This research assumes as a specific topic of analysis the peri-urban landscape, an environment manifesting many contradictions among the traditional forms of cities, their actual patterns, and the permanence of a rural ambient. Current theories on sustainability propose the definition of a limit to the urban growth. It seems like the hypothesis of sustainability explicates itself through the postulate of the “compact city”, with strategies of densification, infilling, or re-compactation of the urban margins. Opposite to this, a sustainable approach to urban design consider the indeterminacy in terms of urban growth , the evolutionary patterns, and the predominance of open spaces of the peri-urban landscape. This research wishes to develop a theoretical approach to the project of the peri-urban landscape, defined, first of all, with a critical literature review approach through the idea of “network”. The question this research wishes to answer is: what conceptual categories and operational tools can be applied to the design of the peri-urban landscape, considering that cities develop different patterns of growth depending on the specific social and economic factors? The review defines the characteristics of a project in the peri-urban as evolutionary, progressive, and based on a network of interconnections and open spaces. One limitation this thesis is trying to address is the lack of a method accounting for the complexity of the city and its relationship to the wider territory. Envisioning scenarios of development for urban margins requires a focused understanding and description of the existing patterns at the macro-scale. Therefore, it could be proposed an analytical and a combined analytical-design model forward, based on the concept of networks. This is developed through the detailed study of a theory for the analysis named Space Syntax, and the exploration of the possible conceptual and operational relationships with typical approach of the Landscape Urbanism. / Questa ricerca assume come specifico argomento dell’analisi il paesaggio periurbano, un ambiente che manifesta molteplici contraddizioni rispetto alle forme tradizionali di città, i pattern attuali, e la permanenza di un ambiente rurale. Teorie contemporanee sulla sostenibilità tendono a proporre la definizione di un limite alla crescita urbana. Sembra che le ipotesi di sostenibilità si esplichino attraverso il postulato della “città compatta”, con strategie di densificazione, infilling, o ri-compattazione dei margini urbani. Al contrario, un approccio sostenibile al progetto urbano potrebbe ugualmente tener conto sia della indeterminatezza riguardo alla crescita della città, e ai suoi pattern di sviluppo, sia della predominanza di spazi aperti nel paesaggio del periurbano. La ricerca ha lo scopo di sviluppare un approccio teorico al progetto del paesaggio periurbano, definito, prima di tutto, con una revisione critica della letteratura esistente, operata attraverso il concetto di “rete”. La domanda a cui questa ricerca vorrebbe rispondere è: quali categorie concettuali e strumenti operativi possono essere applicati al progetto del paesaggio periurbano, considerando che le città sviluppano diversi pattern di crescita in relazione a specifici fattori economici e sociali? Prima di tutto, questa revisione critica definisce le caratteristiche di un progetto nel periurbano come evolutivo, incrementale, e basato su una rete di interconnessioni e spazi aperti. Un limite, a cui questa ricerca vorrebbe rispondere, è la mancanza di un metodo che tenga conto della complessità della città contemporanea e delle sue relazioni con il territorio.. Prevedere scenari di crescita per i margini urbani richiede una comprensione e un’accurata descrizione dei pattern di crescita alla macro-scala. Viene quindi proposto un modello analitico e progettuale basato sul concetto di “rete”. Questo è sviluppato attraverso uno studio dettagliato di una teoria per l’analisi chiamata Space Syntax, e l’esplorazione di possibili relazioni concettuali ed operative tra questa teoria e l’approccio tipico del Landscape Urbanism.

