The Value of the Useless in the Urban Landscape of Small Islands

Abstract. In the variety of the Italian landscape-cultural mosaic, the morphology of Favignana (Egadi Islands) is the outcome of the long-term relationship between natural environment and human actions that has drawn both natural and urban landscape. This relationship, that constitutes the Favignana’s architectural and landscape heritage, is often denied or forgotten because of transformations caused by a new demand of efficiency (usefulness?) in reference to an economic policy based on the tourism-related activities. In this case-study, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) (selected among the Multicriteria Analysis techniques because of its holistic approach) has applied to support the choic…

L'insidia della soglia

The interation of compressional and extensional tectonics during the Sicily Chain building

The Urban Landscape and the Real Estate Market. Structures and Fragments of the Axiological Tessitura in a Wide Urban Area of Palermo

The proposed study deals with the urban landscape of Palermo and its possible representation from the perspective of the real estate market analysis. Real estate is one of the most significant types of capital asset and the wide range of its possible utilizations makes complex the interpretation of the market phenomena. The multi-layered reality of such a large city (represented through the sample of 500 properties) needs to be articulated into a significant set of sub-markets in order to outline the complexity and to map the distribution of homogeneous groups of properties within the whole city area. The comparison between quality and price within each cluster allows us to elicit the degre…

Impact of the abolition of food handler certification on notification rates of foodborne diseases in Italy

to assess the trends of foodborne diseases in respect of the abolition of food handler certification by Italian Regions.

Electrochemical energy storage mitigating impact of electric vehicle on the electric grid: Two Italian case studies

In the framework of the Italian R&D project i-Next two pilots plants were realized aiming at demonstrate benefits coming from the adoption of electrochemical energy storages (Lithium ion batteries and hydrogen) integrated with renewable energy sources. In the present study the preliminary results coming from the demo sites operations are reported paying attention to the impacts to the grid.

Erraticism and multicultural permeability of urban fabric in Palermo

Interactions between physical and social space draw different urban dimensions, or cultural landscape mosaics, which constantly change and evolve. The shape of the city promotes or discourages multiculturalism and social relations. The latter, in turn, reverberate in the way in which urban space is used, not only to meet basic needs - dictated by reason of survival (housing, employment, and services for education, care, leisure, etc.), but also because the inhabitants are driven by the desire for happiness and the simultaneous meeting that Lefebvre described as the “individualization in socialization”. Migrants groups have historically inhabited the central areas of cities, initially approp…

The economic sustainability of residential location and social housing. An application in Palermo city

The aim of this paper is to analyse the interconnections among the so-called “grey area” citizens, who have great difficult to get an own house, and the public (and private) stakeholders that have a key part to play in translating the housing politics into practice. The analysis proposes some economic tools – the analysis of the local real estate market and the “Income-Threshold” – to support municipality in achieving social housing projects corresponding to the family’s financial constraints. The methodology of analysis is applied to data directly collected in Palermo. The purpose is to point out the operational and problematic aspects corresponding to the family’s access to the real estat…

L’erraticità della centralità. Valori simbolici e valori monetari nella città di Palermo

The center of the city could be considered as the urban meta-sign from which each part of the city takes his urban monetary significance, and it can also be joined to the isomorphic chain linking Zero, Vanishing Point and Money. The center of the city is naturally erratic and follows the urban transformation, producing monetary differentials corresponding to differentials of quality of the localization. The case study of Palermo is analyzed showing the creation of the center of the city, its translation and its (monetary) evaluation in the contemporaneous city.

From land to sea: multi-scale and multi-resolution analysis of active deformation and seismogenic sources around the coasts of Southern Italy

During the last decade, we have blended our individual skills to form a research group devoted to investigating active crustal deformation in areas adjacent to the coast of Southern Italy, with the aim to bridge the gap between the onshore and offshore realms. Our research is based on a multi-scale and multi-resolution approach that includes high-resolution seismics, coastal morpho-tectonics and structural geology, complemented by seismicity, Global Positioning System and InSAR. Need and opportunities of such an endeavor arise from the basic observation that, although most population centers lie close to the coastal areas, very little is known about active structures at the sea. However, hi…

Antimeningococcal and antipneumococcal vaccination determinants: A European systematic literature review

Background. ESCULAPIO is a multicenter project, funded by the Italian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, aimed at implementing communication strategies to improve vaccination knowledge and attitudes among different target populations. Objective. The objective of the Sicilian research unit was, in the first phase, to identify, through systematic literature revision, which vaccination determinants play a role in the uptake of recommended vaccines included in the Italian Vaccination Plan. Design. A systematic literature review was carried out on studies describing the determinants underlying pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccination uptake. The analysis was limited to papers published…