It is estimated that by 2050, urban areas will host about 70% of the global population. However, they face significant challenges related to their vulnerability to climate change and disaster risks, as well as the need to protect human and ecosystem health. Regenerative design strategies, including Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), play a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation, overall improving the environmental quality of urban areas by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mitigating the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, improving air quality, managing stormwater, promoting biodiversity, and enhancing human well-being.
The URBAN GENERATION project aims to develop a methodology with a specific design tool to select NBS and generate early-design solutions tailored to selected sites, addressing both climate change adaptation and mitigation. Site selection and data collection are carried out by integrating satellite and ground data with meteorological sensors and socio-economic data that characterize local vulnerability and adaptive capacity to heatwaves. Additionally, a parametric workflow, including a computer-assisted multi-criteria evaluation tool, allows for a holistic evaluation of design solutions and the selection of the most effective ones based on Key Performance Indicators.
CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution
CIMA Research Foundation focuses on characterizing urban risk related to heatwaves, addressing both local hazards and the socio-economic determinants of vulnerability. Specifically, the goal is to leverage satellite-derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) data to characterize the Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) in two cities, Genoa and Turin, during a critical period when anomalously high temperatures were recorded compared to the seasonal average. Additionally, we characterize the canopy layer Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect using data from the National Civil Protection network and identify a set of climate projections to implement a methodology for selecting NBS and generating site-specific early-design solutions to address climate change adaptation and mitigation. Finally, we identify and test a methodology for assessing local vulnerability and adaptive capacity to heatwaves through a series of attributes and indicators related to socio-economic dimensions. In this way, CIMA Research Foundation’s contribution to the project is interdisciplinary, integrating various types of expertise related to local climate risk assessment and modeling activities, while fostering a common language among different perspectives and approaches.
