1,726,295 research outputs found
Contemporary sustainable cities: planning healthy, safe, quality and accessible places
No full textContemporary cites are changing at an increasingly rapid rate. It is not easy, therefore, to foretell what they will be like even a short time from now, such as in five or ten years (Banerjee, Loukaitou-Sideris, 2011; Carmona, Tiesdell, Heath, Oc, 2010; Carmona, 2014; Friedmann, 2010).
Accordingly, to achieve sustainable cities today require considering many topics at the same time. In the following, some will be illustrated, including health, safety, quality and accessibility in places and two emblematic examples in Vancouver and Madrid. Since many years, these two cities are working to improve livability connected to health and safety, to achieve both quality and sustainable places and a slow regeneration (Sepe, 2019) which represents one of the main challenges of the future. In line with these concepts, the new needs in teaching will be explored in the conclusions
Achieving proximity in Public Space: Inclusion, Flexibility and Accessibility
Full text linkThe city of proximity can be defined as a city able to offer to all its inhabitants everything they
need to live, work and have fun to be reached on foot or bike in no more than 20 minutes
(Moreno, 2020).
An important factor is that the city of proximity has to be created with the support of a wide
process of participation with the actors involved and interested in its realization.
Starting from these premises, this study - carried out in the framework of the research project
PRIN 2020 SUMMA #20209F3A37 - aims at presenting the process of participation and the
proposed project interventions for the regeneration of the former fair of Rome, interested by
dismission and then isolation from the rest of the neighbourhood. As a result, the 25 principles
Charter of Proximity - flexible, inclusive and updatable - was realized, which consists in a
holistic tool for design or verify proximity in an area and assure equitable accessibility (Sepe,
2023)
PlaceMaker: Supporting sustainable urban planning
No full textThe contemporary city is characterized by complexity, simultaneity and instability,
producing situations of transience and transformation (Graham, 1998; Nasar,
1998; Christensen, 1999). Rather than being an artificial construct, the city is a set
of habits, customs and lifestyles. These elements are interrelated, not to be viewed
individually, but subsumed in the identity of place and the identification of
the city (Carter et al., 1993; Nijkamp & Perrels 1994; Castells, 1997). These
transformations have contributed to an increasing urban identity crisis and turned
cities into heterogeneous, multiethnic and multicultural societies (Rapoport, 1977;
Dickens, 1990; Bauman, 2003).
The new urban features are not easy to identify and cannot be easily represented
using traditional cartography and tools of representation. To study the transitory
nature and complexity of these urban features, new types of analysis and
supporting tools are currently being designed and tested. There are three criteria
governing the study of aspects that are not simply translatable into objective facts:
scientificity, meaning the objectivity of the results and the repeatability of the
method in different kind of contexts; updating capability, meaning the possibility
to add new data, to modify the existing data or to obtain other results; and timing,
meaning the possibility of using the results in a sustainable programming and town
planning process into the future.
The analysis of place involves the virtual, lateral, nomadic, multiscale and
configurational approaches (Sepe, 2004a), which can be split into two categories.
The first category, which includes the virtual, the lateral and the nomadic
approaches, makes use of atlases, maps, schemes and video to represent the
products of analysis; the second category, covering the multiscale and
configurational approaches, is based on data processing tools and, in particular,
software tools for the data collection and management. The study of these
approaches has motivated the development of a new approach, which is sensitive to
urban complexity, based on the PlaceMaker method.1 The complexity-sensitive
approach can be included in the first group with respect to the adopted methodological tools, but also in the second group as regards the supporting tool
used for the analysis.
PlaceMaker was developed in the context of a broader research project carried
out under a Convention between the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche and the
Dipartimento di Progettazione Urbana, Universita` di Napoli Federico II, entitled:
The identity of the contemporary city and cultural, landscape and environmental
assets: Representation of the new urban culture, with hypotheses for future
scenarios between integration and sustainability.
Starting from this premise, this work sets out to illustrate the new
methodological approaches and tools for analysing the urban area and proposes
the analytical method PlaceMaker as part of a complexity-sensitive approach, as
well as presenting the results of some significant experiments already carried out,
in order to demonstrate its potential. Furthermore we shall illustrate the software
currently being developed for use with the PlaceMaker method that supports it in
all its phases.
