In the past, to make the city liveable, the urban morphology has always be considered taking into account the climate, the buildings' density and characteristics, the type of inhabitants and their social condition. On the contrary, recently in the urban planning process the morphological aspects are no more included even if they influence the energy consumption, the thermal comfort of the urban spaces and the district air quality. Moreover, the socio-economic conditions of inhabitants might strongly affect the lifestyle choice and behavior of building occupants and thus, the probability of success of urban planning measures for energy conservation. The present study aims to: 1) identify the correlation between thermal energy consumption for space heating and urban variables and 2) investigate the role of socio-economic variables in energy savings potential. The city of Turin is suitable for these analyses because it is characterized by different urban forms and urban spaces and by various characteristics of the population. By using a GIS tool, the district 3, chosen as a case study, has been divided into different urban textures considering their urban and socio-economic characteristics. The results of this study show that the measured energy consumption of single building depends on the physical building features (f.i. thermal insulation level, the compactness, the energy system efficiency etc.) but also on the urban form and the streets' orientation. Another important result is that the social and economic situation of inhabitants has a relevant role in the success of sustainable policies. These conclusions may support urban planners in the definition of new urban areas with some "preliminary" energy savings measures at no cost and in formulating tailored policies according to socio-economic conditions from district to district.

Purpose -Two main activities of the EC FP7 Risk of Energy Availability: Common Corridors for Europe Supply Security (REACCESS) project applied a systematic approach to collect the main characteristics of energy supply corridors starting from mining activities in exporting regions up to the import infrastructures and capacities of EU27þ countries. The aim of the present paper is to summarise identified information on import potentials and the possible corridors for the EU27þ energy supply of the future. This information is used as new starting point for the energy system modelling in the REACCESS project. Design/methodology/approach -Detailed information on existing, planned or potential developments derived from literature reviews and expert surveys, as well as from our own calculations, was compiled in a consistent database. By using suitable geographic information system (GIS) tools, all the identified energy supply routes were represented graphically and analysed with reference to their spatial characteristics. Findings -The information collected was used to generate a comprehensive database of resources, production capacities and import routes. Together with further detailed information on technological and economic parameters (not shown in this paper), this database provides new complete and consistent input for the modelling of import corridors and associated risks regarding the energy systems in Europe. Originality/value -The originality of the paper is the synthesis of a huge volume of information provided in the literature and own additional calculations in a consistent way. The resulting database provides the framework for the integration of security of supply aspects into energy scenario modelling, which is an important modelling challenge and one of the main tasks of REACCESS. The study considers oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuel as well as renewable imports of solar electricity and biomass, and also hydrogen as a possible new energy carrier.

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The European buildings occupy a key place among the major energy consumer sectors, with high savings potential. The development of urban planning tools helpful to understand the right policy strategies turning the settled sustainable targets into real energy consumption savings is now a real challenge. Into this paper is described a methodology, for the mid-long term scenarios analysis, able to asses the buildings energy consumption of a municipality by means of a simulation approach and of a geo-referenced characterization of the stock. A thermal model, based on real consumption data, has been used to evaluate space heating energy demand; different savings opportunities have been simulated. Moreover, from the geo-referenced representation of the district heating network, through the integrated procedure, it is possible to perform the optimization of the network layout. A case study application in Turin is presented. Main results are the evaluation of energy consumptions, total costs of the interventions and the release of policy suggestions. Thanks to geo-referenced maps is allowed to put in evidence criticalities and policy effects through thematic maps. The methodology highlights the advantages of coupling a geographical information system application and energy demand forecasting model to build up a tool aimed at supporting decision-making.