Urban greenways planning. A vision plan for Milan (Italy)

Greenways are “green infrastructure” to link people and places (Fabos, 1995) and can be planned at different scales (from national to municipal) and for multiple purposes, “including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic” (Ahern, 1995), “to provide people with access to open spaces close to where they live” (President\u27s Commission on Americans Outdoors, 1987), in order to “enhance both the environment and quality of life” (European Greenways Association, 2000). At the municipal scale, the urban greenways network can help to reshape the city, making it more livable; urban greenways represent “at once the parks for the 21st century and a part of the transportation infrastructure, providing for pleasant, efficient, healthful and environmentally-sound travel by foot, bicycle or skates” (New York City Department of City Planning, 1993). Turner (2006) reported the results of a research conducted in 2001 among the British local authorities, in which come out the different purpose of urban greenway planning: creating a coherent (green) network of public open spaces, creating a green transport network that confers a vital new use on public open spaces, contributing to the reintegration of planning for ‘town’ and ‘country’ in order to serve the needs of a new urban population seeking active recreation in the countryside. The most important benefits of greenways in urban areas are environmental protection, recreation, and alternative transportation. These benefits cannot be realized unless the greenway planners take a systematic approach to the delineation of greenway paths (Conine et al., 2004). Various methodologies for greenways planning that take into account the many factors in a cohesive manner have been developed for and successfully applied, such as those described in Flink and Searns (1993), Smith and Hellmund (1993), Fabos (1995), Tzolova (1995), Xiang (1996), Toccolini et al. (2004), Ribeiro and Barao (2006) and Toccolini et al. (2006). In the present study three significant experiences were analyzed more in depth: New York City (New York City Department of City Planning, 1993), Vancouver (City of Vancouver, 1995) and Brussels (Institut Bruxellois pour la Gestion de l’Environnement, 2001). There has always been a strong link between the city of New York and the Greenways; as a matter of fact it is right here where it was first conceived the first plan of the modern age concerning a network of urban greenways (in 1866, with the Parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux). Over the years, the great metropolis has preserved this link and recently this link has led to a plan of Greenways for the city. The plan was proposed in 1993 by NYC Department of City Planning. The plan states that “greenways would be a system of bicycle-pedestrian pathways along natural and manmade linear spaces such as rail and highway rightsof- way, river corridors, waterfront spaces, parklands and, where necessary, city streets. They are at once the parks for the 21st century and a part of the transportation infrastructure, providing for pleasant, efficient, healthful and environmentally-sound travel by foot, bicycle or skates”. The plan concerns a system of about 570 km of greenways designed to create new opportunities from a recreational point of view, increase the mobility of cyclists and pedestrians and generally speaking was created to enhance the quality of life of NY citizens. The network of greenways brings advantages in many fields, such as citizens health, transportation, socializing development and recreational aspects. As a matter of fact, the plan for NY wants greenways to accomplish different tasks: ⎯ build new spaces that are easily reachable from home and work, through which it is possible to explore and appreciate the different metropolitan environments; ⎯ offer recreational advantages (sunbathing, staying outdoors, admiring the landscape, relax, getting in touch with nature, etc.); ⎯ improve people health (physical activities, outdoor sports); ⎯ provide an alternative, completion and integration with traditional means of transportation; ⎯ provide the possibility to decrease traffic and urban pollution; ⎯ build natural “buffer zones” to separate areas with different functions (residential areas, commercial areas, etc.); ⎯ represent a meeting place to socialize with other people

Design of green spaces located below the urbanised level. Themes, problems and solutions applied to a case study

The design of green areas and landscape is often related to spaces with special features, which, due to their territorial peculiarities, require the adoption of appropriate design solutions. This category includes spaces located below the urbanised/street level (or on different levels), which may have various origins: areas derived from the regeneration of defensive ditches that, after having lost their original function, have become centres of urban aggregation (ancient city walls, castles moats); sites derived from the demolition of buildings or other structures; spaces created expressly sub-level as a result of design choices. This paper deals with some design issues concerning those places, in relation to orography, vegetation and the type of users expected. Moreover, the opinion of the population is taken into account to clearly define design choices; the issue is explored using special techniques to involve citizens in the design process, namely focus groups and surveys aimed at identifying their needs. The paper, finally, presents a design experience applied to a study area in the municipality of Abbiategrasso (Lombardy region, Italy) located under the urbanised level and currently used as urban park (the so-called Fossa Viscontea). This park (about 3.7 ha) occupies the area of the ancient defensive moat of the historical village (including the Visconti Castle - 13th century); design solutions are proposed for ensuring accessibility and fruition of this area such as leisure and aggregation centre

Wildflowers in urban design: an exploratory research of preference in Italian adults

