A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2020.
Dear Colleagues,
Many cities are characterized by high building and housing density, significant problems of liveability linked to changing climatic conditions, excessive consumption of energy and environmental resources, as well as the production of pollutants in the atmosphere and scarcity of green areas and services for the people. It is recognized, therefore, that in the processes of transformation/valorization of urban settlements, it is necessary to propose and implement sustainable interventions capable of pursuing multiple objectives concerning, for example, a more rational use of the resources and territory; the improvement of the quality level of the urban context through the creation of new green areas; and the social and economic–cultural development of the population also through ecosystem services. These types of services, for example, set off processes of transformation in an integrated key: setting in motion productive activities useful for the economic development of the territory; improving the quality of life of citizens; reducing the consumption of energy resources; and increasing the real estate values.
In the processes of settlement transformation, the relationships between multiple elements to be considered together in order to express judgements of convenience on interventions in urban areas require the use of multicriteria and multidimensional evaluation methods and tools, as well as an integrated use of traditional tools and methods for estimating their cost, market, and transformation value, and evaluating the financial and economic viability of projects. The implementation of evaluation methodologies and tools in an integrated way can include the processing and analysis of spatial data, such as Nightlights data, through GIS; the use of programming frameworks in which to structure mathematical algorithms to support evaluation processes related to urban initiatives; the use of computational methods for the analysis of the urban real estate system; and the use of participatory procedures based on forms of public–private partnership in which to take into account the interests of stakeholders involved in settlement transformation initiatives.
In this perspective, this Special Issue is dedicated to collecting and disseminating knowledge related to the development of the most recent methodologies aimed at overcoming the limitations of the actual analysis methods. This proposes the use of tools, also used in different disciplines, that in project evaluation use an integrated approach in which an adequate identification and quantification of spatial, architectural, monetary, environmental, ecological, energy, and temporal aspects can lead to the definition, choice, financing, and implementation, as well as management of sustainable interventions through informed decision-making processes.
Original papers related to the above topics and also dealing generally with methodologies, numerical and experimental investigations, and case-studies are welcome.
Thanks for your contributions.
Prof. Maria Rosaria Guarini
Prof. Pierluigi Morano
Mr. Francesco Sica
Guest Editors
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