1,720,984 research outputs found
Designing healthier cities to improve life quality: unveiling challenges and outcomes in two Spanish cases
No full textThis study assesses the early outcomes of the Poblenou Superblock in Barcelona and a nature-based solutions project in Valladolid. By critically analysing available data and collecting residents' perceptions, the analysis depicts to what extent the project's interventions enhanced environmental quality and residents' well-being. Results highlight the role of the traffic space recovery strategy in Barcelona as a driver for larger benefits, allowing the creation of socially attractive public spaces along with greenery. This led to more appreciated interventions, possibly boosted by the post-pandemic context and city branding strategy. A potential downside concerns the likely gentrification processes triggered by these improvements
Bioenergia di seconda generazione ed aree marginali: una sfida per l’agenda politica energetica.
No full textMapping the vulnerability of urban areas in relation to urban heat island by combining satellite and ecosystem service data: a case study in Udine (Italy)
No full textUrban environments tend to experience higher temperatures than their rural surroundings, especially during heatwaves. This phenomenon is called urban heat island (UHI) and is usually more pronounced at night. Measurements of land-surface temperature (LST) are important to understand and monitor UHI and to support the planning of actions to mitigate heat stress. They are widely used to identify more vulnerable areas in cities. This study presents a method to spatially explicit assess the vulnerability of urban areas in relation to UHI that combines measurement of LST and an assessment of the cooling spatial effects provided by ecosystems. The method is applied in the city of Udine (Italy). Results show the urban areas that are potentially more prone to suffer from more intense UHI effects because of characterized by higher LST while not benefitting from any cooling effect by ecosystems. The method is then discussed in the light of its advantages, limitations, and future improvements
Susceptibility of Flood-Prone Areas to Remain Inundated for Shorter or Longer Periods During a Flooding Event: An Assessment Method Applied in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy)
No full textRiver and coastal floods are triggered by meteorological events such as heavy rainfall and storm surges, melting snow in upstream areas, tidal-related influences, or a combination of them. They occur when the river runoff volume exceeds local flow capacities or as a consequence of river bank/coastal defense system breakage/failure. Depending on land use and cover conditions, soil capacity to drain surface water, terrain morphology, and amount of exceeding flood water volume, the vulnerability of flood-prone areas in relation to their susceptibility to remain inundated for longer or shorter periods can be higher or lower even in areas affected by similar conditions of flood hazard. Especially in areas with flat slopes and in deltaic areas the fall of water can be particularly long, possibly exacerbating the flooding impacts and consequent damages. These events are also expected to increase in the future as a consequence of climate change, with Italy being particularly exposed due to its geographical location and geomorphological conditions. However, attempts to assess the temporal dimension of flooding are very rare, despite its recognized importance in influencing flood damages and losses. This work presents a first attempt to assess the vulnerability of flood-prone areas in relation to their susceptibility to remain inundated for shorter or longer periods during a flooding event by proposing a rather simple and quick method based on spatial multi-criteria decision analysis. The assessment is tested in the plain and coastal zone of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, one of the Italian areas with the largest flood hazard potential. It combines the expected flood water depths during a major flooding event and the main geophysical characteristics that may potentially influence the duration of inundations to spatially determine vulnerability patterns in flood-prone areas. Results can be further refined by expert involvement and used to complement existing flood hazard/risk data to support decisions during both the emergency response and the flood risk mitigation planning phases
Valutazione del rischio per la salute della popolazione durante le ondate di calore: un metodo a supporto delle politiche di adattamento nelle aree urbane del Friuli Venezia Giulia
