253
landscape resources, and soil sealing.
11 Waterproofing is the result of the
strong anthropization caused by the urbanisation processes and leads to the
degradation of the ecosystem functions, the alteration of ecological balance,
and a series of negative impacts on the environment such as a strong pressure
and water resources with consequent decrease in rainfall absorption; loss of
biodiversity; impact on food safety; increase in solar energy absorption due to
dark asphalt or concrete surfaces, which contribute significantly along with
the heat generated by air conditioning and cooling systems, and the heat produced by traffic, to the so-called ‘Urban Heat Island’ effect.
The evolution of the sprawl phenomenon and the quantification of its
impacts have therefore pushed scholars and researchers and then also administrators and politicians to search for the measures to adopt and the possible
actions to be implemented through specific and sectoral policies as well as
careful planning.
The urban and regional planning may limit the sprawl also by means of
infrastructural and transport regulation measures which foster a reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions and allow to direct the growth and form of the
urban space. In fact, density, functional mixité, re-compaction of the urban
space, infrastructure design and the promotion of public and collective transport are the principles for developing guidelines for sustainable planning that
regulates the urban space in such a way to control and reduce CO 2 emissions.
This is how the form of the urban settlement and the planning aimed to regulate its growth that can make an important contribution to climate protection,
12 and this is why even at a European level, one of the major pushes is
heading for intervention on the urban form, the compaction of the urban
space, and the re-use of abandoned and dismissed areas.
11 On this subject, please refer to the documents produced by the EU, in particular the Soil
Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231); and on the measures that may be adopted to mitigate
the phenomenon: European Commission (2011), Report on best practices for limiting soil
sealing and mitigating its effects, Technical Report, 2011-050, Apr., available at: http://ec.
europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/sealing/Soil%20sealing%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
12 See: Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC (2014), “Human Settlements,
Infrastructure and Spatial Planning”, in Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona,
E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier,
B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.),
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to
the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, cap. 12,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom and New York.
(continued)
8 Mitigation of and Adaptation to UHI Phenomena: The Padua Case Study
landscape resources, and soil sealing.
11 Waterproofing is the result of the
strong anthropization caused by the urbanisation processes and leads to the
degradation of the ecosystem functions, the alteration of ecological balance,
and a series of negative impacts on the environment such as a strong pressure
and water resources with consequent decrease in rainfall absorption; loss of
biodiversity; impact on food safety; increase in solar energy absorption due to
dark asphalt or concrete surfaces, which contribute significantly along with
the heat generated by air conditioning and cooling systems, and the heat produced by traffic, to the so-called ‘Urban Heat Island’ effect.
The evolution of the sprawl phenomenon and the quantification of its
impacts have therefore pushed scholars and researchers and then also administrators and politicians to search for the measures to adopt and the possible
actions to be implemented through specific and sectoral policies as well as
careful planning.
The urban and regional planning may limit the sprawl also by means of
infrastructural and transport regulation measures which foster a reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions and allow to direct the growth and form of the
urban space. In fact, density, functional mixité, re-compaction of the urban
space, infrastructure design and the promotion of public and collective transport are the principles for developing guidelines for sustainable planning that
regulates the urban space in such a way to control and reduce CO 2 emissions.
This is how the form of the urban settlement and the planning aimed to regulate its growth that can make an important contribution to climate protection,
12 and this is why even at a European level, one of the major pushes is
heading for intervention on the urban form, the compaction of the urban
space, and the re-use of abandoned and dismissed areas.
11 On this subject, please refer to the documents produced by the EU, in particular the Soil
Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231); and on the measures that may be adopted to mitigate
the phenomenon: European Commission (2011), Report on best practices for limiting soil
sealing and mitigating its effects, Technical Report, 2011-050, Apr., available at: http://ec.
europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/sealing/Soil%20sealing%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
12 See: Intergovernamental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC (2014), “Human Settlements,
Infrastructure and Spatial Planning”, in Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona,
E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier,
B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.),
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, Contribution of Working Group III to
the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, cap. 12,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom and New York.
(continued)
8 Mitigation of and Adaptation to UHI Phenomena: The Padua Case Study