To represent the results, the method of analysis produces a complex map that
provides a complex image of sites. The complex map is intended as a support for
integrated strategies on the urban and territorial scales and the various tools of
knowledge: it can help administrators and professionals make informed decisions
for sustainable planning and construction of the place-identity, and serve as a
source of information for citizens and all users of the sites investigated (Sepe,
2004b). This article is organized as follows: the categories of approaches are
illustrated; then a detailed description of the PlaceMaker method, software and
experimentation is given; finally, the conclusions are presented
Qualità urbana e salubrità degli spazi pubblici
No full textGli spazi pubblici rappresentano luoghi in cui le persone trascorrono il loro tempo libero. Questo è vero in particolare se lo spazio pubblico è gradevole, accogliente, di facile accesso e con molte attività da svolgere. In Italia non esiste una legge specifica per il progetto urbano; per questo motivo, la creazione di uno spazio pubblico è affidata a diversi tipi di strumenti urbanistici. Allo stesso modo, anche i fondi che possono essere destinati alla loro creazione sono diversi a seconda dello strumento urbanistico utilizzato e possono essere pubblici o pubblici e privati; inoltre, la progettazione può essere realizzata dal tecnico dell'amministrazione o da un esperto privato. Ma in ogni caso, comprendere le cause del successo di uno spazio pubblico non è facile e sono molti i fattori che vi concorrono.
Dal 2020 una nuova condizione ha caratterizzato lo spazio pubblico italiano e mondiale. La pandemia di Covid-19 ha interessato tutto il mondo e, anche se in modo e misura diversi, ha cambiato le abitudini e l'uso di luoghi e città; (Carmona, Heath, Oc, Tiesdell, 2010; Gehl, 2010, 2016, 2020; Mehaffy, Elmlund, Farrell, 2019) in molti Paesi gli spazi pubblici sono rimasti completamente vuoti per mesi e nuovi paesaggi urbani hanno sostituito i precedenti, trasformando il privato in pubblico (Friedmann, 2010; Francis, Giles-Corti, Wood, Knuiman, 2012; Zelinka, Brennan, 2001). (Carmona, 2019; Madanipour, Knierbein, Degros, 2014). (Karsten, 2003; Zhai, Li, Liu, 2018). La loro riapertura, anche se con restrizioni diverse, ha riaffermato l’importanza dello spazio pubblico come luogo di socializzazione, attività all’aperto, connessione, espressione della qualità e vivibilità urbana (Sepe, 2022).
Partendo da queste premesse, l'obiettivo di questo articolo è presentare i risultati di una ricerca condotta nell'ambito della Community Spazio Pubblico di cui l’autrice è responsabile che ha l'obiettivo di raccogliere le migliori pratiche dello spazio pubblico in Italia, a partire dalla Carta dello Spazio Pubblico che è stata adottata durante la seconda Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico tenutasi a Roma nel 2013. La Carta è composta da 50 principi che costituiscono una sorta di linee guida per spazi pubblici vivibili e sostenibili. Per comprendere il rapporto tra teoria e pratica e verificare la validità della Carta dopo 10 anni dalla sua creazione sono stati raccolti circa 30 casi studio (UN Habitat, 2013, 2016; Garau, Lancerin, Sepe, 2015).
Di questi verranno presentati il database creato dall’autrice ad hoc per la raccolta dei dati dei casi studio e il Foro Italico di Palermo, il Parco delle Rupicole a Roma, RespirArt a Pampeago in Val di Fiemme, quali casi emblematici di tipologie diverse di spazi
Zone Urbaine Sensible and urban regeneration: preserving place identity by improving social inclusion
No full textSince 20 years, France is involved by an interesting urban regeneration process which improves the quality of life in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability (Nijkamp and Perrels, 1994; Porfyriou and Sepe, 2017; Sepe, 2013a, 2014). The Zone Urbaine Sensible - ZUS, namely sensitive urban zones created in France in 1996 with Décret n°96-1156 are some disadvantaged areas supported by the PRU (Projets de Rénovation Urbaine), with the financial help of the ANRU, Agence Nationale pour la Rénovation Urbaine that manages public-private funds and is aimed at integrating people through employment. In particular, within the Alpes Maritimes territory, 5 ZUS are located, three of these in the city of Nice, one is divided between Nice and Saint-André, and the last is located in Vallauris. In Nice, the urban regeneration of the ZUS is aimed at improving the quality of life and reduce the social differences through actions of new building, redevelopment, demolition and reconstruction. The demolition is carried out when the redevelopment, which must be characterized by principles of sustainability, is economically disadvantageous. In these contexts, urban projects mostly concern the redevelopment of public spaces and renovation of housing which fulfilled the objectives of the PLH (Programme Local de l'Habitat) to increase social development and improve the quality of life. Vieux Nice area (old town) is the historical and touristic heart of the city. The area, densely populated - 17,500 inhabitants in an area of 70 hectares - is considered a ZUS as a result of