Valentina Vaccaro

Smart city and public lighting

The smart city is increasingly becoming a concept of reference for what concerns the planning and the spatial development of cities. The concept of smart city cannot be easily standardized. It is based on a multi-service and multi-sectorial planning regarding various urban functions (energy, mobility, waste, etc.) and places them under a common denominator: the use of advanced technologies for minimizing resources consumption and simultaneously increase the quality of life of the citizens. This paper aims to give an overview on the concept of smart city and outline what, at present, are the main intervention areas considered at European level. Then the paper focuses on the public lighting that is among the sectors most affected by “smart actions” by the Public Administrations. The work concludes with a proposal for a retrofit of the public lighting system in a small town in Sicily (Italy).

Smart Cities and Municipal Building Regulation for Energy Efficiency

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 Regulations in order to guide local administrators and technicians and to limit discretionary power of bureaucracy. The paper is organized as follows. First, a review of the most common practices for building regulations in Europe is proposed, then the basic structure of a municipal building regulation for the city of Palermo (Southern Italy) accounting for sustainability is discussed.

The Urban and Environmental Building Code as Implementation Tool

The frame within which the work is placed refers to the actions necessary to achieve the objectives of the coverage of the consumption of energy from renewable sources compared to the gross final consumption, posed to Regions by 2020, and that can be implemented through various actions involving local governments including the revision of the municipal building codes in a sustainable view. These actions are increasingly being recognized as energy planning tools for the territories where administrations have committed to the European project Covenant of Mayors. The discussion shows how the adoption by the Regions of Guidelines for sustainable municipal building codes can be a practical tool for raising the energy performance of buildings and the achievement of common goals of sustainability at regional scale. The work also aims at showing a concrete example of the definition of guidelines for the revision of the municipal Building Regulations for cities within the Sicilian Region.

Smart Cities: Case Studies

This chapter shows some examples of smart cities. In the chapter, case studies have been divided into geographical categories (Middle East cities; North-European cities; Mediterranean cities and the Asian ones) which, macroscopically, refer to three different types of city and communities especially in relation to different levels of technological innovation and type of human capital, which are key factors in the achievement of a smart development. The chapter is divided into four main paragraphs. The newly built cities, in the Middle East paragraph, are cities where everything has been planned from scratch on white paper to limit emissions and increase the quality of life of citizens. In the paragraphs about the North-European cities and the Mediterranean cities, the cities with strong historic value are described. In this section, many European cities, which have specific features like limited possibility to apply technology, but still an adequate level of development to understand and correctly implement the ICT driven choices are described with reference to the smart city concept. The last paragraph shows some example of “developing city” that often are cities with low awareness about sustainable settlement issues, but with a great economic and social growth. These are, in most cases, eastern cities; they show a great potential and are gradually, within the world community, trying to create the basis to become leaders of smart cities development.

Municipal Building Regulations for Energy Efficiency in Southern Italy

The building sector is still one of the most energy consuming sectors in Italy, like developed countries in Europe. At European level, the main policy driver related to the energy use in buildings is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD, 2002/91/EC) and its recast. Through the EPBD introduction, requirements for certification, inspections, training or renovation are now imposed in Member States. In order to fulfill the expected changes, local regulations are a key factor aiming at sustainable territorial planning. It is thus required support the issue of local rules at municipal level in order to guide local administrators and technicians and to limit discretional power of bureaucracy. In this paper, a review of the most common practices for building regulations in Europe and in Italy is proposed, then the role and the framework of a municipal building regulation for the Southern European area accounting for sustainability features is discussed.

Sustainable Integration of Renewable Energy Systems in a Mediterranean Island: A Case Study

Starting from a previous technical and economical feasibility study, this paper analyzes the integration of Renewable Energy Sources into an existing territory with specified features of the natural landscape and of the built environment. The work puts into evidence that territories development must use suitable tools and rules based on integrated knowledge, since technical feasibility studies do not assess the sustainability of the proposed infrastructures within the built environment and landscape. The studied system is in the island of Pantelleria situated between Sicily and northern Africa.

Smart Community Infrastructures

This chapter outlines the concept of intelligent and multi-service infrastructures, addressing the interesting aspects of multi operability, potential of cogeneration and multi-carrier energy hubs, whose basic concepts were only recently described in [1]. The infrastructures that serve a community, such as energy distribution, water and waste piping, mobility and ICT networks are, in fact, the most important means for efficient operation of cities. The chapter, after outlining the contents of the document ISO TR 37150: 2014 concerning the Smart Community Infrastructures, highlights the different approaches needed to implement them within existing cities and newly built cities. At the end, the chapter presents the concept of Energy Hub and some cases study of urban districts (existing district and new built district) modelled as Energy Hubs.

The Role of Sharing Practices and Dematerialized Services in Smart Cities

The “intelligent management” of living in cities and of the traditional urban functions, summarizes the model of smart city. Through new integrated approaches generated from the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and of the web, which take the role of enabling technology for change, contemporary cities are strongly changing. The digital age creates, in fact, the conditions for the emergence of new tools and new services for citizens, based on communication and on sharing and participation practices. The chapter contextualizes these changes by focusing on some examples of what can be defined as “dematerialized services” of contemporary cities, seen as new urban services and new practices of communities living in smart cities.

SHARING PRACTICES AND DEMATERIALIZED SERVICES IN SMART CITIES

The “intelligent management” of the traditional areas of living the cities and of their urban functions, summarizes the model of smart city. Through new integrated approaches generated from the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and of the web, which take the role of enabling tools for change, contemporary cities are strongly changing. The digital age creates, in fact, the conditions for the emergence of new tools and new services for citizens, based on communication and on sharing and participation practices. The article contextualizes these changes by focusing on some examples of what can be defined as “dematerialized services” of contemporary cities, seen as new urban services and new practices of community’s living in smart cities. Keywords: smart city, sharing practices, dematerialized services