La ricerca si propone di definire le linee guida per la stesura di un Piano che si occupi di qualità della vita e di benessere. Il richiamo alla qualità e al benessere è positivamente innovativo, in quanto impone agli organi decisionali di sintonizzarsi con la soggettività attiva dei cittadini e, contemporaneamente, rende evidente la necessità di un approccio più ampio e trasversale al tema della città e di una più stretta relazione dei tecnici/esperti con i responsabili degli organismi politicoamministrativi. La ricerca vuole indagare i limiti dell’urbanistica moderna di fronte alla complessità di bisogni e di nuove necessità espresse dalle popolazioni urbane contemporanee. La domanda dei servizi è notevolmente cambiata rispetto a quella degli anni Sessanta, oltre che sul piano quantitativo anche e soprattutto sul piano qualitativo, a causa degli intervenuti cambiamenti sociali che hanno trasformato la città moderna non solo dal punto di vista strutturale ma anche dal punto di vista culturale: l’intermittenza della cittadinanza, per cui le città sono sempre più vissute e godute da cittadini del mondo (turisti e/o visitatori, temporaneamente presenti) e da cittadini diffusi (suburbani, provinciali, metropolitani); la radicale trasformazione della struttura familiare, per cui la famiglia-tipo costituita da una coppia con figli, solido riferimento per l’economia e la politica, è oggi minoritaria; l’irregolarità e flessibilità dei calendari, delle agende e dei ritmi di vita della popolazione attiva; la mobilità sociale, per cui gli individui hanno traiettorie di vita e pratiche quotidiane meno determinate dalle loro origini sociali di quanto avveniva nel passato; l’elevazione del livello di istruzione e quindi l’incremento della domanda di cultura; la crescita della popolazione anziana e la forte individualizzazione sociale hanno generato una domanda di città espressa dalla gente estremamente variegata ed eterogenea, frammentata e volatile, e per alcuni aspetti assolutamente nuova. Accanto a vecchie e consolidate richieste – la città efficiente, funzionale, produttiva, accessibile a tutti – sorgono nuove domande, ideali e bisogni che hanno come oggetto la bellezza, la varietà, la fruibilità, la sicurezza, la capacità di stupire e divertire, la sostenibilità, la ricerca di nuove identità, domande che esprimono il desiderio di vivere e di godere la città, di stare bene in città, domande che non possono essere più soddisfatte attraverso un’idea di welfare semplicemente basata sull’istruzione, la sanità, il sistema pensionistico e l’assistenza sociale. La città moderna ovvero l’idea moderna della città, organizzata solo sui concetti di ordine, regolarità, pulizia, uguaglianza e buon governo, è stata consegnata alla storia passata trasformandosi ora in qualcosa di assai diverso che facciamo fatica a rappresentare, a descrivere, a raccontare. La città contemporanea può essere rappresentata in molteplici modi, sia dal punto di vista urbanistico che dal punto di vista sociale: nella letteratura recente è evidente la difficoltà di definire e di racchiudere entro limiti certi l’oggetto “città” e la mancanza di un convincimento forte nell’interpretazione delle trasformazioni politiche, economiche e sociali che hanno investito la società e il mondo nel secolo scorso. La città contemporanea, al di là degli ambiti amministrativi, delle espansioni territoriali e degli assetti urbanistici, delle infrastrutture, della tecnologia, del funzionalismo e dei mercati globali, è anche luogo delle relazioni umane, rappresentazione dei rapporti tra gli individui e dello spazio urbano in cui queste relazioni si muovono. La città è sia concentrazione fisica di persone e di edifici, ma anche varietà di usi e di gruppi, densità di rapporti sociali; è il luogo in cui avvengono i processi di coesione o di esclusione sociale, luogo delle norme culturali che regolano i comportamenti, dell’identità che si esprime materialmente e simbolicamente nello spazio pubblico della vita cittadina. Per studiare la città contemporanea è necessario utilizzare un approccio nuovo, fatto di contaminazioni e saperi trasversali forniti da altre discipline, come la sociologia e le scienze umane, che pure contribuiscono a costruire l’immagine comunemente percepita della città e del territorio, del paesaggio e dell’ambiente. La rappresentazione del sociale urbano varia in base all’idea di cosa è, in un dato momento storico e in un dato contesto, una situazione di benessere delle persone. L’urbanistica moderna mirava al massimo benessere del singolo e della collettività e a modellarsi sulle “effettive necessità delle persone”: nei vecchi manuali di urbanistica compare come appendice al piano regolatore il “Piano dei servizi”, che comprende i servizi distribuiti sul territorio circostante, una sorta di “piano regolatore sociale”, per evitare quartieri separati per fasce di popolazione o per classi. Nella città contemporanea la globalizzazione, le nuove forme di marginalizzazione e di esclusione, l’avvento della cosiddetta “new economy”, la ridefinizione della base produttiva e del mercato del lavoro urbani sono espressione di una complessità sociale che può essere definita sulla base delle transazioni e gli scambi simbolici piuttosto che sui processi di industrializzazione e di modernizzazione verso cui era orientata la città storica, definita moderna. Tutto ciò costituisce quel complesso di questioni che attualmente viene definito “nuovo welfare”, in