Over recent decades Urban Living Labs (ULLs) have become a common space for co-creation processes' experimentation, whereby new approaches for sustainable urban development are highly connected to ...support evidence-based policy generation. Europe seems a particular 'hotspot' for this approach whenever it comes to public policy and specifically planning for urban transition. Systemic changes related to urban governance and different public participatory mechanisms, as in the case of ULLs, demand a growing interest from the stakeholders and deliberation in decision-making mechanisms. In this research paper, we analyze co-creation pathways and different shared governance mechanisms in three ongoing European projects: CLEVER Cities, Sharing Cities, and SUNEX projects from a practice perspective. This comparative study investigates stakeholder engagement (1) scales, (2) mechanisms, (3) methodologies of engagement, and finally the co-creation pathway challenges and pitfalls. From the analyzed ULLs' experiences, we identified key principles that suggest relevant clues to enable the consolidation of a forthcoming ULL 2.0 model and related innovation pathways for co-creating urban planning policies. We lastly reflect on the enablers and catalysts of co-creation processes to inform shared urban governance as major takeaways from our research.
The paper presents the core methodology for assessing solar radiation and energy production on building rooftops and vertical facades (still rarely considered) of the inner-city. This integrated tool ...is based on the use of LiDAR, 2D and 3D cadastral data. Together with solar radiation and astronomical models, it calculates the global irradiance for a set of points located on roofs, ground, and facades. Although the tool takes simultaneously roofs, ground, and facades, different methods of shadow casting are applied. Shadow casting on rooftops is based on image processing techniques. On the other hand, the assessment on facade involves first to create and interpolate points along the facades and then to implement a point-by-point shadow casting routine. The paper is structured in five parts: (i) state of the art on the use of 3D GIS and automated processes in assessing solar radiation in the built environment, (ii) overview on the methodological framework used in the paper, (iii) detailed presentation of the method proposed for solar modeling and shadow casting, in particular by introducing an innovative approach for modeling the sky view factor (SVF), (iv) demonstration of the solar model introduced in this paper through applications in Geneva’s building roofs (solar cadaster) and facades, (v) validation of the solar model in some Geneva’s spots, focusing especially on two distinct comparisons: solar model versus fisheye catchments on partially inclined surfaces (roof component); solar model versus photovoltaic simulation tool PVSyst on vertical surfaces (facades). Concerning the roof component, validation results emphasize global sensitivity related to the density of light sources on the sky vault to model the SVF. The low dense sky model with 145 light sources gives satisfying results, especially when processing solar cadasters in large urban areas, thus allowing to save computation time. In the case of building facades, introducing weighting factor in SVF calculation leads to outputs close to those obtained by PVSyst. Such good validation results make the proposed model a reliable tool to: (i) automatically process solar cadaster on building rooftops and facades at large urban scales and (ii) support solar energy planning and energy transition policies.
Sharing economy is envisaged as an opportunity for economic, social and environmental impact, by enabling people to maximize the idling capacity of their assets. The key change of the contemporary ...trend regards the boundaries and types of connections that sharing economy is reshaping. The phenomenon is evident at urban scale, where digitally literate citizens may benefit from being connected through online platforms to strangers and their assets. Nevertheless, the integration of sharing in urban routines is influenced by individual perceptions, social practices and local dynamics. This paper introduces insights from a participatory process for the development of sharing urban services in the demonstration area of Milan ‘Sharing City’. Local citizens and stakeholders were engaged in workshops, focus groups and roundtables intended to mapping, understanding and assessing sharing services for daily practices (especially mobility, food provision and waste management, energy efficiency and the environment, social inclusion). This participatory process provided nuanced feedback on sharing, raising issues related to how such initiatives are known, perceived, used and integrated in their routines. This paper describes the most relevant themes emerged throughout the participatory process, to infer that sharing implies the negotiation of multitude elements, most notably citizens’ digital literacy, convenience, trust, social interactions.
•Sharing as the negotiation of a multitude of factors and practices•Sharing strengthen social relationships at the risk of uncomfortable in duty bounds.•The convenience of sharing may be higher in smaller scales.•Digital dynamics and online environments are not necessarily enablers of sharing urban practices.•Participatory approach facilitates sharing dynamics understanding and local development.
The sharing economy and collaborative consumption are attracting a great deal of interest due to their business, legal and civic implications. The consequences of the spreading of practices of ...sharing in urban environments and under daily dynamics are underexplored.
This Special Issue aims to address if and how sharing shapes cities, the way that spaces are designed and lived in if social interactions are escalated, and the ways that habits and routines take place in post-individualistic society.
In particular, the following key questions are of primary interest:
Urban fabric: How is ‘sharing’ shaping cities? Does it represent a paradigm shift with tangible and physical reverberations on urban form? How are shared mobility, work, inhabiting reconfiguring the urban and social fabric?
Social practices: Are new lifestyles and practices related to sharing changing the use and design of spaces? To what extent is sharing triggering a production and consumption paradigm shift to be reflected in urban arrangements and infrastructures?
Sustainability: Does sharing increase the intensity of use of space and assets, or, rather, does it increase them to meet the expectations of convenience for urban lifestyles? To what extent are these phenomena fostering more economically-, socially-, and environmentally-sustainable practices and cities?
