Elderly and urban services. A GIS support tool to measure pedestrian accessibility

In all the countries of the industrialized West and in many developing countries, the population aging index is gradually increasing and it is expected that in 2050 one in five people in the world will be over 70 years old and that 64 countries will have a population older than 30% of the entire population. The relationship between the organization of the pedestrian network and the location and distribution of urban activities are important elements for improving accessibility to urban places and services of interest to the elderly. Many scholars are engaged in research aimed at improving the characteristics of the pedestrian network and the characteristics of the built environment that influence the "walkability" at the neighbourhood scale or improving the accessibility in reaching a specific urban service through the transport networks of transport. In this perspective, the purpose of the thesis work is the development of a decision support tool in a GIS environment to classify urban areas according to the levels of pedestrian accessibility for the elderly to urban services. Accessibility levels are defined through the measurement of accessibility built starting from the weight of each characteristic of the pedestrian network (identified through the analysis of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)), from the behaviour of the elderly especially in terms of speed and time distance for the different age groups of the elderly population. The application of the thesis work took place in two territorial contexts: Naples, Italy and Aberdeen, Scotland. The results obtained provide suggestions to local decision makers in the choice of interventions and their priorities to be implemented at the neighbourhood scale to improve the quality of life of the elderly and on the other provide a technical-operational contribution to measure pedestrian accessibility to urban services in other territorial contexts in the GIS environment

Città e climate change. La vulnerabilità delle aree urbane alle isole di calore

[Italiano]: Il cambiamento climatico rappresenta una delle principali minacce a cui il nostro pianeta è chiamato a dare risposte, sia in termini di mitigazione dei fenomeni che di adattamento agli impatti sull’ambiente costruito. L’’International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), nei suoi ultimi report evidenzia come i fenomeni legati alla variabilità climatica si andranno intensificando nei prossimi decenni e gli eventi estremi connessi al clima costituiranno un rischio crescente, in particolare per le nostre città. In tale direzione, il lavoro di ricerca affrontato all’interno di questo volume mira a dare un contributo alla ricerca scientifica sul tema della vulnerabilità delle aree urbane alle isole di calore. Nel dettaglio, il volume si articola in quattro capitoli. Nei primi due si illustra lo stato dell’arte, mettendo a punto un esauriente quadro conoscitivo di questa tematica. Sono evidenziati i differenti approcci e i diversi modelli anche attraverso la lettura dei piani di adattamento europei ed italiani. Si prendono in esame le strategie, le azioni e gli interventi proposti per migliorare l’assetto e l’organizzazione del territorio. Il terzo capitolo propone una metodologia volta al rilevamento delle temperature con l’utilizzo di metodi di analisi spaziale in ambiente GIS in relazione alle caratteristiche urbane, utile a misurare la vulnerabilità dei sistemi urbani alle isole di calore, in accordo con le teorie e i modelli emanati dall’ IPCC. Infine, nel quarto capitolo, si riporta una prima sperimentazione sulla città di Napoli dei risultati del lavoro di ricerca, definendo le porzioni di territorio della V e VIII municipalità dove è necessario intervenire con priorità, come primo passo per la messa a punto di uno strumento di supporto alle decisioni per le pubbliche amministrazioni./ [English]: Climate change represents one of the main threats to which our planet is called to respond, both in terms of mitigating the phenomena and adapting to the impacts on the built environment. The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), in its latest reports, highlights how the phenomena related to climate variability will intensify in the coming decades and extreme climate-related events will pose a growing risk, especially for our cities. In this direction, the research work addressed within this volume aims to contribute to scientific research about the vulnerability of urban areas to heat islands. In detail, the volume is divided into four chapters. The first two illustrate the state of the art, developing a comprehensive cognitive picture of this issue. The different approaches and the different models are highlighted also through the reading of the European and Italian adaptation plans. The strategies, actions and interventions proposed to improve the structure and organization of the territory are examined. The third chapter proposes a methodology aimed at take-over of temperatures with the use of spatial analysis methods in a GIS environment in relation to urban characteristics, useful for measuring the vulnerability of urban systems to heat islands, in accordance with the theories and models issued by the IPCC. Finally, in the fourth chapter, a first experimentation on the city of Naples of the results of the research work is reported, defining the portions of the territory of the V and VIII municipalities where it is necessary to intervene with priority, as a first step in the development of an instrument to support decisions for public administrations

Urban services, pedestrian networks and behaviors to measure elderly accessibility

Peer reviewedPostprin

Pedestrian routes and accessibility to urban services: an urban rhythmic analysis on people's behaviour before and during the COVID-19.

The emergency of COVID-19 changed the face of our cities, preventing most of the urban activities, limiting travels on large, medium and short distances and drastically reducing the number and the intensity of social relationships. The restrictive measures, imposed to the entire population, sensibly affected the experience of our built environment as well as the assets of pedestrian and cycling network that lead to the achievement of essential urban services. On one hand these limitations drastically imposed a change in the people's habits who spend now more time walking and cycling in absence of any other entertainments; on the other, they have revealed the need of a reorganisation of pedestrians and cycling paths as well as of open spaces. The morphology of these urban spaces are unable to cope with the current social-distancing situation and to adapt to a “new different routine”. Local decision makers face with a new demand of urban space for pedestrian and cycling accessibility which have been so far unexplored. In order to contribute to future planning decisions, the document proposes a comparison between pedestrian flows and accessibility to urban services during the blockade, taking two districts in the city of Aberdeen as a case study. By adopting an urban rhythmic analysis, the selected areas were monitored on a weekly basis during different periods during the days in order to quantify the intensity of the user, the available services and their opening and closing times also change the date obtained from rhythmic analysis they are associated in a GIS environment in order to classify urban areas. Drawn on the concepts of new social distancing and switch of life/working habits as main factors for redesigning the pedestrian and cycling urban spaces, the paper proposes, as a conclusion, specific urban design recommendations in order to deal with emergency situations, such as an outbreak movement limitation