contrapposizione a quello essenzialmente basato sull’istruzione, sulla sanità, sul sistema pensionistico e sull’assistenza sociale. La ricerca ha quindi analizzato gli strumenti tradizionali della pianificazione e programmazione territoriale, nella loro dimensione operativa e istituzionale: la destinazione principale di tali strumenti consiste nella classificazione e nella sistemazione dei servizi e dei contenitori urbanistici. E’ chiaro, tuttavia, che per poter rispondere alla molteplice complessità di domande, bisogni e desideri espressi dalla società contemporanea le dotazioni effettive per “fare città” devono necessariamente superare i concetti di “standard” e di “zonizzazione”, che risultano essere troppo rigidi e quindi incapaci di adattarsi all’evoluzione di una domanda crescente di qualità e di servizi e allo stesso tempo inadeguati nella gestione del rapporto tra lo spazio domestico e lo spazio collettivo. In questo senso è rilevante il rapporto tra le tipologie abitative e la morfologia urbana e quindi anche l’ambiente intorno alla casa, che stabilisce il rapporto “dalla casa alla città”, perché è in questa dualità che si definisce il rapporto tra spazi privati e spazi pubblici e si contestualizzano i temi della strada, dei negozi, dei luoghi di incontro, degli accessi. Dopo la convergenza dalla scala urbana alla scala edilizia si passa quindi dalla scala edilizia a quella urbana, dal momento che il criterio del benessere attraversa le diverse scale dello spazio abitabile. Non solo, nei sistemi territoriali in cui si è raggiunto un benessere diffuso ed un alto livello di sviluppo economico è emersa la consapevolezza che il concetto stesso di benessere sia non più legato esclusivamente alla capacità di reddito collettiva e/o individuale: oggi la qualità della vita si misura in termini di qualità ambientale e sociale. Ecco dunque la necessità di uno strumento di conoscenza della città contemporanea, da allegare al Piano, in cui vengano definiti i criteri da osservare nella progettazione dello spazio urbano al fine di determinare la qualità e il benessere dell’ambiente costruito, inteso come benessere generalizzato, nel suo significato di “qualità dello star bene”. E’ evidente che per raggiungere tale livello di qualità e benessere è necessario provvedere al soddisfacimento da una parte degli aspetti macroscopici del funzionamento sociale e del tenore di vita attraverso gli indicatori di reddito, occupazione, povertà, criminalità, abitazione, istruzione, etc.; dall’altra dei bisogni primari, elementari e di base, e di quelli secondari, culturali e quindi mutevoli, trapassando dal welfare state allo star bene o well being personale, alla wellness in senso olistico, tutte espressioni di un desiderio di bellezza mentale e fisica e di un nuovo rapporto del corpo con l’ambiente, quindi manifestazione concreta di un’esigenza di ben-essere individuale e collettivo. Ed è questa esigenza, nuova e difficile, che crea la diffusa sensazione dell’inizio di una nuova stagione urbana, molto più di quanto facciano pensare le stesse modifiche fisiche della città. / The research aims to define guidelines for the preparation of a plan that deals with quality of life and well-being. The reference to the quality and well-being is positively innovative, because imposes to organs of the government to relate with the subjectivity of active citizens and, at the same time, makes clear the need for a broader and transversal approach to the city and a more close relationship of technicians/experts with the leaders of political and administrative bodies. The research investigates the limits of modern town-planning theory in front of the complexity of new needs expressed by contemporary urban populations. The demand for services has changed significantly compared to that one of the Sixties, not only on the quantity but also and especially in terms of quality, because of the social changes that have transformed the modern city, from the point of view of the structure and the cultural request: the intermittent citizenship, so cities are increasingly experienced and enjoyed by citizens of the world (tourists and/or visitors, temporarily present) and popular citizens (suburban, provincial, metropolitan); radical transformation of the family structure, so the family-type consisting of a couple with children, solid benchmark for the economy and politics, is now minority; the irregularity and flexibility of calendars, diaries and rhythms of life of the population active, and social mobility, so individuals have trajectories of life and daily practices less determined by their social origins of what happened in the past; the elevation of the level of education and thus the increase in demand for culture; the growth of elderly population and the strong social individualism have generated a demand for the city expressed by the people extremely varied and diverse, fragmented and volatile, and in some aspects quite new. Close to old and consolidated requests - the city efficient, functional, productive, accessible to all - there are new questions, ideals and needs such as beauty, variety, usability, security, the ability to amaze and entertain, sustainability, the search for new identities, questions that express a desire to live and enjoy the city, to fell good into the city, questions that can no longer be satisfied through a welfare simply based on education, health, pension system and social security. The modern city or the modern