Multi-Dimensional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Prioritizing Railway Station Investments: A General Framework with an Application to the Italian Case Study

In recent years, several authors have highlighted the merits of the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), e.g., compared to Cost-Benefits Analysis (CBA), particularly for small projects appraisal (e.g., revamping or extraordinary maintenance interventions) and when the impacts of the project are difficult to value or quantify in monetary terms. CEA is a quite consolidated technique, typically applied in practice when one specific impact prevails over the others. This research extends the concept of CEA to a multi-dimensional decision-making context, outlining a methodological framework that includes several criteria to assess the impacts of railway station revamping in urban contexts. The proposed method has already been applied for the project appraisals of five railway stations in Italy; this paper presents the application to a case study representing the typical configuration of a medium-sized Italian railway station. Results have shown that the proposed approach is a valid tool for both designers and infrastructure managers for prioritizing railway station investments in the presence of multiple strategic objectives that also conflict with each other. A multi-dimensional CEA can provide, in a communicative, lean, and effective way, the information on investment costs and the impacts that different policies, layouts, and technological solutions would have, creating the basis for a more transparent debate on resource allocation priorities. Finally, results have shown that the CEA is not only a method for project assessment, but also a tool for improving and directing the design towards the identification of interventions that allow the achievement of the key objectives set ex ante

Liquid Heterostructures: Generation of Liquid-Liquid Interfaces in Free-Flowing Liquid Sheets

Chemical reactions and biological processes are often governed by the structure and transport dynamics of the interface between two liquid phases. Despite their importance, our microscopic understanding of liquid-liquid interfaces has been severely hindered by difficulty in accessing the interface through the bulk liquid. Here we demonstrate a method for generating large-area liquid-liquid interfaces within free-flowing liquid sheets, which we call liquid heterostructures. These sheets can be made thin enough to transmit photons from across the spectrum, which also minimizes the amount of bulk liquid relative to the interface and makes them ideal targets for a wide range of spectroscopies and scattering experiments. The sheets are produced with a microfluidic nozzle that impinges two converging jets of one liquid onto two sides of a third jet of another liquid. The hydrodynamic forces provided by the colliding jets both produce a multilayered laminar liquid sheet with the central jet is flattened in the middle. Infrared microscopy, white light reflectivity, and imaging ellipsometry measurements demonstrate that the buried layer has a tunable thickness and displays well-defined liquid-liquid interfaces, and that the inner layer can be thinner than 100 nm.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Supplement: 19 pages, 8 figure

Shallow geophysics of the Asinara Island Marine Reserve Area (NW Sardinia, Italy)

We present a high-resolution swath bathymetric and backscatter map of the entire sector of the Marine Reserve Area (MRA) of the Asinara Island, along with a geological and sediment thickness map derived from the interpretation of a large set of high-resolution seismic profiles, and an airborne-derived hyperspectral image of the Asinara Island. Acquired data show that most of the eastern marine sector of the Asinara Island is characterized by quite gentle bathymetric gradients, whereas the western coastline appears to be very indented, with an articulated and rough morphology of the seafloor, which deepens sharply towards the open sea. The maps presented in this study at the 1:50.000 scale do not only provide the first, high-resolution bathymetry of the MRA of the Asinara Island but also may furnish the base for the creation of a benthic habitat map and a more comprehensive maritime spatial planning of this protected area

The 15-minute city: interpreting the model to bring out urban resiliencies

In a globally connected world, in a city more and more smart, it is always alive the demand for living in a physical neighborhood where walk and bike among familiar people and services. It is a quality of life which meets the deep desire of community and place identity. The 15-minutes city is the contemporary version of the classical “human measure”. The model offers a refreshing chrono-centric vision for the city that prioritizes people’s time, energy and physio-psychological health by relieving their daily commutes. The recent pandemic clearly showed this potential; the daily outdoor movement by soft mobility allowed social life even during lockdown periods. Inside a wider pattern of transnational corridors and global flows, a polycentric urban vision based on eco-villages emerges, where the 4.0 dimension integrates the physical human measure. The 15-minutes model enters in the research agenda in parallel with the rise of questions about the Transit Oriented Development approach; the paper will discuss these questions and the evolving urban scenario, in between tactical urbanism and long-term strategies. The 15-minutes approach is totally different from the neighborhood design of the organic planning of the ‘60s. It is pushed by the covid-19 emergency but it is rooted in the experience of urban regeneration masterplans of the last decade. Real estate strategies for place making aim to create new sustainable urban districts, pedestrian oriented and carbon free. The question of which daily services to include in a 15-minute neighborhood model is a matter of principle and perspective. At the very least, a 15-minute city should accommodate a mix of essential daily services that fulfil basic human needs. A system is proposed in order to define daily, non-work services under six macro-categories, namely: nutrition, education, recreation, health, public transport and civic services. On this basis, the potentials for neighborhoods across the city of Milan is investigated to conform to an inclusive 15-minute model, using fully-fledged and innovative mapping. The level of walkability of its neighborhoods is also considered, starting from the conditions of the sidewalk. Taking the city of Milan as a case study, this analysis aims to explore the potential of the city to support walkable living environments with a guaranteed basic level of accessibility to daily needs using soft mobility modes and new opportunities of moving across urban districts provided by micro-mobility devices. The study falls in line with overarching goals of the city to explore sustainable alternative urban responses to the coronavirus pandemic as outlined in the Milano 2020 Adaptation Strategy Plan, as well as SUMP guidelines defined by the European Commission for a recovery plan from the ongoing global crisis