Policy: How can policy makers and municipalities interact with these bottom-up and phenomena and grassroots innovation to create more sustainable cities?
Scholars responded to the above questions from the fields of urban studies, urban planning and design, sociology, geography, theoretically-grounded and informed by the results of fieldwork activities.
Near-surface air temperature (NSAT) is key for assessing urban heat islands, human health, and well-being. However, a widely recognized and cost- and time-effective replicable approach for estimating ...hourly NSAT is still urgent. In this study, we outline and validate an easy-to-replicate, yet effective, operational model, for automating the estimation of high-resolution day and night instantaneous NSAT. The model is tested on a heat wave event and for a large geographical area. The model combines remotely sensed land surface temperature and digital elevation model, with air temperature from local fixed weather station networks. Achieved NSAT has daily and hourly frequency consistent with MODIS revisiting time. A geographically weighted regression method is employed, with exponential weighting found to be highly accurate for our purpose. A robust assessment of different methods, at different time slots, both day- and night-time, and during a heatwave event, is provided based on a cross-validation protocol. Four-time periods are modelled and tested, for two consecutive days, i.e. 31st of July 2020 at 10:40 and 21:50, and 1st of August 2020 at 02:00 and 13:10 local time. High R2 was found for all time slots, ranging from 0.82 to 0.88, with a bias close to 0, RMSE ranging from 1.45 °C to 1.77 °C, and MAE from 1.15 °C to 1.36 °C. Normalized RMSE and MAE are roughly 0.05 to 0.08. Overall, if compared to other recognized regression models, higher effectiveness is allowed also in terms of spatial autocorrelation of residuals, as well as in terms of model sensitivity.
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•Estimate day and night high-resolution instantaneous near-surface air temperature.•Easy-to-replicate and effective operational model based on open data.•Quick approach for reconstruction of missing/clouded values of MODIS LST imagery.•Deep model validation at warmer and colder times during a heat wave event.•Unambiguous deep comparative assessment of different methods/models.
Climate change causes a critical increase of temperature and frequency of heat waves, whose impact is particularly sensitive within the urban environment. Here, the loss of natural areas, beside ...morphological and thermal properties, makes urban temperature to be significantly higher compared to peri-urban and rural areas. This phenomenon is commonly known as urban heat island (UHI). Because green infrastructure provides an effective strategy for reducing the UHI effect, we explore the feasibility of remotely sensed data and statistical modelling for assessing the effectiveness of green measures. We simulated how implementing green roofs over the city of Milan could affect temperature. Geographically weighted regression has been used to model the correlation among satellite-derived vegetation map and near-surface air temperature.
Perceptual simulation represents an attempt to anticipate physical reality, whereby people can experience and interpret future environments from a subjective perspective. Working on experiential ...simulation for urban and landscape design requires an understanding of the relationship between man and the environment from a perceptual and cognitive standpoint. In fact, only by investigating the sensing and cognitive processes behind perception can we establish an informed approach to simulation of places and their ambiances. In particular, we propose a parallelism between man/environment and man/simulation relationships, aiming at giving back a framework for replicating in simulation the multisensory aspects that occur in the perception of the physical world. Hence, the objective of this article is to present how we approach the dimension of perceptual simulation within our research and professional work as urban designers. From a methodological point of view, we explored the topic through two main tasks, namely the selection and reconstruction of the research context and the key issues of perceptual simulation finalized in the second task, i.e. the construction of a set of simulation tools for urban design, intended as a matrix of possible practical applications. In particular, the theoretical framework presented in this work consists of a selection and overview of references relevant to urban design, comprehension of the research context and delivery of the set of tools implemented within our research unit. This matrix of tools represents the novelty of this work and is intended as a practical reference for orienting the choice among different simulation tools within the urban design practice. For instance, it is important to highlight the efficacy of each type of simulation in mimicking the man/environment relationship.
This paper presents a novel climate mitigation action index to evaluate various aspects linked to the implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP), which define the carbon dioxide ...emission reduction targets and outline the key actions to achieve these at the municipal level.
A SEAP Implementation Index (SII) is developed and applied to study climate change mitigation actions implemented by 102 Municipalities belonging to the Metropolitan City of Milan (Italy) in the framework of the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). The SII is composed of six categories and 16 sub-indicators and results in a final score ranging from 1 to 10. The average rating obtained in the case study area is 4.2, and only eleven Municipalities achieved an evaluation higher than 6. The sensitivity analysis shows the index robustness against variations in the applied weight factors.
The population engagement and the management of the initiative, neglected by many Municipalities mostly because of a lack of funding and personnel, are identified as the most critical aspects. Despite the massive participation in the CoM, no quantitative analysis of the SEAPs implementation has been proposed until now and this study shows some severe shortcomings in their application.
•A novel climate mitigation action index at the local scale is proposed.•The index is applied to 102 Municipalities in the Metropolitan City of Milan.•Results show low implementation of climate actions; average score is 4.2/10•Main obstacles: lack of funding and personnel, low population engagement.•Shortcomings of local climate mitigation action are quantified and compared.
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