Energy Transition and Urban Planning for Local Development. A Critical Review of the Evolution of Integrated Spatial and Energy Planning

The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of spatial and energy planning integration, seen as a mean to foster local development, from the birth of the theme to the current prospects of shared sustainability and Decentralised Energy System (DES) solutions. The paper is a review of the evolution of the spatial and energy planning integration, exploring weaknesses and future opportunities. After an initial period of intense theoretical elaboration, the relationship between energy and city physical-functional organization and planning is still far from finding an implementation. The article explains this lack of integration through the analyses of significant steps in the last 50 years with the aim to outline current obstacles in achieving a more comprehensive vision of energy and spatial planning. The experiences selected highlight critical aspects concerning the trend towards the divergence of energy planning from systemic urban and spatial planning, also due to the low consideration of energy as a factor for local development. From the processes of decentralization and energy localism, some perspectives emerge which converge on the eco-energy district as a projection of the local energy community and which seem to enhance a more systemic and strategic dimension of planning

Multidisciplinary approach for a new vision of urban requalification. Multi-scale strategies of social innovation, economic improvement and environmental sustainability practices

Ponència presentada a: Session 7: Participación en planeamiento / Participation in planning. Environmental and hermeneutic plannin

Multidisciplinary approach for a new vision of urban requalification. Multi-scale strategies of social innovation, economic improvement and environmental sustainability practices

Ponència presentada a: Session 7: Participación en planeamiento / Participation in planning. Environmental and hermeneutic plannin

Multidisciplinary approach for a new vision of urban requalification. Multi-scale strategies of social innovation, economic improvement and environmental sustainability practices.

This work is an operative best practice of new methodological approach that connects three disciplines - Planning, Design and Environmental Technological Design – in a holistic project. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to understand the complexity of urban phenomena meeting social, economic and environmental needs. It is very important boosting virtuous mechanisms for urban regeneration spreading innovation, guiding and shaping spontaneous social-change initiatives, starting from local traditions. The work team was involved in an international workshop, called “Urban Village and Renovation Design”, took between Rome and Shanghai, within May and November 2016, in collaboration with the School of Design and Arts, East China Normal University of Shanghai. Our research team composed by planners, architects and designers has drawn up a methodology in order to apply it in a small rural village requalification project in China. The town, named XibinZhen (Fujian Region) is undergoing in an economic and social contraction process which is bringing it to an incessant depopulation. We recognize landscape aspects, in our case the Youxi River, like a key resources to improve the urban area and the identity related with the context. The methodology is composed in this way: 1) research and analyses in order to know places and ongoing multiscale phenomena; 2) collection of international best practices and references applicable in the specific case study; 3) brainstorming in which different disciplinary figures, local stakeholders and citizens are involved; 4) design strategies considering different stakeholders needs and different cultural approach or points of view: 5) starting from those strategies, definition of specific goals for a design concept and a sub sequential project propose. Our proposal is composed by multi-scale strategies of social innovation, economic improvement, environmental sustainable practices, through a new setting of spaces and uses. Our new vision of Xibin Town runs around three key words for development: “new”, that is to have a “for change” approach; “river”, that is to recognize what we may call “genius loci”; “town”, that is to recognize the urban character of Xibin and its role in a broader context. The three themes on which we set up the project strategy are: · ENVIRONMENT: two linear promenades (the Urban Promenade and the Green Promenade), of new public space for the town with different characters related to the different nature of the waterfronts, north and south. The implementation of landscape qualities (industries on the facing coasts) · URBAN LIFE: two axes: the Urban Axis that consolidates and upgrades the vital core of the collective life, organizing places and activities from the city gate by the Boulevard to the Market Street, to administration and public services (the Civic Street and the Civic Center); the Heritage Path that works between tradition and innovation, organizing step by step from culture to nature (traditional ateliers street, green street, educational theme park) · Functional to these themes is the MOBILITY SYSTEM, re-organized fundamentally in an Urban Ring that distributes the main traffic. The final output is a masterplan which collects and coordinates all the specific project actions redefining spaces, the use of them and architecture, starting from a reinterpretation of traditional technology and local material

L’ENERGIA NELLA PIANIFICAZIONE IN ITALIA: TENTATIVI PASSATI E ATTUALI PROSPETTIVE PER UNA NON FACILE INTEGRAZIONE

Il numero monografico è dedicato al tema dell’integrazione energia/pianificazione variamente considerato nell’ultimo mezzo secolo, ma rimasto sostanzialmente irrisolto. L’elaborazione teorica ha trovato una compiutezza già dagli anni ’80-90, ma l’applicazione stenta a stabilizzarsi. Emergono però delle prospettive riportate dagli articoli a seguire, valorizzate dalle linee di sperimentazione che propongono. Risulta un quadro confortante che potrà trovare sviluppo nella transizione ecologica post-pandemica

L’affermazione del Piano d’azione per l’energia sostenibile (PAES) in Italia. Limiti e tentativi di integrazione con la pianificazione locale