idea of the city, based only on the concepts of order, regularity, cleaning, equality and good governance was handed over to the past history turning into something very different hard to represent, describe, tell. The contemporary city can be represented in many different ways, both on town-planning way and social way: in the recent literature there is the obvious difficulty of defining and enclose within certain limits the subject “city” and the lack of a strong belief in the interpretation of political, economic and social transformations that have invested society and the world in the last century. The contemporary city, beyond the administrative areas, territorial expansion and urban structures, infrastructure, technology, functionalism and global markets, is also a place of human relations, representation of the relationship between individuals and urban spaces where these relationship move. The city is both physical concentration of people and buildings, but also variety of uses and groups, it’s the place of dense social relations where processes of cohesion or social exclusion occur, a place of cultural norms that govern behaviour and identity, expressed physically and symbolically through public spaces of city life. It’s necessary a new approach to study the contemporary city, made up of cross-contamination and knowledge provided by other disciplines such as sociology and human sciences, which help to build the image commonly known of the city and the territory, landscape and environment. The representation of the urban social life varies according to what it is considered, in a specific historic moment and in a given context, a situation of well-being. The modern town-planning aimed at maximum level of well-being for individuals and communities, modelling on "real needs of people": in the old urban systems manuals appears a "Plan of services” as an appendix to the master plan, which includes services distributed on the surrounding areas, a sort of "social master plan" to avoid neighborhoods separated by segments of population or classes. In the contemporary city globalization, new forms of marginalization and exclusion, the advent of the so-called "new economy", the re-definition of the production base and the labour market are urban expression of a social complexity that can be defined trough transactions and symbolic exchanges, rather than trough processes of industrialization and modernization towards which the historic city, adopted modern, was oriented. All of this questions are the expression of that complex of matters which are currently described as "the new welfare", opposed to the one essentially based on education, on health, on the pension system and on social assistances. The research has therefore examined the traditional tools of town-planning and territorial programming in their operational and institutional dimension: the main destination of these instruments is the classification and accommodation of services and urban containers. It’s evident, however, that in order to answer to the many questions of complexity, needs and desires expressed by contemporary society the actual allocations to "make city" must necessarily overcome the concepts of "standards" and "zoning" that are too rigid and unable to adapt to a growing demand for quality and services and at the same time inadequate to manage the relationship between collective space and domestic space. In this sense it is important to consider the relationship between housing types and urban morphology and hence the environment around the house, which establishes the relationship "from the house to the city" because it is in this duality that it is possible to define the relationship between private domestic spaces and public spaces and contextualize questions of roads, shops, meeting places, accesses. After the convergence from the wide urban scale construction to the architectural scale, the attention moves from the architectural scale to the scale of urban constructions, since the criterion of well-being goes through the different scales of habitable space. Moreover, in territorial systems with a widespread well-being and a high level of economic development there’s an emerging awareness that the very concept of well-being is no longer linked only to the ability of collective and/or individual income: today the quality of life is measured in terms of environmental quality and social inclusion. Thus the need of an instrument of knowledge of the contemporary city to be attached to the Plan, containing criteria to be observed in the design of urban spaces in order to determine the quality and well-being, in the meaning of “quality of feeling good”, of urban environment. Obviously, to reach quality and well-being it is necessary to satisfy macroscopic aspects of social functioning and living standards, through the indicators of income, employment, poverty, crime, housing, education, etc., and also first needs, basic and elementary, and secondary, cultural and changing, moving through the welfare state to a general feeling of well-being, to wellness in a holistic sense, all expressions of a desire for mental and physical beauty and a new relationship of the body with the environment, then real expression of a need for an individual and collective wellbeing. And it is this need, new and difficult, which creates the widespread feeling of a starting new urban season, much more than physical changes of the city could represent.