Wildflowers are plants rich in diversity that can be used in many different ways; nevertheless they are not widely used in Italian urban settings. This exploratory study aims to verify preference for wildflowers. To this end, seventy-six adults answered a questionnaire developed to assess a series of wildflower pictures for preference (pictures depicted wildflowers in natural and urban environments, showing pro and cons of this cultivation), and a series of questions concerning wildflowers and their use (questions served as a control of preference ratings). To verify a secondary hypothesis - how preference for wildflowers may be affected by the way the issue is presented - the questionnaire was presented with or without the title explaining the nature of the study, and each question presented with or without a picture. Finally, it was verified whether an individual’s connection to Nature affects preference for wildflowers. Results showed our participants liked wildflowers (no differences between genders and ages emerged) and this correlated with participants’ connection to Nature. However questions concerning the actual use of wildflowers in urban settings still remain, e.g. concerning the fauna that comes with them, and people being more used to ornamental vegetation that challenges preference and use of wildflowers

guidelines for the design of a healing garden for the rehabilitation of psychiatric patients

Healing gardens are green spaces designed to promote and improve health and well-being for people suffering from illness. This paper proposes a methodology for defining a master plan for healing gardens. The methodology is based on site analysis (identification, limitations and potentials of the area) and the evaluation of user needs (patients, staff, relatives). The aim of the master plan is to provide guidelines for the definition of the executive plan, and to set up a sufficiently flexible project suitable for future new categories of patients, according to the different needs of the regional health authorities. The methodology has been applied to a case study: this paper considers the design of the healing garden of a building named Villa Bianca, part of the wider complex of the clinic for mental disorders Villa di Salute located in Trofarello (in the province of Turin, Piedmont, Italy). The main kinds of disturbances treated at Villa di Salute are schizophrenia and personality disorders; there are also some patients with severe depression. At the present time the building and the garden of Villa Bianca are not being used and are undergoing renovation

Suburban waterfront with ecological and recreational function: planning based on network analysis

Urban fringe areas have multiple land uses and are places where sections of waterway, together with fragmented areas of natural vegetation, are often found passing through urban areas, transportation routes and gradually expanding rural areas. These overlapping functions are often the cause of an extremely disorderly landscape devoid of guiding connotative elements. In this context, the waterfront can be a guiding element for the redevelopment of the fringe areas between cities and the countryside. The purpose of this paper is the definition of a methodology for planning a suburban waterfront with an ecological function and bicycle paths for recreational use. The evaluation phases for resources and planning, conducted with tools for network analysis, have identified potential corridors based on current land uses and have addressed the issue of bicycle paths on an inter-municipal scale. The methodology is proposed for regional level planning and the validation of the method was achieved through its application to the stretch of the Lambro River between Monza Park and the city of Milan in the North of Italy

Piano e progetto di area verde II edizione

Il volume si presenta come un manuale di pianificazione e progettazione delle aree verdi, intese nel loro significato pi\uf9 completo e in una visione unitaria (dal verde agricolo al verde urbano alle aree di frangia

Principi di analisi e progettazione del sito

Il contributo descrive il processo di progettazione delle aree verdi con particolare riferimento alle fasi di analisi del sito, esigenze dell'utenza, valutazione delle potenzialit\ue0 del sito, definizione del progetto, sviluppo e gestione del progett

Recupero del viale di ingresso della Facolt\ue0 di Agraria

Il contributo descrive il progetto per il recupero del doppio filare alberato all'interno dell'area della Facolt\ue0 di Agraria di Milano nel Parco di Monza. La progettazione \ue8 preceduta da una analisi storica volta alla definizione delle preesistenze inerenti l'assetto del doppio viale, la natura del fondo del viale e le essenze utilizzate per l'impiant

The role of agricultural engineering in the management of landscape changes

Landscape represents the “sensory aspect” of the land and as such it can be appreciated by all the five senses: sight, smelling, hearing, touch and taste. At the same time, landscape evolves over time and its value – ecological, economical and affective – changes as its constitutive elements change. Engineering can help “to drive” this evolution addressing it towards a condition of balance between individual and community requirements, especially referred to the effect of technological development on landscape. This effect can be referred to three dimensions: perceptive, functional and symbolic dimensions. The possible contribution to the management of landscape changes concerns all the three historic souls of Agricultural Engineering; in particular, Agricultural Hydraulics deals with the topic of landscape referring to both irrigation and the possible recreational use of canal systems; Agricultural Engineering determines plot form and size and woodland view; Rural Building deals with both the recovery of existing buildings and the design and making of new ones and their fitting in the landscape; moreover, the sector has developed new methods for the evaluation and the planning of rural land resources, especially about agriculture and forestry productivity, ecological stability and visual quality of rural land itself