Riccardo Privitera

Agricultural and green infrastructures: the role of non-urbanised areas for eco-sustainable planning in a metropolitan region.

Non-Urbanised Areas (NUAs) are part of agricultural and green infrastructures that provide ecosystem services. Their role is fundamental for the minimization of urban pollution and adaptation to climate change. Like all natural ecosystems, NUAs are endangered by urban sprawl. The regulation of sprawl is a key issue for land-use planning. We propose a land use suitability strategy model to orient Land Uses of NUAs, based on integration of Land Cover Analysis (LCA) and Fragmentation Analysis (FA). With LCA the percentage of evapotranspiring surface is defined for each land use. Dimensions and densities of NUAs patches are assessed in FA. The model has been developed with Geographical Information Systems, using an extensive set of geodatabases, including orthophotos, vectorial cartographies and field surveys. The case of the municipality of Mascalucia in Catania metropolitan area (Italy), characterized by a considerable urban sprawl, is presented.

Measures of Safeguard and Rehabilitation for landscape protection planning: A qualitative approach based on diversity indicators

Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planning considering the increasing pressures on agricultural ecosystems due to soil sealing, sprawl processes and intensive agriculture. Norms for land-use regulation and measures for landscape Safeguard and Rehabilitation have to take into consideration these threats in landscape planning. Evaluating the diversity of agricultural ecosystems is a fundamental step for proposing sound approaches to planning and managing both soil and landscape, as well as maintaining the related ecosystem services. The paper proposes a method aimed at the qualitative evaluation of spatial diversity of agricultural landscapes using a reduced set of ecological indicators based on land-use vector data. Indicators are calculated for defined landscape units characterized by landscape homogeneity. GIS geoprocessing and spatial analysis functions are employed. The study area is the Province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), which is characterized by cultivation mosaics in its southern region, cereal cultivation in the central region and prevailing natural environments in the northern region. Results from the indicator calculations are used to define measures to be included in a Landscape Protection Plan. Safeguard and Rehabilitation measures are introduced, which link indicator scores to planning protection aims. The results highlight the relevance of some agricultural mosaics in proximity to streams and seasonal fluvial environments, where some undamaged natural environments are still present. For these areas, specific landscape safeguard measures are proposed to preserve their diversity features together with their original agricultural functions. The work shows that even with a reduced number of indicators, a differentiated set of measures can be proposed for a Landscape Protection Plan.

Towards lower carbon cities: urban morphology contribution in climate change adaptation strategies

ABSTRACT Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) play an important role in reducing the effects of climate change by providing both carbon storage and sequestration. Urban areas are responsible for the emission of 60% of global greenhouse gas, 50% of which are produced by buildings. During the past decades, increasing urban growth and sprawl processes produced several urban layouts characterized by different morphological features and a common lack of sustainable energy and environmental solutions. Investigating the relationship between urban morphology, energy demand and carbon emission/sequestration represents a relevant topic for urban planning practices implemented to face urban climate change effects. This study proposes a method for a transformability assessment aimed at investigating the transformation suitability of different urban morphology types. The case study is the metropolitan area of Catania (Italy), characterized by an impressive urban growth since the 1960s. The proposed method identification of limits and options for increasing sustainability of urban areas considering the contribution of both NUAs and built-up areas. This approach allows to identify appropriate planning tools for new layouts of urban fabrics while increasing the objectivity of the decision process. In the framework of climate change mitigation and adaptation, the outcomes of this research may lead to innovative urban planning practices.

ENHANCING CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL OF URBAN GREEN SPACES THROUGH TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS STRATEGY

Non-urbanized areas (NUAs) play an important role in reducing the effects of climate change by providing both carbon storage and sequestration. Despite their importance, they are endangered by urbanization pressures and often neglected by local spatial planning practices. On the contrary, NUAs should be protected and designed as new public urban green spaces to enhance the amount of vegetation of different land cover types and therefore their potential capacity of carbon sequestration. This study proposes a three steps-method for enhancing carbon sequestration of NUAs through the implementation of new public green spaces while ensuring the related economic feasibility of urban development based on a Transfer of development rights program.