overcrowding which improves the real estate value, but decreases quality, comparable to social housing. The project idea of the PSMV (Plan de Sauvegarde et de Mise en Valeur), is also in this case to improve residences replacing them with environmentally sustainable buildings, all preserving place identity. The ZUS renewal is part of a wider process of regeneration which is interesting Nice by 20 years in the framework of the PNRU, Programme National de Rénovation Urbaine. The principal aims include mixed uses to increase employment, housings and social life. The new strategy is to decrease vacant areas performing differentiated activities in different moment of a day. The challenge is both renovating the urban environment and improving social inclusion, by respecting the urban form, and preserving place identity. All in a sustainable perspective (Pendlebury and Porfyriou, 2017; Sepe, 2013b). The paper will illustrate, the process of urban renewal which is interesting Nice since the beginning of 2000, starting from the emblematic Zone Urbaine Sensible and focusing on the questions deriving from the aforementioned challenge
Quality and safety in public spaces: a new challenge in the post Covid-19 period
No full textPublic spaces represent places where people spent their free time. This is true in particular if the public space is agreeable, welcoming, easy to access and with many activities to do. In Italy it does not exist a specific law for urban design project; for this reason, the creation of a public space is devoted to different kind of urban planning tools. In the same way, also funds that can be devoted to their creation are different according with the used urban planning tool and can be public or public and private; furthermore, the design can be realized by the administration office technician or by a private expert. But in any case, to comprehend the receipt for the success of a public space is not easy and many factors can concur to it.
This year a new condition has characterized Italian and worldwide public space. The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic has interested the whole word and, although in different manner and measure, changing habits and use of people of places and cities (Carmona, Heath, Oc, Tiesdell, 2010; Gehl, 2010, 2016, 2020; Mehaffy, Elmlund, Farrell, 2019). In many countries public spaces became completely empty for months and new urban landscapes have substituted the previous one, transforming the private in public (Friedmann, 2010; Francis, Giles-Corti, Wood, Knuiman, 2012; Zelinka, Brennan, 2001). Houses and balconies were – and still are – used as the work and study scene, allowing people to go inside the private life (Carmona, 2019; Madanipour, Knierbein, Degros, 2014). Children and young have interrupted until the new academic year the education in presence to start the distance one; adults started the smart working; elderly begun to meet their son on the video of the computer (Karsten, 2003; Zhai, Li, Liu, 2018). In Italy and in the other countries, the reopening of public spaces happened, although with different restrictions.
Starting from these premises aim of this paper is to present the results of a research carried in the framework of: the Urban Maestro. New Governance Strategies for Urban Design Horizon 2020 research project, the ISMed-CNR post-Covid researches and the INU Community Public Space, the latter coordinated by the author. The author, as a member of the Advisory and Support Group, shared the Italian good practices in the public space field. The Community Public Space has the objective to collect best practices of public space in Italy, starting from the Charter of Public Space which was adopted during the second Biennial of Public Space held in Rome in 2013. The Charter is composed by 50 principles that are a sort of guidelines for liveable and sustainable public spaces. In order to comprehend the relationship between theory and practice and verify the validity of the Charter after 10 years of its creation and in particular in this sanitary emergency, about 30 case studies were collected (UN Habitat, 2013; Garau, Lancerin, Sepe, 2015). The ISMed-CNR research titled Analysis and design of contemporary territory: identity, health and liveability for resilient and sustainable places with the author’s responsibility is aimed at identifying the factors and elements which make healthy and liveable a place – in the aforementioned 30 Italian case studies, and more in general in the world, - through ad hoc methodologies of urban analysis and design
Multiresilienza e multiadattamento: progettare la complessità
No full textIl termine resilienza è utilizzato in molte discipline per la sua adattabilità alle teorie della complessità, tra cui economia, ecologia, scienze politiche, scienze cognitive, nuove tecnologie e pianificazione dell'uso del territorio. Di conseguenza, la definizione di resilienza di Zolli e Healey (2012) intesa come "la capacità di un sistema, azienda o persona di mantenere il proprio scopo e integrità fondamentali di fronte a circostanze radicalmente mutate" integra ecologia e sociologia e offre una panoramica della natura multidisciplinare della questione.
