Abstract:In recent years, many new districts in urban centres have been planned and constructed to reshape the structure and functions of specific areas. Urban regeneration strategies, planning and design principles have to take into account both socioeconomic perspectives and environmental sustainability. A district located in the historical city centre of Terni (Italy), Corso del Popolo, was analysed to assess the construction effects in terms of surface urban heat island (SUHI) mitigation. This district is an example of urban texture modification planned in the framework of the regeneration of the ancient part of the town. The changes were realised starting from 2006; the new area was completed on June 2014. The analysis was carried out by processing Landsat 7 ETM+ images before and after the interventions, retrieving land surface temperature (LST) and albedo maps. The map analysis proved the SUHI reduction of the new area after the interventions: as confirmed by the literature, such SUHI mitigation can be ascribed to the presence of green areas, the underground parking, the partial covering of the local roadway and the shadow effect of new multi-storey buildings. Moreover, an analysis of other parameters linked to the impervious surfaces (albedo, heat transfer and air circulation) driving LST variations is provided to better understand SUHI behaviour at the district level. The district regeneration shows that wisely planned and developed projects in the construction sector can improve urban areas not only economically and socially, but can also enhance the environmental impact.
Results and considerations are presented from a research aimed to point out the most appropriate configurations -taking into account the available innovative protection systems -and to develop a methodology for building design based on the study of the main factors -architectural, technological and structural -which influence the response of buildings to environment actions. The research is structured in four phases: data collection, requirements definition, performance analysis, summary of results. The goal consists of an organic list of solutions allowing for minimising the environmental impact, optimising the use of materials and construction techniques, enhancing the recycling of materials, reducing the energy consumption, integrating the architecture with the innovative technological and structural systems. The research is currently being carried out and some results obtained at the intermediate stage are presented.
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