Celestina Fazia

Most developed countries welcome the redevelopment of brownfield sites and consider it an effective tool for urban policy. However, its adoption can be challenging initially, particularly in developing countries where these challenges are significantly greater. This research aims to answer the question, “How are research methodologies applied in the field of brownfield redevelopment studies?” Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, relevant studies were identified through searches in Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Semantic Scholar. This study utilizes a meta-methodological approach to analyze and compare the methodological characteristics of brownfield redevelopment studies. After applying the predefined eligibility criteria, which included English-language peer-reviewed articles between 2018 and 2023 and articles that are directly relevant to brownfield redevelopment, 20 articles were selected for detailed examination. Based on the thematic classification of the research, the studies can be categorized into four groups: brownfield redevelopment and community participation, brownfield redevelopment and urban planning, brownfield redevelopment and environmental sustainability, and brownfield redevelopment and technology. The majority of the research relates to brownfield redevelopment and environmental sustainability. This review suggests that research in brownfield redevelopment has been dominated by quantitative research, and there is a need for more comparative, theoretically oriented, and methodologically integrated research.

Railway transport plays a crucial role in sustainable and low-carbon mobility; however, the safety and resilience of railway systems are increasingly challenged by aging infrastructure, spatial inequality, and intensifying climate extremes. These challenges are particularly evident in Serbia, where railway stations in rural and peripheral areas often lack adequate safety infrastructure, accessibility, and climate-adaptive design, especially affecting women and other vulnerable passengers. The aim of this study is to develop a GIS-based spatial framework for assessing gender-sensitive railway safety under combined sociospatial and environmental pressures. The analysis integrates multiple geo-information sources, including railway infrastructure data, passenger statistics, safety incidents, and climate hazard indicators such as floods, heatwaves, heavy snowfall, and windstorms. Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, including kernel density estimation, buffer and zonal statistics, spatial interpolation, and spatial regression, were applied to evaluate spatial safety patterns and environmental risks. The results reveal pronounced regional disparities, with southern and eastern Serbia representing the most vulnerable areas due to inactive stations, poor lighting, limited digital connectivity, and frequent exposure to extreme weather events. Rural railway stations are frequently located in climate risk zones, and many do not meet the minimum safety infrastructure standards. Based on these findings, this study recommends strengthening station lighting and surveillance systems, improving digital connectivity and emergency accessibility, and integrating climate-resilient infrastructure planning into railway modernization strategies. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of combining GIS-based spatial analysis, climate hazard assessment, and gender-sensitive planning to support safer, more inclusive, and climate-resilient railway infrastructure in Serbia.

Urban lighting is evolving from a basic technical infrastructure to a strategic tool for sustainable regeneration, energy efficiency, and public space reactivation. This paper explores the potential of smart and adaptive lighting systems as enablers of 24 h services, equitable access, and environmental resilience. By integrating lighting strategies with urban planning instruments (PRIC, PEC, PMU), cities can reduce energy consumption, limit light pollution, and foster new urban centralities. The study outlines regulatory gaps, technical solutions, and cultural shifts needed to transform lighting into a key asset for livable, inclusive, and digitally enabled urban futures.

The Strait of Messina occupies a strategic position in the Mediterranean, representing an environmental and territorial peculiarity. The Strait area today is at the center of the political debate for the stable crossing project, a strategic infrastructure work for Italy and Europe. With the Strait Bridge, territorial arrangements, sea fronts, infrastructure systems, and urban and architectural dimensions will change. It appears necessary to prepare the territories and take advantage of all the opportunities related to future scenarios. The Strait area is not only marked by the crossing, but the whole territorial and urban system—the coastal strip and inland areas—becomes an active part of the processes of territorial regeneration and development.

The post-earthquake reconstruction of Messina in 1908 was a varied exercise in new architecture and unique construction techniques. A symbolic building is Palazzo Magaudda or Mallandrino-Coppedè, dating back to the 1920s, which except for partial elevation had never been restored still showing signs of bombing during World War II and fascist slogans on its facades. Its location between the Duomo and the new rationalist Palazzata on the harbour are also significant. The building is made of artificial stone in cement amalgam with Messina grit. The construction site was a journey into the past exploring methods, techniques, illustrating compositional layers, thicknesses, tools for scratching, engraving, bush hammering, grit to create refractions, red bricks for chromatic detachment, telling of mythological and apotropaic stories, narration of skills that intersect painted plaster and graffiti with arabesque tiles, lace-like parapets and capitals intertwined with history and spirituality.

El distrito lanero en la ciudad piamontesa de Biella, Italia, es un ejemplo significativo de industrialización que se desarrolló en el contexto de un valle rural, donde coexistieron actividades manufactureras, asentamientos dispersos y un valioso paisaje natural. La disponibilidad de recursos hídricos y la ubicación estratégica favorecieron el crecimiento de un sistema de producción integrado, que sustentó la economía local y contribuyó a conformar la identidad cultural de la zona durante más de un siglo. Sin embargo, la crisis del sector textil ha provocado el cierre o el abandono de la mayoría de las fábricas, dejando un patrimonio industrial en decadencia, con consecuencias socioeconómicas y medioambientales negativas. El actual estado de abandono del distrito de la lana plantea importantes cuestiones sobre cómo regenerar y reutilizar estas infraestructuras, para devolverles una función útil y estratégica para el territorio. La reutilización de espacios productivos en desuso presenta importantes oportunidades para estimular el desarrollo sostenible, promoviendo actividades culturales, turísticas y empresariales que puedan poner en valor el patrimonio existente. Esta contribución analiza las perspectivas de regeneración del distrito de la lana de Biella, examinando ejemplos virtuosos de reutilización a escala europea y proponiendo estrategias de intervención para reconectar el patrimonio industrial con las dinámicas económicas y sociales actuales.