Energy planning at the district level: an Implementation Plan as a first step towards smarter city development

Energy policies have recently been developed and funded, from the Nineties\u2019 initiatives right up to that of the actual EU Smart City and Communities con-firm the interest focused on cities for strategic interventions in the energy sector. Nevertheless, many questions are still open about this: how to manage energy issues at the urban scale and by means of which kind of tool? In order to contribute to the debate around this topic, the author takes into account the methodology proposed by the FP7 project \u201cTRANSFORM-TRANSFORMation Agenda for Low Carbon Cities\u201d and its results, as one of the possible path-ways to face the challenge. According to the TRANSFORM Project approach, the Implementation Plan (IP) is understood as a strategic document at the district scale which can be used to support the development of a strategy for an urban area (Smart Urban Lab, SUL).From the collected case-studies within TRANSFORM\u2019s framework some general outputs can be underlined in order to draw concluding reflections from the methodological point of view. To verify the method proposed within the project frame, in particular the case study of Voltri district in Genoa (IT) and its implementation plan are discussed. After considering this example, the paper is, then, able to abstract some general remarks concerning energy plan-ning at the district level and positive and negative aspects of the implementation of energy measures at this scale, resulting from the drawing up of IPs in TRANSFORM\u2019s devoted phase. Features of the district, energy potential and designed interventions are explained in order to observe light and shadow of the implementation of energy planning measures at the district level and its future perspectives

Monitoring of Sustainable Energy Action Plan in the city of Genoa

After the adoption of the Climate-Energy Package on 29 January 2008, the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors, an initiative adressed to European cities voluntary participation in implementing sustainable energy policies, aimed to improve energy efficiency, to increase RES and to reduce GHG emissions by 2020. The City of Genoa joined the initiative in February 2009 and in 2010 submitted the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) drawn up in cooperation with UNIGE and the Energy Regional Agency of Liguria, a key document defining the energy policies the Municipality intends to adopt in different action fields in order to pursue the Covenant of Mayors objectives. Since it is a dynamic tool, the SEAP requires continuous monitoring for the evaluation of the actions progress, enabling a proper management and a consequent ongoing interventions adjustment in order to encourage an optimal SEAP governance from the point of view of energy and environment. This paper illustrates the approach for monitoring the SEAP of Genoa and the definition the criteria used to assess the degree of interventions implementation, to highlight the presence of critical issues affecting the actions performance and to understand the critical situations nature and then identify possible corrections. The estimate of the results obtained by SEAP in relation to the targets set is, in fact, a key element for the success of the Covenant of Mayors and, more generally, for the success of UE environmental policies for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Turin, Rome and Genoa: comparison of the level of maturity of three large Italian cities towards Mobility as a Service

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the new urban mobility paradigm which, through a digital platform, makes all types of public and private transport services available to users. This contributes to increasing sustainability in cities and the quality of citizens' mobility. However, several factors influence the success of MaaS implementation: openness and data sharing of transport operators; citizens' familiarity and willingness to pay; policy, regulation and legislation; transport services, and infrastructures. Many of these factors are strictly related to the features of the city where MaaS has to operate, and more specifically to its maturity (including multimodality, integration, flexibility, and user-oriented approach). To this end, target users and their willingness to pay for MaaS operations require a specific assessment. This paper compares three large Italian cities - Turin, Rome and Genoa, very different in terms of size, complexity, local transport policies and potential for MaaS application-, with the final goal of outlining common and specific drivers, barriers and requirements for the successful adoption of MaaS. The research findings can provide useful insights to urban mobility decision-makers to avoid the unsuccessful implementation of MaaS, especially when dealing with cities with conservative mobility policies, such as Rome, or where MaaS is a novelty

Assessing the Feasibility of MaaS. A Contribution from Three Italian Case Studies

Making all types of public and private transport services available to users through a single and integrated digital platform is the new urban mobility paradigm called Mobility as a Service (MaaS). This scheme allows both a more sustainable urban transportation system and a more effi-cient transport service for users. For MaaS to be successful, its implementation should adapt to the specific features of the location covered by the service. The city maturity level has to be considered in terms of multimodality, infrastructures, regulations, user goals, and user willingness to use and pay for MaaS services. This paper discusses and analyses the results of a survey on MaaS con-ducted in three Italian metropolitan areas: Turin, Rome, and Genoa, which have very different and specific characteristics. The comparative analysis enables the definition of drivers, obstacles, and requisites for MaaS implementation to be successful. When it comes to cities with conservative mobility policies or cities that are new to MaaS experiences, resistance to adoption of the service might occur. The results of the research discussed in this paper can be a useful resource to enable decision makers to develop more effective and efficient transportation policies