No description available.

La finalità della ricerca è l'individuazione di uno strumento urbanistico per governare il territorio metropolitano che garantisca la successione efficace ed efficiente delle azioni nelle quali si articola il processo di pianificazione strategica. All'interno della ricerca, da un lato si indaga lo sviluppo storico-culturale che ha caratterizzato in Italia il concetto di area metropolitana, individuandone i contenuti e le operazioni che portano alla perimetrazione del suo territorio. Dall'altro lato si approfondisce il tema della pianificazione strategica come strumento fondamentale per il governo delle città metropolitane intermedie. Si è proceduto all'approfondimento del dibattito culturale e scientifico sul tema delle aree metropolitane, nell'esperienza di pianificazione strategica sviluppata in ambito internazionale e successivamente il dibattito politico che si è sviluppato nella realtà italiana sul concetto di area metropolitana, evidenziandone gli aspetti condivisi e le diverse tipologie di approccio per ottenere una perimetrazione utile al piano di governo del territorio. Ovviamente, nel processo di analisi, un ruolo dominante è stato assunto dal quadro istituzionale e normativo che si è sviluppato ed è tuttora in corso sul tema delle aree metropolitane. Alla tematica relativa alla definizione delle aree, si è sviluppato un consistente approfondimento sui requisiti che devono essere posseduti da un piano strategico costruito sulle esigenze di un'area metropolitana. E' stata individuata l'area metropolitana di Bologna quale area oggetto di studio approfondito, ripercorrendo le vicende che hanno animato il dibattito sulla nascita della Città metropolitana delimitata dalla Provincia. A tal proposito, si è sviluppata una riflessione sui contenuti innovativi e promozionali del piano strategico, valutando gli effetti che il Piano Strategico Metropolitano in corso di elaborazione sarà in grado di produrre sulle dinamiche territoriali e socio-economiche dell'area bolognese. / The purpose is the identification of a planning instrument to govern the metropolitan territory. The document should ensure the efficient sequence of actions which make up the strategic planning process. Within the research explores the historical and cultural development that has characterized Italian metropolitan area, identifying the operations that lead to the delimitation of its territory. It also examines the issue of strategic planning as a fundamental tool for the government of intermediate metropolitan cities. The research has proceeded in the deepening of cultural and scientific debate on the issue of metropolitan areas in the experience of strategic planning developed in the international arena. The basic themes were the selection of references useful in discussing the theme of metropolitan areas and methods for the construction of a strategic plan in the territorial governments of large areas. It then analyzed the political debate that has developed in the Italian reality, highlighting the shared aspects and the different types of approach to get a perimeter useful to the plan of government of the territory. Of course, a dominant role was assumed by the institutional framework that has been developed and is still in the progress on the issue of metropolitan areas. It also has developed a substantial deepening of the requirements that must be possessed by a strategic plan built on the needs of a metropolitan area. Then the metropolitan area of ​​Bologna has been identified where the subject of extensive study area, retracing the events that have enlivened the debate on the emergence of the Metropolitan City bordered by the Province. In this regard, it has developed a reflection on the content of the strategic approach, evaluating the effects of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan being developed, it will be able to produce territorial and social-economic dynamics to the Bologna area.

The contemporary cities are facing affected by three factors that are changing our lifestyle: the economic and relative social crisis getting worse by the pandemic, the technological revolution and the climate changes effects. In this framework, this thesis investigates the adaptive urban planning as a part of DICAM - Trento Urban Transformation Research Programme, which started in 2017 to provide scientific support for the Trento general urban plan review. This doctoral research aims to demonstrate how the open, adaptive and metabolic plan can respond to city demands by means of Collaborative urban Transformations: the processes that go beyond the dichotomous relationship between the strategical approach and the tactical one. The thesis output is an Open Toolbox made of strategies, tactics and devices to catalyses the challenges, goals and actions of adaptive urban plan, as the Trento Leaf Plan proposed by the TUT research group. The final Manifesto has been proposed to test and implement in other contexts the new planning approach capable to activating the ecological transition, as an adaptive, multi-scalar and interdisciplinary process that leads towards a city more ECO, ACCOGLIENTE, ACCESSIBILE, SMART and BELLA.

