URBAN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND POLICY-MAKING

Module URBAN AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN

The course is aimed at providing support for developing an urban transformation project proposal through analysing and interpreting cities and their regions and taking into account spatial, morphological, functional and environmental aspects as well as norms and regulations.

The main objective of this course is developing an urban transformation project scenario to cope with the pressing challenges of climate change and find more effective and sustainable solutions for cities. The didactic activities will be aimed at guiding students along a process of urban and landscape analysis while providing them with the essential elements for understanding the methods to build a project based on the integration of a plethora of components which usually characterises current urban contexts. Specific importance will be given to urban regeneration innovative design approaches, such as the use of concepts and tools of ecosystem services, sustainable urban drainage systems, energy efficiency at urban scale, nature-based solutions and transit-oriented development. These topics will be presented through examples and best practices in the field of urban and landscape planning.

Within the Studio, students will be grouped into working groups for developing a project on a study area that will be assigned at the beginning of the course. Attending the class will allow to minimise the work to be done beyond the Studio hours. The Studio will foresee intermediate deadlines within its lifetime to deliver parts of the assignment and it will be organised so that students will be able to finalise the activities within the laboratory hours.

The class is based on the knowledge and skills as gained by students when attending the Urban and Regional Planning and related Geographic Information Systems Studios which is considered as a preparatory course for the current one. Intermediate level of GIS open-source skills and other advanced graphic/design software abilities are thus required for students to attend.

Lectures and project activities will take place in class. Students are due to register to this course through the dedicated Studium webpage and they will be asked to attend at least 70% of the total course hours

Students will develop an urban transformation project scenario related to an assigned case study, through analysing planning tools, understanding spatial processes at both urban and landscape level as well as investigating the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of the analysed context. The main topics of the course will cover the issue of urban regeneration in a climate change perspective:

 

-       Green infrastructure for providing ecosystem services and adapting to climate change;

-       Nature-based solutions and sustainable urban drainage systems for mitigating climate change effects;

-       Renewable energy sources systems for enhancing efficiency at urban scale;

-       Land-use policies and public transport systems integration for transit-oriented-development strategies;

-       Investigating city and countryside relationship for planning new forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture.

 

According to the assigned case study, urban transformation processes will be investigated and different project scenario will be criticised. Moreover, relevant examples and best practices will be provided to students in order to support a better understanding of project aims, strategies and actions. The project proposals will be also accompanied by general economic appraisals for quantifying feasibility and financial resources needed for their implementation.

The main, but not the only, assignments to be carried out within the course will include:

 

-       Land-use and Land Cover Analyses

-       Ecosystem services assessment

-       Masterplan

-       Project design

Textbooks and references will include a collection of scientific articles, book chapters, case studies and best practices that will be made available on the dedicated Studium webpage.

Examination will be carried out as an oral presentation of the project design proposal in order to evaluate the general understanding of students about the topics of the class. Only students that will be attending 70% (50% for student workers) of the total 50 hours of this course and whether they will be finalising the assignment, they will be admitted to the final oral examination.

Presentation of methodological and theoretical approaches for defining project scenario.