeneration projects, that is for producing empirical evidence about multidimensional benefits of cultural landscape conservation/regeneration. The set of proposed multidimensional indicators is deduced from the analysis of about 40 good practices of conservation/regeneration projects. The impacts analysed, both on cultural heritage and from cultural heritage, are classified in 9 impact categories. In the present research, transformation processes of cities are placed into a new framework, the circular economy. The circular model, based on principles characterizing natural ecosystems (based on circular processes where nothing is “waste” and everything can become a “resource”), is proposed to operationalize sustainable development principles. It is not only referred to waste cycle (European Commission, 2015), but it is the economy of synergies and symbiosis between different industrial activities, city and industrial system, etc. and offers great opportunities to increase urban productivity. The highlighted multidimensional perspective of cities transformation implies a systemic and integrated approach that requires new assessment tools. Economic approach is necessary, but it is not sufficient. It needs an integrated evaluation tool, in which quantitative economic matrix is enriched with qualitative indicators, expressed by social components (social matrix) and environmental components (ecological matrix). The thesis does not intend to propose a new evaluation method, but rather an evaluation process, capitalizing the richness of existing tools. It aims to provide a tool for supporting decision-makers in the evaluation of impacts of projects at different scale. An operational approach is proposed for the assessment of the impacts on and from cultural heritage conservation/regeneration projects. The case study of Pozzuoli (Italy) represents a concrete implementation of the proposed methodology, demonstrating its application potentialities. It represents a good opportunity to concretely put into practice the issues discussed because it is characterized by a valuable cultural and natural landscape and a complex city-port system. Considering the multidimensionality of the impacts, multi-group and multi-criteria analysis are processed to evaluate the more appropriate combination of functions to valorize the area and the resources of the territory; in other words, to increase city productivity. The proposed methodological approach, starting from the multidimensional indicators matrix, is applied in the case study in order to include multiple dimensions in the evaluation process, supporting the identification of sustainable development strategies. This evaluation approach takes into account the above highlighted multidimensionality, also including both expert and community knowledge. The proposed evaluation approach and the multidimensional indicators matrix aim to provide a valuable tool for supporting city regeneration/valorization projects/management strategies, aware that the Historic Urban Landscape conservation is an investment able to increase multidimensional productivity of cities, and not a cost. This research intends to provide an operational approach to support decision-makers to orient and assess choices addressed to the achievement (and the increase) of multidimensional productivity of cities. The set of indicators can represent a general indicator framework that can be used to evaluate cultural landscape impacts in different territorial situation, but contextualizing it case by case. The choice of key indicators to be considered depends on the aims of the projects, the location and scale of intervention (building, site, etc.). The proposed indicators matrix can be used both for ex-ante and ex-post assessment

Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities

Urbanization is a global phenomenon and the book emphasizes that this is not just a social-technological process. It is also a social-ecological process where cities are places for nature, and where cities also are dependent on, and have impacts on, the biosphere at different scales from local to global. The book is a global assessment and delivers four main conclusions: Urban areas are expanding faster than urban populations. Half the increase in urban land across the world over the next 20 years will occur in Asia, with the most extensive change expected to take place in India and China Urban areas modify their local and regional climate through the urban heat island effect and by altering precipitation patterns, which together will have significant impacts on net primary production, ecosystem health, and biodiversity Urban expansion will heavily draw on natural resources, including water, on a global scale, and will often consume prime agricultural land, with knock-on effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services elsewhere Future urban expansion will often occur in areas where the capacity for formal governance is restricted, which will constrain the protection of biodiversity and management of ecosystem service

CITIES: Energetic Efficiency, Sustainability; Infrastructures, Energy and the Environment; Mobility and IoT; Governance and Citizenship

This book collects important contributions on smart cities. This book was created in collaboration with the ICSC-CITIES2020, held in San José (Costa Rica) in 2020. This book collects articles on: energetic efficiency and sustainability; infrastructures, energy and the environment; mobility and IoT; governance and citizenship

Urbanization, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Opportunities: A Global Assessment

Urban Ecology; Urbanism; Sustainable Development; Complex Systems; Science, general; International Environmental La