Search results for "urban planning"
showing 10 items of 227 documents
An integrated simulation method for building energy performance assessment in urban environments
2012
a b s t r a c t The microclimate around a building, establishing through the interaction with other buildings or the natural environment, is a significant factor in the building energy consumption. This paper presents a method for the quantitative analysis of building energy performance under any given urban contexts by linking the microclimate model ENVI-met to the building energy simulation (BES) program EnergyPlus. The full microclimatic factors such as solar radiation, long wave radiation, air temperature, air humidity, and wind speed have been considered in the proposed scheme. A case study has been conducted to analyze the effects of different microclimatic factors on the energy balan…
Strategic Vision of a Euro-Mediterranean Port City: A Case Study of Palermo
2013
Italian harbours assume a decisive role in order to develop a Euro-Mediterranean web for maritime transportation. The geostrategic position of the Italian peninsula can be seen as a logistic platform at the centre of the maritime trades in the Mediterranean area, giving to its port cities the role of gateway of economic flows. The port poles, meant as hubs, are able to attract investments and create economic growth and territorial development through new operative models of urban usage and management. The management policies have to consider the environmental characteristics and distinctive features, respecting the identity of the places as concrete evidence of history, a source of intellec…
Smart Cities and Municipal Building Regulation for Energy Efficiency
2015
The “Smart Cities & Communities Initiative” of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan is the strategic European response to lead cities and regions to a carbon free future. In this contest energy efficiency in buildings has a crucial role and must be considered in a holistic approach to the urban planning. In order to implement the minimum requirements stated by the European Directive about the Energy Performance of Buildings, and in order to consider different planning layers with the view to a smart city planning, local regulations are a key factor aiming at sustainable territorial planning. This paper investigates the possibility to draft a basic structure of Municipal Building Regulat…
Describing urban soils through a faceted system ensures more informed decision-making
2016
Urban areas are increasing worldwide at a dramatic rate and their soils definitely deserve more attention than they have received in the past. In urban environments, soils potentially provide the same ecosystem services as in rural and wild environments, although in some cases they are depleted of their basic functions, such as when they lose their productive and filtering capacities because of sealing, and become mere supports for infrastructures. In other cases, soils of urban areas acquire new functions that are unique to these environments. Current soil classifications fail to effectively account for the complexity of urban soils and the information that is required for their management…
A description model for regeneration through urban tourism in rural towns with underused historic real estate
2016
Il presente contributo propone un modello di descrizione (description model) che trova applicazione in una situazione reale di aiuto alla decisione posto dall'urbanista per lo sviluppo turistico delle città rurali nelle zone dell'entroterra siciliano. Il problema decisionale riguarda la città di Cianciana (AG), che negli ultimi anni si è resa protagonista di un particolare fenomeno di turismo internazionale. In particolare, proponiamo un quadro valutativo multicriteriale per la riqualificazione fisica ed economica del centro storico della città attraverso lo sviluppo del turismo. Il modello presentato, relativo a un problema decisionale di tipo descrittivo, è orientato a supportare i deciso…
Evaluating the thermal-radiative performance of ENVI-met model for green infrastructure typologies: Experience from a subtropical climate
2022
Abstract Microclimate knowledge has been intensively integrated into urban planning and design to improve the buildings’ energy performance and outdoor thermal comfort. To assess the climatic mitigation strategies, numerical modeling is gaining higher relevance. ENVI-met, a microclimate model to simulate the complex surface-vegetation-atmosphere interactions in the built environment, is receiving increasing popularity. This study aims to systematically evaluate the thermal-radiative performance of the ENVI-met model based on its recent updates. First, a field measurement was conducted in a subtropical city. Thermal-radiative parameters were collected besides three green infrastructure (GI) …
Research on ecological design to enhance comfort in open spaces of a city (Valencia, Spain). Utility of the physiological equivalent temperature (PET)
2013
For many years now, research has focused on issues concerning making cities easier to live in and some of the most important of these concern climatology and thermal comfort issues. There is also a growing awareness of the importance of open spaces and green areas, as key elements in providing opportunities for human interaction, leisure and physical exercise. They are important for all inhabitants, but particularly so for children and the elderly population. Of especial interest are the studies which have examined the interaction of comfort with the urban climate. This issue was studied throughout the twentieth century, but recently the role which can be played by biometeorological indices…
Education, practice and professionalism: a comparative history of the development of urban and regional planning in Italy and Australia
2014
This paper outlines the historical relationship between planning legislation, planning practice and planning education in Italy and Australia by identifying the positive and negative roles of institutional influences and the emergence of professional planning communities. The key findings revolve around the gap between plan preparation and plan implementation, and the role of institutions and professional communities in resisting political interference and maintaining a technocratic imperative within planning systems. While the exertion of professional power can be seen to achieve positive planning and development outcomes, it is often at the expense of the democratic traditions that have c…
The Environmental Issue in Sicily
2014
In Italy, despite the number of protected natural areas and the abundance of scientific research upon the landscape, the level of control of human pressure on the environmental system is still seriously inadequate. Among the main factors is the disconnection between urban/regional and sectorial planning, in the frame of the detachment of the nature conservation policies from the landscape and territorial policies, which is the focus of the present research. The regional situation is rendered even more serious by the lack of an up-to-date planning law (the Sicilian planning law was passed in 1978), the poor diffusion of territorial and vast area planning (the Regional Master Plan has never b…
Social Housing in Europe
2017
The debate about the future of social housing in Europe is currently more lively compared to earlier years. The housing demand in general and social housing in particular are intense. They are increasingly worrying the concentration of most of the social housing in the most disadvantaged areas and the low economic levels of tenants living in these apartments. This contribute explores the state of fact of social and urban policies in some European countries, in order to offer an exhaustive framework of the variegated situation.