Climate change is directly or indirectly affecting cities, regions or even nations in multiple ways. Impacts are exponential and repetitive with increased instability of climate pattern, socio-ecological systems, increased inequalities and distribution of resources. It is therefore necessary that social and economic hubs and potential resource rich region should become the catalyst that encourages the focus on climate change policies. Despite having various international and national climate change frameworks and forums it is unclear how international, national and even local governments develop response actions to climate concerns and integrate them into different spatial scales. Developing and mainstreaming effective response actions to climate change into numerous sectors, cross-sectoral policies is a complex issue which has plagued policy makers at different spatial scales and on different policy arenas. In order to efficiently integrate and sensitizing society towards climate change issues, decision makers and different stakeholders have to develop insightful information bases, share awareness of climate change risks, vulnerability patterns and finally develop response actions at all level of policy preparation through policy integration, implementation or structural reforms. This study contributes towards understanding climate change risks and perception within spatial planning policies at local level. This has been undertaken by investigating, testing or developing real spatial planning policies, vulnerability assessment frameworks and decision support systems that aim to improve current spatial planning tools intended at building climate resilient living spaces. This study was divided into three main stages 1) To develop and test an assessment framework to track integration of climate change issues into spatial planning, 2) To identify hot spots of climate change at urban/regional levels by applying spatial vulnerability assessment tools and 3) To apply eco-system based adaption responses to climate change in an urban region and identifying barriers. Drawing the case study from India, in the first stage, an attempt was made to understand how spatial plans in India are incorporating climate change issues and identifying potential gaps. Spatial plans across various cities in India were examined with the help of a review framework that was developed upon Moser and Loer’s (2008) work on ''Managing climate risks''. The second stage presents a climate change vulnerability assessment framework and its working methodology at local spatial scale, considering three main components: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The vulnerability assessment framework was applied to an urban area in India, namely, Bangalore and a hill district of Eastern Himalaya namely Darjeeling. In the final stage of this study, ecosystem services based adaptation responses within spatial planning was studies to understand how it can increase adaptive capacity and address climate changes issues. The results of this study identified key concerns to climate change issues and its integration in India. The policy analysis shows that the role of spatial plans to integrate climate change issues at local levels like urban areas and regions in India are still limited. Local policies and spatial plans shows low level of awareness, moderate level of analytical capability and limited action responses to integrate climate change issues at local level. Spatial policies in India are still limited to physical and economic issues and undermine the issues of climate change. The application of vulnerability assessment framework demonstrated that it successfully provided a spatial assessment of climate change vulnerability patterns. The spatial pattern of vulnerability identifies areas requiring urgent attention to adaptation action, enabling policy intervention and prioritizing action. At the same time an analysis of the perception of people also confirmed the results of vulnerability assessment at local level. Finally the results showed how ecosystem services based response actions when applied within spatial planning can play an important role to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to local climate concerns with least negative repercussions. The findings of this study creates a platform for discussion on decision making process and the potential aspects where climate change issues can become a part of spatial planning policy. Climate change mitigation and adaptation for short terms may fulfill objectives for current climate scenarios but may impose externalities in future. So, policy makers and local development organization need to carefully narrate future climate resilient scenarios. This study is the reflection of the interrelationship between the existing information bases, knowledge gaps, policy preparation practices, analytical capability, participation and technological innovation in climate change integration at local spatial scale.

Sustainability while being definitely a new form of humanity, as it has been proposed and dealt with in many urban and landscape projects lacks often of an essential characteristic of the anthropic space: seduction. We believe that Sustainability has to find its own power of seduction if it is to compete successfully with the ambiguous but established charms of the unsustainable city. From all the above it is clear the importance of the ‘Aesthetic of Sustainability’ as fundamental for the success of a new model of green planning not just from an environmental and economic point of view, but, perhaps and most importantly, from a social and mental one. This research investigates the possibility to look at Sustainability and Aesthetics through the lens of evolutive processes and the complexity theory to inform a new Bottom Up/Self Organized approach as a possible morphogenetic process for sustainable city design. Often criticized as the theory of ‘out of control’ the complexity theory applied to the urban could instead be the enabler of a new paradigm where the notion of single authorship with intellectual ownership and his aesthetic language is substituted by the concept of a collective and a new aesthetics of choice where the Aesthetics of Sustainability is that action on the psyche, negotiating between personal subjectivity and collective subjectivity, as a form of knowledge, a process, and a tool for aesthetic creation that cannot be separated from the socius and the environment.

