Corrado Rindone

Safety of Users in Road Evacuation: Planning Internal Processes and Guidelines

In this paper a structured process to plan an urban system in emergency conditions is presented. The internal planning process is described with reference to planning dimensions and to a generic product-plan component. Guidelines for evacuation planning resulting from the SICURO project are presented, with a view to developing and testing an evacuation plan for an urban system in emergency conditions. Quantitative evaluations play an essential role in the guidelines.

Safety of Users in Road Evacuation: Modelling and DSS for LFA in the Planning Process

This paper presents the main modeling tools and Decision Support System (DSS) to support evacuation planning in urban system. Project Cycle Management (PCM), integrated with the Logical Framework Approach (LFA), is adopted to link the goals, outcomes, outputs with the strategies and inputs in the internal planning process. Main DSS to support PCM and LFA are presented.

Evaluation Methods For Evacuation Planning

This paper will present the main evaluation methods to support evacuation planning in an urban system. In most cases, evaluation methods require knowledge of functions for relating variables that represent elements to evaluate. Nevertheless in real applications, functions for modeling evacuation are not always available. In these cases, sometimes it is necessary to use a method without the requirement for an explicit a priori determination of these functions. The authors propose two classes of methods to compare an evacuation plan, based on efficiency measures. An evacuation is represented by means of a virtual production process. An efficiency criterion is adopted to compare different evacuation process. Parametric and non parametric methods to estimate efficiency are compared. Input and output variables to represent an evacuation process are analyzed.

European plans for the smart city: from theories and rules to logistics test case

ABSTRACT City evolution is connected to social, economic and technological evolutions. New technologies induce further changes, which are highly innovative, which again affect the urban and territorial systems. The city once again adjusts to new opportunities in relation to information and communications technologies, energy and mobility. In this paper, smart city, configured as a set of interacting systems with people, is focused as a possible model to follow for pursuing sustainability in real cities of the twenty-first century. Three processes are recalled: city development, city planning theories and city rules. Smart city seems to be the convergent point for all processes evolving in European urban areas. Theoretical definitions of smart city are recalled. At the same time, the European Commission is promoting smart city rules for implementation. Moreover, in the last years some local decision-makers implemented specific measures that today can be considered in the class of smart city measures. The objective of the paper is to analyse the European perspectives for smart city, trying to separate the three processes that are strongly integrated, but without formal links. To verify the European smart city approach, a study case concerning city logistics is considered.

A comparison of urban planning systems between the UK and Italy: commercial development and city logistic plan

This paper focuses on planning systems in European countries, and spatial planning as a process that generates different products. The evolution of urban systems has brought on a new model of mobility and a set of negative impacts (economic, social and environmental) have increased, showing the applications for, or lack of, spatial planning. Urban spatial planning tools to pursue sustainable development vary in European countries. In this paper the structure of planning acts are examined with an eye to the tools for regulating commercial activities and relative urban freight distribution. A comparison between two different approaches, in Italy and in the UK, is presented. The two study cases are representative of the heterogeneity among Member States in spatial planning.

An aggregate approach to simulate evacuation of a building

This paper concerns a method for the simulation of pedestrian outflow related to the evacuation of a building. In particular the proposed method allows an aggregate estimation of evacuation time of a building. The method can be easily implemented and can be used to give a first evaluation of evacuation procedures without performing evacuation drills and can be used to give a quickly response in identifying critical points on the network. To check the capabilities of the proposed approach a comparison between results obtained from simulations and data recorded from an experiment on a test site conducted in a primary school located in an Italian town. The adopted methodology can be applied to any building with homogeneous characteristics in terms of activities (i.e. offices, banks, commercials). Experimentation was carried out by the Laboratory for Transport Systems Analysis (LAST) of the University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria (Italy) under a research project entitled SURE, whose general objective was risk reduction in urban areas in terms of exposure through the definition and implementation of evacuation procedures.

A Review Methodology of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans: Objectives and Actions to Promote Cycling and Pedestrian Mobility

In the previous decade, the European Commission, among its policies to increase sustainability and the quality of life in European cities, has introduced the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). The concepts brought forward in this novel planning approach further focus on sustainable transport modes, such as cycling and pedestrian mobility, which are two of the main issues included in SUMP. The European challenge is to integrate long-term planning perspectives and short-term actions. In this context, the aim of this paper is to analyze and classify the objectives and actions proposed in the SUMP adopted by European cities, focusing on the policies for improving cycling and pedestrian mobility. Therefore a review methodology is proposed in order to verify their coherence with the European guidelines, classifying objectives and actions for the promotion of cycling and pedestrian mobility. The research required that each of a set of SUMPs, adopted by various European cities, be analyzed and classified in order to identify the objectives and the planned actions and to verify the presence of qualitative and quantitative indicators, therefore presenting a first application of the proposed methodology. The results show how the cities follow the European policies relative to urban mobility in terms of objectives and actions and, in particular, in relation to cycling and pedestrian mobility. All cities in the sample set goals to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists by means of: the modernization and adaptation of the existing cycling paths and pedestrian walkways; and the construction of new long-distance cycle paths and of new pedestrian walkways and public areas that are comfortable for pedestrians. This work can be useful in order to verify the implementation of the sustainable urban planning process, establishing a benchmark process useful for other cities to follow.