L’articolo sintetizza i risultati di una ricerca condotta sull’evoluzione del PAES e su un campione di casi italiani, con l’obiettivo di comprendere il grado di influenza e coerenza rispetto alle trasformazioni insediative. L’integrazione energia-urbanistica proposta dal PAES non sembra trovare applicazioni significative generalizzate e i propositi appaiono disattesi. Emerge quindi la necessità di considerare altri indirizzi di sviluppo e integrazione provenienti dal processo di decentramento energetico.The success of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) in Italy. weakness and integrative attempts with urban planning The article displays the results of a research conducted on the SEAPs evolution and a sample of Italian cases, intending to understand the influence and coherence in terms of settlement transformations. The integration of energy and spatial planning encouraged by the SEAP, on which the article focuses, does not find an effective application and the proposition appears to be unsatisfied. New integration paths arise from the energy decentralization process, which is rising in significance and interest

Urban and Architectural Adaptive Strategies for Inclusive Cities: A Review of International Innovation Experiments

The current migration flows toward Europe are having a significant impact on social composition, economy, urban services, and on the physical dimensions of cities. Cities have a key role in developing immigration policies and sustainable accommodation models, that can promote an inclusive society as well as local development. Due to the persistence of migratory flows, these models of integration and development cannot be supported by an emergency condition, but they should be based on systematic strategies. This paper presents a series of accommodation models and urban policies, coming from international experimental projects, that we argue can foster integration and urban development. These strategies show the potentials of immigration in boosting urban transformation and regeneration. Innovative strategies for dealing with immigration are based on flexible tools, typically from temporary habitat (housing modules, light construction systems, customized solutions) that find a place inside the city. Integrated design strategies use the existing city as a frame being filled up by flexible houses, through urban densification or regeneration process. Housing dissemination, temporary and flexible architectural solutions and inclusive process are the drivers for developing a flexible habitat, at the base of a more sustainable and democratic city

Reti energetiche locali e insediamenti in Italia

L’articolo vuole contribuire allo studio del decentramento energetico in Italia tramite l’analisi delle reti locali, principalmente riferite al teleriscaldamento. Di queste viene considerato un insieme significativo con attenzione ad aspetti territoriali insediativi. Emerge un quadro complesso con elementi di crisi. Le conclusioni indicano alcune possibili linee di sviluppo verso un maggiore radicamento territoriale e più stretta vicinanza con gli indirizzi comunitari di decarbonizzazione.The article provides a contribution to the study of the energy decentralization in Italy, in particular about the district heating (DH) systems. The paper analyses a significant sample of DH systems with attention to territorial-settlement aspects. The analysis shows a complex framework with problematic issues. The conclusion highlights possible lines of development regarding the improvement of the territorial connection, in according with the European decarbonisation targets

Regole per l'abitare sostenibile

Il presente contributo intende proporre una riflessione a sostegno di una rinnovata centralità per il ruolo che lo strumento del Regolamento Edilizio (RE) può assumere nell’agevolare interventi orientati al conseguimento di obiettivi di qualità diffusa per il patrimonio edilizio non solo rispetto al singolo edificio, ma nell’ambiente urbano nel suo complesso. Si ritiene, infatti, che tale strumento collocandosi, nella geografia del quadro pianificatorio, come elemento nodale tra le previsioni del piano e la pratica degli interventi e quale espressione dell’autonomia normativa delle amministrazioni locali, goda di una vocazione intrinsecamente strategica non solo per il presidio dei fattori di sintassi dell’edificato, ma anche per esplicare le molteplici dimensioni del contesto di riferimento – quella ambientale, quella geomorfologica, quella storico-culturale, quella climatica, quella sociale etc. – nelle quali si articolano i requisiti della qualità. Il Regolamento Edilizio, a partire dalla fine degli anni novanta, in occasione delle riforme messe in atto dalle leggi regionali di seconda generazione e dalle emergenti istanze per il contenimento degli impatti ambientali delle trasformazioni, è stato oggetto di una generale revisione variamente orientata ad uniformarne il linguaggio, a dare rilievo a principi di sostenibilità, a favorire regole prestazionali etc. Non solo. Alcuni dei provvedimenti analizzati avanzano una riformulazione del nome proprio dello strumento: da ‘regolamento edilizio’ a ‘prontuario’, ‘regolamento sostenibile’ etc. Un cambiamento lessicale che si intende cogliere per tentare, seppure in maniera essenziale, di dare una risposta in merito all’adeguatezza dei ‘nuovi’ strumenti, delle loro capacità di accogliere le molteplici dimensioni dei contesti e le istanze della qualità, in una visione di sostenibilità per l’abitare contemporaneo

Boosting energy home renovation through innovative business models: ONE-STOP-SHOP solutions assessment

The building sector brings the main responsibility for energy consumption and GHG emissions in European countries. Although many policies have been placed across the EU to increase building energy performance, the current home energy renovation rate remains too low to achieve the EU's decarbonization targets. The One-stop-shop (OSS) concept is emerging as an innovative solution to boost energy home renovation and overcome barriers hindering the renovation process. The OSS is a physical or virtual place where customers obtain multiple products and services at one single point. Through literature review and desk research, 29 OSS initiatives have been analysed in the EU looking at their Business Models (BM). The paper aims to categorize and compare OSS BMs to increase knowledge about OSS functioning and capacity to affect and bring innovation to home renovation process. Three BM archetypes emerge, Facilitation model, Coordination model, and Development model. Within OSS archetypes, seven BM sub-categories have been identified and described. To provide insights for implementing new businesses and revitalizing the home renovation sector, OSS archetypes and sub-categories are compared and assessed, first considering four analytical frameworks and then looking at their capacity to overcome home renovation barriers. Results can be useful to foster energy home renovation by supporting the development of effective and targeted OSS initiatives across the EU