Salvatore Losco

The intensification of heat waves and the increase in average temperatures, particularly evident in the Mediterranean context, underline the urgency of strengthening sustainable spatial planning, introducing concrete tools to understand and manage how urban form, land-use and local microclimate interact with each other. In this direction, the paper proposes an integrated methodological path to map territorial exposure to surface heat stress in densely urbanised contexts, applying it to the case study of the Caserta conurbation. The approach uses several levels of analysis: (i) the estimation of the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the calculation of Land Surface Temperature (LST) from the Landsat series (1987–2022), using radiance/reflectance measurements and deriving LST from the Top-of-Atmosphere Brightness Temperature (BT) and from the Land Surface Emissivity (LSE); (ii) the consistency check of satellite-derived surface temperature using meteorological station data from the archive of the Multi-Risk Functional Center of the Civil Protection of the Campania Region, fed by the measurements of the sensors installed in the area by the Campania Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC); (iii) the evaluation of the intensity of the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) as the difference between LST values extracted from paired urban and non-urbanised reference areas; (iv) the verification of the relationship between NDVI and LST by linear regression, with NDVI as the explanatory variable and LST as the dependent variable, showing a statistically consistent inverse relationship. The results support a multi-scalar reading of the intervention priorities, highlighting that the potential relevance of nature-based solutions (NBS) and cooling strategies varies according to local urban morphology, geographical configuration, and degree of soil sealing, requiring context-specific planning evaluations.

Public buildings and open spaces form key elements in an exchange system of both tangible resources (energy, water, physical spaces) and intangible assets (services, skills, time). This study presents an innovative protocol (AGAPE—Automatic GIS Assessment Protocol for Energy and environment) to regenerate metropolitan suburbs by managing common resources and support sustainable communities. It tackles energy poverty by integrating urban planning, environmental design, and economics into geographic information science. This expedites public well-being by redesigning public facilities to enhance community connections and improve bioclimatic resilience. The model test site is a peripheral suburban area, Melito di Napoli, within the Metropolitan City of Naples (Italy), characterized by high population density and ongoing suburban expansion. The protocol evaluates temporal scenarios for implementing multi-purpose solutions, supporting public agencies in strategic intervention assessments, optimizing funding allocation and community benefits. The modeling of redesigned community assets reveal key outcomes: renewed land-use opportunities, reduced spatial inequities, and increased climate change resilience. The transformation of public buildings and facilities into multi-benefit community cores catalyzes virtuous urban regeneration processes. The model AGAPE provides a replicable decision framework to transform existing settlements and to drive the transition towards more sustainable, equitable urban communities.

Effective risk management and mitigation of losses due to natural hazards require comprehensive knowledge of the vulnerability of structures and their capacity for immediate response to sudden, unpredictable events. While the precise timing and location of such events remain uncertain, their occurrence is an anticipated reality. Enhancing resilience and the capacity to assess and manage disaster effects necessitates equipping territorial management with detailed assessments of structural vulnerabilities and efficient tools for rapid safety interventions. Structural safety is a critical aspect of this process. Developing fast and reliable strategies and procedures is essential for establishing a coherent framework to guide risk mitigation activities. This study proposes a systematic approach to classifying and mapping risks associated with natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, landslides, and debris flows. The methodology involves categorizing structures based on their geometric and mechanical properties, grouping them into morpho-types with similar macro-characteristics. Localized maps are developed to identify uniform zones with comparable structural morphologies, delineating areas of similar vulnerability at micro and macro scales. The analysis employs a simplified pushover technique using a robust dislocation-based finite element method. Data obtained from these analyses are processed to define capacity curves for each morpho-type, serving as the basis for the classification system. The results are visualized through user-friendly tools, including abacuses, Geographic Information System (GIS) representations, and thematic risk maps, providing practical resources for risk assessment and territorial management.

The informal city is configured and articulated as a spontaneous, sprawling or illegal city. Each of them present recurring and distinctive characteristics also in relation to specific territorial contexts. After outlining the scientific background of informal and illegal cities, and summarising the Italian specificities of the last ones, the paper focuses on the dualism between the informal and the illegal city found in the analysis of the technical literature on the subject regarding spatial planning. The aim is to bring out affinities and differences between the two city models to contribute to the formulation of the correct contents of urban planning tools for their redevelopment and/or regeneration to transform especially Italian illegal cities into liveable neighbourhoods.

Renewable energy communities (RECs) around photovoltaic systems on public buildings are optimal solutions to counter energy poverty, ensuring all stakeholders access to cheap, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy systems. As the neighborhood is the minimum suitable unit for the implementation of highly sustainable settlements, this article discusses the potential and criticality of RECs at this scale in southern Italy. Starting with the concept of RECs, this study presents a methodology to size sustainable urban communities around school buildings. It integrates practical energy indicators with those defining performance in vegetation and water management. The impact of these factors is analyzed to identify the ideal community size in terms of energy efficiency, economic value, and social cohesion. An interactive scorecard ranks high school sites suitable for transformation into community hubs, taking into consideration the scale of substation distribution. The findings provide empirically validated operational guidelines and best practices to support the transition to smart, efficient, and socially inclusive communities. At the urban scale, the analysis evaluates different urban morphologies, microclimates, characteristics and density of buildings, and population around each assumed community hub. The study provides valuable guidance to local designers, planners, and administrators for the implementation of sustainable technologies by preparing a map of potential RECs.