The 15-minute city as a hybrid model for Milan

With a special focus on Milan, we explore the interpretation of the 15-minute city as a hybrid model, where soft mobility is integrated in a holistic urbanism approach. Contemporary urban challenges, synthetized in the 15-minute city model, look for a sustainable “proximity mix”: mix of uses (overcoming rigid zoning and building codes), mix of inhabitants and users, mix of time schedules and multi-purpose open space. The proposed hybrid approach considers the living-working urban experience as a whole: it proposes to consider, as a starting point for measuring the timeframe of 15 minutes, not only homes but workplaces as well. It welcomes innovative working facilities among those to be considered as essential services reachable within the 15-minute walking timeframe and it integrates open spaces within urban infrastructures by mixing the neighborhood “eco-system” –both of environment and mobility– and designing them around the central role of walking

The 15-minute city as a hybrid model for Milan

open3DOI 10.6092/197098708653With a special focus on Milan, we explore the interpretation of the 15-minute city as a hybrid model, where soft mobility is integrated in a holistic urbanism approach. Contemporary urban challenges, synthetized in the 15-minute city model, look for a sustainable “proximity mix”: mix of uses (overcoming rigid zoning and building codes), mix of inhabitants and users, mix of time schedules and multi-purpose open space. The proposed hybrid approach considers the living-working urban experience as a whole: it proposes to consider, as a starting point for measuring the timeframe of 15 minutes, not only homes but workplaces as well. It welcomes innovative working facilities among those to be considered as essential services reachable within the 15-minute walking timeframe and it integrates open spaces within urban infrastructures by mixing the neighborhood “eco-system” –both of environment and mobility– and designing them around the central role of walking.openL. Abdelfattah, D. Deponte, G. FossaAbdelfattah, L.; Deponte, D.; Fossa, G

Multi-Dimensional Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Prioritizing Railway Station Investments: A General Framework with an Application to the Italian Case Study

In recent years, several authors have highlighted the merits of the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), e.g., compared to Cost-Benefits Analysis (CBA), particularly for small projects appraisal (e.g., revamping or extraordinary maintenance interventions) and when the impacts of the project are difficult to value or quantify in monetary terms. CEA is a quite consolidated technique, typically applied in practice when one specific impact prevails over the others. This research extends the concept of CEA to a multi-dimensional decision-making context, outlining a methodological framework that includes several criteria to assess the impacts of railway station revamping in urban contexts. The proposed method has already been applied for the project appraisals of five railway stations in Italy; this paper presents the application to a case study representing the typical configuration of a medium-sized Italian railway station. Results have shown that the proposed approach is a valid tool for both designers and infrastructure managers for prioritizing railway station investments in the presence of multiple strategic objectives that also conflict with each other. A multi-dimensional CEA can provide, in a communicative, lean, and effective way, the information on investment costs and the impacts that different policies, layouts, and technological solutions would have, creating the basis for a more transparent debate on resource allocation priorities. Finally, results have shown that the CEA is not only a method for project assessment, but also a tool for improving and directing the design towards the identification of interventions that allow the achievement of the key objectives set ex ante

Natural seabed gas leakage - variability imposed by tidal cycles

The likelihood of leakage from sub-seabed Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) sites has been debated since geological storage was proposed as an effective option to remove greenhouse gas emissions from the climate system. Within the marine environment, passive acoustics has been presented as a feasible way for detecting and quantifying any such leakage. When determining estimates of gas escape across the seabed, the influence of dynamic environments, introducing natural variations in seepage rates must be considered, including tidal cycles. Panarea, Sicily, is the location of a series of natural marine CO2 gas seeps and provides an excellent test bed to investigate variations of natural seabed gas leakage across a tidal cycle. A multivariate statistical approach was used to recognise the relationship when gas leakage is dominated by natural forcing.We show that the tidal height correlates negatively with the bubble sound power spectral density, the gas flux, and the bubble size. The strength of the correlation can vary significantly for different investigated time periods of observation, showing sensitivity of tidal influence. Our results corroborate evidence that natural migration of CO2 through the seabed is moderated by tidal cycles

Passive acoustic monitoring of a natural CO2 seep site – Implications for carbon capture and storage

Estimating the range at which an acoustic receiver can detect greenhouse gas (e.g., CO2) leakage from the sub-seabed is essential for determining whether passive acoustic techniques can be an effective environmental monitoring tool above marine carbon storage sites. Here we report results from a shallow water experiment completed offshore the island of Panarea, Sicily, at a natural CO2 vent site, where the ability of passive acoustics to detect and quantify gas flux was determined at different distances. Cross-correlation methods determined the time of arrival for different travel paths which were confirmed by acoustic modelling. We develop an approach to quantify vent bubble size and gas flux. Inversion of the acoustic data was completed using the modelled impulse response to provide equivalent propagation ranges rather than physical ranges. The results show that our approach is capable of detecting a CO2 bubble plume with a gas flux rate of 2.3 L/min at ranges of up to 8 m, and determining gas flux and bubble size accurately at ranges of up to 4 m in shallow water, where the bubble sound pressure is 10 dB above that of the ambient noise

Golfo di Taranto (Tavola 9, Fogli 40-46)

International audienc