No full textLe aree urbane solitamente registrano temperature più elevate rispetto alle aree che le circondano, a causa dei materiali che le caratterizzano e la scarsa vegetazione. Questo fenomeno è chiamato isola di calore urbana e si manifesta soprattutto di notte. Le persone che vivono in queste aree risultano quindi particolarmente esposte a potenziali problemi di salute causati dalle alte temperature durante la stagione calda. Tale situazione è destinata a peggiorare ulteriormente a causa dei cambiamenti climatici, con il conseguente accrescimento dei costi sanitari associati agli impatti delle ondate di calore e delle diseguaglianze socio-ecologiche. La struttura socio-emografica della popolazione incide in maniera significativa nella determinazione delle condizioni di vulnerabilità della stessa, con le fasce di popolazione più deboli e svantaggiate dal punto di vista sociale ed economico che risultano maggiormente vulnerabili. Con l’obiettivo di supportare piani e politiche a meglio indirizzare gli interventi migliorativi della resilienza del territorio laddove maggiormente necessario, questo studio mira a sviluppare un indice di rischio che tiene conto (anche) delle caratteristiche socio-demografiche della popolazione. Tale indice, applicato alle aree urbane della regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, permette di identificare i diversi gradi di rischio potenziale, a cui corrispondono diverse situazioni prioritarie di intervento. I fattori che concorrono alla determinazione del rischio sono infine analizzati e discussi assieme alle potenziali soluzioni che possono essere implementate per adattare le aree più a rischio
Mapping deficit areas for adaptation planning: insights from flood protection ecosystem service in an Italian case study
No full textClimate change is reducing ecosystems’ ability to mitigate its impacts and help people adapt to it, calling for strengthening an integrated climate action while ensuring the protection of biodiversity and working to restore degraded ecosystems. One promising approach is to use ecosystem services (ES) to redesign and foster the resilience of cities and territories. However, in the planning domain, the integration of ES into plans and tools is still slow and partial. It seems thus necessary to systematically promote and communicate effective solutions for the better use and management of land resources. To this end, this study aims to produce outputs that adopt a ‘language’ that is understandable for planners, policy- and decision makers by adopting an ES-based approach. A three-step, cross-sectoral and multiscalar GIS-based methodology is developed to support decision-makers in identifying areas with a deficit of ES in response to flooding, i.e. where ES supply does not meet the demand. Moreover, it supports the integration of ecosystem-based actions intro adaptation planning for flood mitigation at the regional level
Urban impacts of Spain 1982 and Italy 1990 FIFA World Cup: a comparative analysis with more recent sports mega-events
No full textThis work identifies the urban impacts of two FIFA World Cups organised before the consolidation of the urban entrepreneurialism model, Spain 1982 and Italy 1990, and compares them with those of more recent sports mega-events. Main differences mostly concern the impacts related to the material transformation of hosting cities, with more recent events mostly affected. At the same time, most of the outcomes related to the urban politics sphere seem not to be much dependent on the type of governance model, whether it is influenced by entrepreneurial urbanism or not
Spotting Deficit Areas: Mapping Ecosystem Service Demand and Supply to Define Local Preparedness to Floods
No full textAdaptation planning can increase climate resilience by reducing the level of hazard exposure of people and assets and increasing the adaptive capacity of the city to respond to shocks. Among the measures that planning practice can take to build resilience to climate change, the promotion and management of ecosystem services (ESs) have been recognised as a promising, effective, win–win, multipurpose, and cost-effective solution. The integration of ESs into spatial plans is considered an indicator of a city or region’s ability to implement adaptation actions toward sustainability and resilience. Unfortunately, the level of integration of ES-related concepts into spatial planning is still below expectations. A major limitation preventing the widespread integration of ESs into planning practices for climate adaptation relates to the gap between science and practice, that is, between the production of scientific knowledge about ESs and its actual use to inform and support decision-making. In particular, ESs demand mapping is critical to support decision-makers in understanding where and which ESs are (most) needed in relation to the needs of target beneficiaries, as it can be used to identify where and which ESs are most needed. The objective of this paper is to provide a step-by-step methodology to identify areas where there is a deficit of ESs in response to flooding. The work develops a GIS method to identify and map ES demand areas (or areas requiring services) that do not benefit from ESs supply to support ecosystem-based climate adaptation policies. Several types of results are provided: (i) an approach that can be replicated in other regional contexts, (ii) insights from the application to a case study, and (iii) considerations on the usefulness of specific concepts to serve research and practice in the field of ES-based adaptation planning. The novelty of this study is that it provides a categorisation of deficit areas based on the physical characteristics of the land, which provides a key entry point for planners to begin incorporating ES-based adaptation into practice
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