Le città, infatti, non sono solo paesaggi uniformi di persone distribuite in modo casuale, ma luoghi organizzati che producono differenze socio-economiche; non è quindi facile descrivere una città come resiliente nella sua interezza. Il solo riferimento alla pandema di Covid-19, ad esempio, ha portato a problemi di sicurezza, fragilità e differenze di resilienza non solo tra le città colpite, ma anche tra le aree al loro interno (Sepe, 2021; 2023).
È anche vero che gli spazi resilienti sono spazi capaci di adattarsi al cambiamento contribuendo al loro equilibrio. Questo deve essere opportunamente pianificato e gestito anche con l'utilizzo di indicatori in grado di misurare le performance delle città. Pertanto, scopo di questo studio - svolto nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca PRIN 2020 SUMMA all'interno dell'Unità ISMed-CNR (di cui è responsabile l'autrice) e della relativa convenzione tra Sapienza Università di Roma e ISMed-CNR - è definire la multiresilienza e multiadattamento a partire dal concetto di resilienza e di adattamento e illustrare un indice - il City Resilience Index (Rockefeller Foundation, 2019) - che misura eventi che possono verificarsi simultaneamente e in modo insospettabile
Reduced order modeling in nonlinear homogenization: A comparative study
No full textComputationally inexpensive nonlinear homogenization methods are much sought after in academia and
industry. However, the accuracy and the accessibility of the methods play an important role. Two
nonlinear homogenization methods for microstructured solid materials are investigated in this work:
the pRBMOR (Fritzen and Leuschner, 2013; Fritzen et al., 2014) and the NUTFA (Sepe et al., 2013).
Both methods are based on ideas of the nonuniform transformation field analysis (NTFA; Michel
and Suquet, 2003, 2004). A detailed comparison with respect to accuracy, storage requirements
and the evolution of the reduced degrees of freedom is carried out. Numerical examples for two- and
three-dimensional problems undergoing nonproportional load paths are presented
SEPE M. (2007) “Decongestionamento e rivitalizzazione: il Pso come occasione di sviluppo sostenibile” , “Decongestioning and revitalization: the OSP as opportunity for sustainable development in the Vesuvius Red Zone”
No full textLIVEABLE AND HEALTHY CITY DESIGN
Full text linkHappiness, livability and health are concepts which in the last ten years are become always more present in the urban planning studies. Many societies rank the most happy city in the world or in a nation; many indicators try to report factors which are capable to report the livability of a place; topics related to healthy city are investigated in different manner, e.g. both in relation to the elderly or people with diseases, and with places which need to be improved from the pollution point of view (Appleyard 1981; Sepe, 2017).
These elements, indicators and factors are often referred to other concepts such as sustainability and resilience, which in turn are very used to define questions related to both contemporary urban, social, environmental and economic topics.
If, from a part, the livability and health concepts are always more explored in urban studies, on the other, due to the strong contamination coming from other disciplines, is possible to understand why a place is livable, but is difficult to design a place being sure that this will be livable and healthy.
Some of the more recognized principle which make a place livable include: good accessibility and orientation; presence of green; walkability; flexibility and variety of spaces; distinctivity; presence of facilities, events and activities; perception of safeness and security. And these factors are observable in the actions such as: happy people walking or cycling, children plying in parks, people of all age spending time in enjoying the place or making different activities (AARP Livable Communities, 2015; HereandNow, 2017)
Furthermore, as Lucy Sauders (2017) asserts, air pollution, social connectedness, mental well-being, road danger, noise and physical activity can impact our health and it is important to implement good practice in urban design in order to introduce these elements into the planning at all scales. As many studies report, “urban planning and design can help to mitigate risk factors and to contribute to better mental health and happiness in the city”. Factors such as “green place, active place, pro-social place and safe place (...) can facilitate innovative thinking (...) and promote better mental health and well-being”. (McCay 2017). Although theories agree on the benefits that people derive from these factors, it is not easy to assume and demonstrate that these improve livability, happiness and then health.
Starting from these premises, aim of this work is to illustrate the original Ecoliv@ble design method, carried out in the framework of CNR research projects. The method aims at: identifying sustainable urban livability and the factors which make places happy, livable and healthy from the users point of view; identifying design interventions to enhance or create both urban livability and health. The case study of Vancouver complete the paper
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