TRANSFERABILITY OF GREENCITIES EXPERIENCES FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN PLANNING

During the last decades new developments, retrofitting and urban regeneration projects in most of European green cities have been designed according to high level of Urban Design Solutions (UDS) such as green spaces networks, low-carbon mobility systems, mixed land uses, public facilities/services and new jobs. Integration of these UDS to water/waste and renewable energy management systems has shown an effective contribution to urban and environmental quality and sustainability. Even though these successfully experiences provided a considerable amount of valuable UDS, their suitability to be transferred in urban contexts characterized by different environmental, morphological, socio-economic and cultural conditions has not been systematically investigated. This paper proposes a method for evaluating the transferability of several UDS that have been applied in a set of fifteen European green cities to urban contexts of Southern Italy, where socio-economic, environmental, geographical, and cultural conditions are different. The method is based on three different steps. First, UDS are identified and grouped within a matrix in three strategic categories (procedures and economic aspects, urban quality, energy and environment). The second step checks the suitability of these different UDS to be transferred according to six different criteria: climate and geography, mobility/green/facilities equipment, water/waste/energy grids equipment, norms and regulations, urban management policies, social and cultural aspects. The third step is the evaluation of the transferability of UDS based on a survey conducted through web-interviews to Italian national experts in the field of urban planning. Contrary to the expectations, results show that a very high percentage of UDS could be transferred to the southern Italy contexts and that the transferability is more influenced by lack of urban management policies than climatic or geographical features.

URBAN REGENERATION PROGRAMS FOR SUSTAINABLE PLANNING IN HIGHLY VULNERABLE URBAN CONTEXTS

Topics of sustainable urban development and environmental sustainability are worldwide considered as fundamental for every strategy of urban transformation, renewal and regeneration. In particular, urban regenerations are urban re-development programs involving the rebirth or renewal of selected urban areas or district that have faced periods of decline due to compounding and intersecting pressures. The programs cover many aspects of the area to be re-generated such as physical, social and environmental contexts. Re-use of already built up areas and buildings, reduction of the demand for new soils to be developed, increasing of appealing of dense city areas, increasing of social and spatial resilience are among the positive consequences of these programs. However, in the current debate about urban regeneration, few studies have evaluated the real environmental outcomes and effectiveness of regeneration programs in terms of physical variables such as new provided greenspaces, accessibility to public transportation, climate change or seismic risk reduction. This paper proposes a method to quantify the real outcomes and effectiveness of urban regeneration programs with reference to the above mentioned variables. As a real experience of urban planning, the new Local Spatial Plan for the Municipality of Catania, a medium sized city in Southern Italy, is presented. The city is characterised by a high density urban fabric, a general lack of urban greenspaces and high levels of traffic congestion due to a massive use of private transportation. The urban fabric is also very vulnerable to seismic and climate change risks. Among the transformation tools, the new Local spatial plan proposes regeneration actions aimed at the complete regeneration of old and dilapidated areas, not classified as historical heritage and heavily vulnerable to seismic risk. These actions include the complete demolition and reconstruction of these areas within clearly defined boundaries, contributing to minimise soil consumption, maintaining as open public spaces the majority of existing non urbanised areas within the densely built-up settlement. The program of regeneration can dramatically contributes to the reduction of seismic and climate change risk and achieve a general requalification of the urban environment. Starting from this planning experience, this paper focus on the evaluation of the regenerations programs included in the Local Spatial Plan. Regeneration Areas (RAs) have been identified by the municipality as characterized by high level of seismic vulnerability, urban degradation, lack of public services and urban environment quality. For the chosen areas, this study proposes the evaluation of the transformations potentially occurring in the urban context by the proposed regeneration program. The following aspects are evaluated: reduction of risks (in terms of exposition and vulnerability to seismic and climate change related risks) 2 International Scientific Conference GEOBALCANICA 2016 256 mobility (concerning the presence of public means of transports, distance to the transit stops, roads, pedestrian and cycling lanes) accessibility increase (in terms of access to trip attractions) land-use diversity (in terms of number and distribution of different land uses) public spaces and services (in terms of extension and functions) Each of the aforementioned aspects are evaluated by spatial indicators calculated by GIS. All indicators are calculated at different and size increasing units, in order to understand the effect of a single regeneration project and of a number of concurrent projects within the considered geographical units. The geographical units are the RAs and districts. Different combinations of regeneration projects will be thus evaluated to highlight which projects produce the most relevant effects, calculated with the proposed indicators. This will allow the municipality to define scenarios of regeneration priority, in terms of which projects might be financed and implemented firstly because of their higher positive effect on the urban environment. Such scenarios will generate positive effects not only to the single areas to be regenerated but also to wider urban contexts, significantly reducing the urban vulnerability to seismic and climate change risks and at the same time producing more livable and healthy urban environment.

Il ruolo delle aree non urbanizzate nei contesti metropolitani: scenari di adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici

Today non-urbanised areas in metropolitan contexts are the most unstable places in the community and the most affected by transformation processes. Agricultural areas, those abandoned and uncultivated and fragments of woods can be reconsidered in new urban planning in the light of new uses for land which can combine peripheral urban agricultural production with examples of use and protection of the environment oriented towards strategies for adaptation to climatic change and the production of ecosystem services. A review of urban planning instruments in the city of Mascalucia presented an opportunity to propose a new scenario for land-use in non-urbanised areas by means of a land suitability model in which combined land cover analysis and fragmentation analysis were applied.