Environmental Identities and the Sustainable City. The Green Roof Prospect for the Ecological Transition

Abstract

This research deals with the issue of the recovery of the historic urban fabric with a view towards ecological transition, nowadays considered the preferable direction of sustainability for the reform of the house–city–landscape system. The massive incentives provided by the Italian government for sustainable building, in view of the post-pandemic economic recovery, risk being reduced to mere support for the real estate sector, which turns the financial transfer from the public into an increase in asset value for the private sector. Such an incentive system could contradict the original function of the city, which is to be the privileged place for social communication and the creation of the identity of settled communities. A process of property development that disregards the distribution of income favors the most valuable property, thus increasing the socioeconomic distance between centrality and marginality. The latter is a condition that often characterizes the parts of the historic city affected by extensive phenomena of physical and functional obsolescence of the built heritage, and it is less capable of attracting public funding. The increase of building decay and social filtering-down accelerates the loss and involution of neighborhood identities; the latter constitutes the psycho-social energy that helps preserve the physical, functional and anthropological integrity of the city, due to the differences that make its parts recognizable. This study, with reference to a neighborhood in the historic city of Syracuse (Italy), proposes a model of analysis, evaluation and planning of interventions on the buildings’ roofs, aimed at defining the best strategy for ecological–environmental regeneration. The model presented allows one to generate a multiplicity of alternative strategies that combine different uses of roofs: from the most sustainable green roofs, but that are less cost-effective from the identity and landscape point of view; to the most efficient photovoltaic roofs from the energy–environmental point of view; and up to the most cost-effective ones, the vertical extensions with an increase in building volume. The proposed tool is an inter-scalar multidimensional valuation model that connects the multiple eco-socio-systemic attitudes of individual buildings to the landscape, identity, energy–environmental and economic overall dimensions of the urban fabric and allows one to define and compare multiple alternative recovery hypotheses, evaluating their potential impacts on the built environment. The model allows the formation of 100 different strategies, which are internally coherent and differently satisfy the above four perspectives, and it provides the preferable ones for each of the five approaches practiced. The best strategy characterizes most green roofs, 427 out of 1075 building units, 277 blue roofs, 121 green–blue roofs and 46 grey roofs.

Modeling green roofs in tropical housing to support micro-scale food security

“…Based on the benefits of green roofs, this study agrees with previous research regarding the contribution of green roofs to environmental improvement [7], building energy efficiency through green roof innovation [8] [12], for productive green space [9][10]. The potential of green roofs to reduce environmental heat [11] will create a shady environment and clean air. Plants that are applied to green roofs may not only be useful for consumption, but also improve tropical residential areas in urban areas.…”

“…Reinforcing research that has been done previously [7], it turns out that the roof could function as a productive green area with the implementation of vegetable crops for food needs, very strategically held in urban areas [11].…”

“…The existence of a green roof also has the opportunity to be a substitute for green space which is increasingly being displaced by development. In a larger area, green roofs could even lower the temperature of the area due to the application of plants that could reduce environmental heat [11]. The benefits of green roofs include optimizing the function of space and supporting the environment.…”

Assessment of street-level greenness and its association with housing prices in a metropolitan area

“…As a vital means for advancing sustainable communities, ecological transition to achieve change complied with the criteria for environmental sustainability is worthy of noting 83 , 84 . Previous studies have noted the importance of urban greenness in increasing environmental awareness and well-being 85 – 87 In addition, ecological transition is closely associated with urban greenness and must include citizens’ participations 88 .…”

Vertical Greening Systems: A Critical Comparison of Do-It-Yourself Designs

“…Future work is required, and should focus on real world in situ examples, in order to provide concrete evidence and truly quantify the outcomes of this work in specific contexts. Given the great variability of building types and settlement systems where VGSs can be implemented, it is recommended that the applications of this technology, and the quantification of its success, be determined in as many specific building-districts as possible, so that the current evaluation model can provide more comprehensive information through revision [ 64 ].…”