Ecosystems contribute to human wellbeing though the provisioning of goods and services, also known as ecosystem services (ES). However not all ecosystems provide ES to the same extent and depending on physical characteristics of the ecosystems or their location within the city, ES flow differently. The consideration of ecosystems and ES in the planning practice can play an important role in coping with urban challenges, aside to their potential to ameliorate quality of life. Urban planning represents one of the tools administrations have to influence the distribution of ecosystems and ES in a city, and to determine the benefits they provide and, more specifically, to re-determine the number, the location and type of beneficiaries reached. Inclusion of the ES concept in the planning practice can lead to strategic the creation or restoration of Green Urban Infrastructures in a city to maximize the provisioning of a specific ES. Despite the awareness of advantages coming from the application of the ES concept in the planning, there is limited evidence about the application in the planning practice. Goal of this work of this work is to contribute to mainstream ES knowledge into practice. Towards the achievement of this goal, it is crucial to understand the extent to which the ES concept is currently included in urban planning, and to identify the type of information that can most effectively support decision-makers and planners in adopting ES knowledge, and specifically Ecosystem-based measures in their “everyday†urban planning. The work is organized in four specific objectives: i) to provide an overview of the current state of the art related to inclusion of Ecosystem-based measures in urban planning and discuss, and use it identify and discuss the main shortcoming and propose possible solutions. ii)0 to develop an approach to estimate the cooling capacity provided by Green Urban Infrastructures to support urban planning. iii) to test the application of ES assessments in two case studies. iv) to develop guidance to support equitable distribution of ES in cities. The ES concept represents a tool to understand the underlying links between ecosystems, benefits provided and human wellbeing: if effectively used and mainstreamed in the planning practice, can be one of the keys for more livable and equitable cities

This dissertation examines the concept of sustainable energy within a urban design context. In essence, the research aims to answer the question: “what role does the city’s built environment morphology play, if any, in the sustainability of its energy system?”. To answer this question, I first derive an operational definition of sustainable energy in the post carbon era: maintaining the capability to provide non-declining energy services in time. Providing non-declining energy services, in an urban design context, depends on urban morphologies ability to save and conserve energy, be efficient and produce energy from renewable sources without decrease the level of energy services. In other words we can think of a more sustainable energy urban built environment as one that saves energy, is efficient and produces energy from renewable resources per unit of throughput, with energy sustainability measured by urban morphologies energy performances and throughput measured by land unit. This is a normative framework. It can only indicate relative levels of sustainable energy of urban morphologies. Within a specific urban system this framework can allow us to measure which part of the city produce more sustainable energy urban patterns. To employ this framework I utilize a Spatial Pattern Oriented Modelling approach. The energy performance of an urban morphology metric comes from its basis in the international debate on urban energy sustainability, its ability to account for a specific aspect of sustainable energy and the possibility for its derivation from the spatial pattern analysis. Drawing from the large research based on exploring the role of the urban morphology on urban energy system, I derived several spatial patterns indicators that assess the influence of urban morphology on energy performances of urban settlements. These spatial patterns metrics, combined, enable the exploration of sustainable energy within a given urban morphology configuration. I apply the framework to a case study area located in northern Italy between Alps, the transect Trento-Pergine-Valsugana, utilizing data from different sources and exploring the possibilities given by a high-resolution 3D spatial database, a LiDAR survey, and by a geolocalized human activities database, internet 2.0, for the urban morphology analysis with focus to energy. The Principal Component Analysis is used to estimate the correlation between different spatial patterns indicators while a ranking system, based on arbitrary thresholds and classes, is used to visually compare the scores of different sustainable energy performances of urban morphologies.

This PhD research focuses on the Italian case and analyses the possibility of integrating energy planning with spatial planning, the effectiveness of plan implementation mechanisms, and the prospect of replacing public-led interventions with market tools. Recent innovations in the legislative framework support the inclusion of energy saving and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals in plan implementation procedures.