Le ageing cities tra passato e futuro. Strategie, metodi e proposte per migliorare l’accessibilità degli anziani ai servizi urbani

[Italiano]: Il volume raccoglie le conclusioni di un lavoro di ricerca che costituisce il naturale quanto autonomo sviluppo dei risultati del progetto MOBILAGE – Mobility and ageing: daily life and welfare supportive networks at the neighborhood level, finanziato nel biennio 2018-2020 da Fondazione Cariplo (Gant N° 2017-0942) e concluso nel giugno 2020. La questione ageing cities negli ultimi tempi ha assunto la connotazione di vera e propria emergenza soprattutto in ragione dei trend di crescita della popolazione anziana nelle città industrializzate. Il tema, di estrema rilevanza sia nel dibattito scientifico che nella prassi operativa nazionale e internazionale, si configura come una delle sfide/opportunità per ripensare/ridisegnare le città migliorando la qualità di vita degli anziani. Il gruppo di ricerca impegnato in questo lavoro, sotto la guida di Carmela Gargiulo, è costituito da giovani ricercatori che afferiscono al laboratorio TeMALab del Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Ambientale (DICEA) dell’Università di Napoli Federico II ./[English]: The volume gathers the conclusions of a research work that constitutes the natural as well as autonomous development of the project MOBILAGE - Mobility and ageing: daily life and welfare supportive networks at the neighborhood level, funded by Fondazione Cariplo in the biennium 2018-2020 (Gant N° 2017-0942) and finished in June 2020. The ageing cities have recently taken on the connotation of an absolute emergency due to the upward trends in the elderly population in industrialized cities. The issue, extremely significant both in the scientific debate and in national and international operational practice, is one of the challenges/opportunities to rethink/redesign cities, with a view to improving the quality of life of the elderly. The research group consists of young researchers, under the guidance of Carmela Gargiulo, who belong to the TemaLab Laboratory of the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering (DICEA) of the University of Naples Federico II

Genetic deletion of mGlu2 metabotropic glutamate receptors improves the short-term outcome of cerebral transient focal ischemia

Abstract We have recently shown that pharmacological blockade of mGlu2 metabotropic glutamate receptors protects vulnerable neurons in the 4-vessel occlusion model of transient global ischemia, whereas receptor activation amplifies neuronal death. This raised the possibility that endogenous activation of mGlu2 receptors contributes to the pathophysiology of ischemic neuronal damage. Here, we examined this possibility using two models of transient focal ischemia: (i) the monofilament model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice, and (ii) the model based on intracerebral infusion of endothelin-1 (Et-1) in rats. Following transient MCAO, mGlu2 receptor knockout mice showed a significant reduction in infarct volume and an improved short-term behavioural outcome, as assessed by a neurological disability scale and the “grip test”. Following Et-1 infusion, Grm2 gene mutated Hannover Wistar rats lacking mGlu2 receptors did not show changes in the overall infarct volume as compared to their wild-type counterparts, although they showed a reduced infarct area in the agranular insular cortex. Interestingly, however, mGlu2 receptor-deficient rats performed better than wild-type rats in the adhesive tape test, in which these rats did not show the laterality preference typically observed after focal ischemia. These findings support the hypothesis that activation of mGlu2 receptors is detrimental in the post-ischemic phase, and support the use of mGlu2 receptor antagonists in the experimental treatment of brain ischemia

Strategies and guidelines for urban sustainability: the Covid-19 effects on the mobility system in Italy

The emergency at COVID-19 has changed the face of our cities, preventing most urban activities, limiting travel on large, medium and short distances and drastically reducing the number and intensity of social relationships. The organization of the built environment, combined with the characteristics of the pedestrian network, has taken on greater weight in relation to the restrictive measures that COVID-19 has imposed on entire populations. Social distancing, the limitations of movements allowed almost exclusively for the achievement of the services identified as essential, together with the ban on carrying out certain activities, on the one hand have changed people's living habits and on the other have revealed the need to reorganize quickly the network of canals and open spaces to adapt them to the current emergency situation, but probably also to the conditions of a "different normal". Local decision makers are faced with a new demand for mobility and accessibility by moving in completely unexplored waters

Strategies and guidelines for urban sustainability: the impacts of the Covid-19 on energy systems

Starting from the relationship between urban planning and mobility management, TeMA has gradually expanded the view of the covered topics, always following a rigorous scientific in-depth analysis. This section of the Journal, Review Notes, is a continuous update about emerging topics concerning relationships among urban planning, mobility and environment thanks to a collection of short scientific papers written by young researchers. The Review Notes are made up of five parts. Each section examines a specific aspect of the broader information storage within the main interests of the TeMA Journal. In particular: The Town Planning International Rules and Legislation Overview section aims at presenting the latest updates in the territorial and urban legislative sphere. The Covid-19 pandemic is causing a major impact on energy systems. Improving the energy efficiency of urban areas is now the cornerstone of scientific community and the European Commission discussions. Thus, the content of this review note aims at carrying out an analysis of the latest documents of the European Commission before and during the slow recovery from Covid-19 with the aim of identifying the priorities and areas on which to intervene to reduce energy consumption in different territorial contexts