Raffaele Attardi

Valuing Cultural Landscape Services: A Multidimensional and Multi-group SDSS for Scenario Simulations

The purpose of this paper is to define a methodological proposal towards a Spatial Decision Support System for strategic planning, based on the evaluation of Cultural Landscape Services (CLS). A combination of multidimensional evaluation techniques, multi-group analysis and Geographic Information Systems is applied to the simulation of landscape enhancement scenarios in the “National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni”, in order to explore the effectiveness and helpfulness of the evaluation of CLS in structuring both hierarchic and networking relationships among the municipalities comprised in the study area.

Non-compensatory composite indicators for the evaluation of urban planning policy: The Land-Use Policy Efficiency Index (LUPEI)

Abstract In this research paper, we define and test an ELECTRE III-based approach to the construction of non-compensatory composite indicators; these indicators are used for the evaluation of environmental and social performances of urban and regional planning policies. We tested the methodology for the construction of the Land-Use Policy Efficiency Index (LUPEI) on the municipal scale applied to a sample of municipalities in the Apulia Region (Southern Italy). Based on the literature review concerning composite indicators, we found that linear aggregation rules are the most widely applied aggregation procedures for composite indicators. However, their applicability depends on a set of strong theoretical and operational conditions. If these conditions do not hold, then other aggregation and weighting procedures must be applied to construct the composite indicators. We tested the ELECTRE III via a fruitful interaction with three experts who were participating in a focus group. We found that composite indicators are powerful tools when it comes to the assessment of multidimensional planning issues. Since each sub-indicator provides different information and responds to different goals, rankings and assessment based on mono-indicator frameworks can lead to incomplete or even biased results that do not consider an integrated approach to land-use policy efficiency. Moreover, both experts and decision-makers appreciated the role of composite indicators in increasing knowledge and providing deeper insights into complex phenomena in the domains of urban and regional planning.

Countryside vs City: A User-Centered Approach to Open Spatial Indicators of Urban Sprawl

The interplay between land take and climate change is reviving the debate on the environmental impacts of urbanization. Monitoring and evaluation of land-cover and land-use changes have secured political commitment worldwide, and in the European Union in particular – following the agreement on a “no net land take by 2050” target. This paper addresses the ensuing challenges by investigating how open data services and spatial indicators may help manage urban sprawl more effectively. Experts, scholars, students and local government officials were engaged in a living lab exercise centered around the uptake of geospatial data in planning, policy making and design processes. Main findings point to a great potential, and pressing need, for open spatial data services in mainstreaming sustainable land use practices. However, urban sprawl’s elusiveness calls for interactive approaches, since the actual usability of proposed tools needs to be carefully investigated and planned for.

The Multidimensional Assessment of Land Take and Soil Sealing

In 2006 European Commission stated that soil, fairly recognisable as an ecosystem structure, can be considered essentially as a non-renewable resource, thus triggering both studies for the assessment of land take phenomenon and actions for its mitigation and reduction. In last two decades, a deeper and ecosystem approach to land-use policies targeted to the sustainable development enabled a closer understanding of the complexity of urban dynamics leading to the necessity of multidimensional and integrated approaches for the assessment of the use of resources. The paper presents a multi-dimensional approach to evaluate the phenomenon of land take and soil sealing implemented on a sample of municipalities in Apulia Region, in Southern Italy. The construction of a composite indicator for comparative qualitative and quantitative measurement of land take and soil sealing among the municipalities is aimed at a better evaluation of future urbanisation scenarios and at a monitoring process of urban growth.

“Scrapping” of Quarters and Urban Renewal: A Geostatistic-Based Evaluation

The environmental and social costs of the extensive and intensive development of new areas not yet built are increasingly relevant . For this reason land use decisions are increasingly oriented to consider the development of the city from its existing perimeter , giving up models that generate urban sprawl.

A Multi-criteria and Multi-group Analysis for Historic District Quality Assessment

In this research paper we try to integrate different stakeholders’ targets and feelings to build a shared vision for the future development of the city, through the evaluation of district visual quality. The proposed methodological framework consists of some assessment steps, which combine tools of sociological research and decision-making support systems, in particular the Analytic Hierarchy Process. This proposal is aimed to identify priority strategies to be implemented in urban development policies for the preservation and the enhancement of cultural heritage. We use the AHP for analysing the problem, identifying the domains and prioritizing the areas in which most urgent intervention (redevelopment or transformation) are needed, in order to improve the attractiveness of the city, through bottom-up approach that allows to map out the performance of city development initiatives.

Integrating Financial Analysis and Decision Theory for the Evaluation of Alternative Reuse Scenarios of Historical Buildings

The expected utility theory assumes that the advantage of an agent under conditions of uncertainty can be calculated as a weighted average of the utilities in each state as possible, by using as weights the likelihood of the occurrence of individual states.

A Collaborative Multi-Criteria Spatial Decision Support System for Multifunctional Landscape Evaluation

The paper aims at the development of a Collaborative Multi-Criteria Spatial Decision Support System (C-MC SDSS) for the evaluation of multifunctional landscape according to a human smart perspective. The C-MC SDSS addresses landscape transformation and preservation processes, leading to consistent choices with the principles of local self-sustainable development, considering the decision-making environment as a heterogeneous field, where conflicting interests interplay. The methodological approach, implemented in the case study of the National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni (Southern Italy) demonstrates that the inclusion of web-based data and common knowledge in MC-SDSSs is a major challenge. The multidimensional nature of the landscape evaluation requires a mutual understanding, communication and collaboration, allowing an expansion of the knowledge-base to sharpen questions and improving the quality of the decision process. The paper investigates potentials of a C-MC SDSS for supporting transparent and democratic decision processes, helpful in selecting landscape enhancement policies.

URBAN DESIGN, INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. TWO CASES OF WATERFRONT REGENERATION IN APULIA (ITALY)

The procedures for the assignment of design tasks for urban transformation plans distinguish between direct assignment and public competition. The paper examines two case studies of waterfront regeneration in Apulia Region (Italy) which are characterized by two different procedures for the assignment of design tasks. A set of criteria for a multidimensional assessment of the urban transformation processes is defined, in order to understand to which extent the quality of the decision-making process – including the assignment of design tasks – can be a guarantee for the increase of the “complex social value” of the coastline, as an element of local identity for Italian port cities. Keywords: design task assignment, decision-making processes, waterfront regeneration