Urban Renovation: An Opportunity
for Economic Development,
Environmental Improvement, and Social
Redemption
Paola Caputo, Simone Ferrari and Federica Zagarella
Abstract This study finds its origin within the framework of the EU-cofunded UIAOpenAgri project, fostering the creation of small and medium enterprises in the agrifood sector, through the lens of circular economy, while also promoting the urban
regeneration of a degraded peri-urban area and social inclusion of disadvantaged
people. The project is led by the Comune di Milano and involves 16 partners. The
ABC Department participates mainly by contributing to energy and environmental
evaluations and also by supporting with tools and indicators. The first part concerned
the preliminary analysis of the energy uses and potential renewable supply in the
area. Within this framework, a preliminary design was included of the building
energy retrofit of Cascina Nosedo, an ancient farmhouse. Other parts focus on the
assessments of the food chains involved in the agricultural lands which are involved
in the project.
Keywords Agri-food · Food chains assessment · Jobs and skills development ·
UIA-OpenAgri · Rur-urban · Circular economy
1 Introduction
In Europe, over 70% of the total population lives in urban areas, which can reasonably play a key role in pursuing a sustainable development (UIA Web site). In
order to provide urban areas with resources to test innovative solutions to the main
urban challenges, the European Union (EU) has launched a set of initiatives named
‘Urban Innovative Actions’ (UIA). Among the challenges faced, a lively debate looks
at the strategic role of the agri-food sector in ensuring sustainable urban development. Broadly speaking, the agri-food sector has multidimensional implications on
the economy, society, health, and the environment and is interconnected with several sectors in mutual competition for resource exploitation, e.g., fishery, forestry,
P. Caputo (B) · S. Ferrari · F. Zagarella
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: paola.caputo@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_13
125
for Economic Development,
Environmental Improvement, and Social
Redemption
Paola Caputo, Simone Ferrari and Federica Zagarella
Abstract This study finds its origin within the framework of the EU-cofunded UIAOpenAgri project, fostering the creation of small and medium enterprises in the agrifood sector, through the lens of circular economy, while also promoting the urban
regeneration of a degraded peri-urban area and social inclusion of disadvantaged
people. The project is led by the Comune di Milano and involves 16 partners. The
ABC Department participates mainly by contributing to energy and environmental
evaluations and also by supporting with tools and indicators. The first part concerned
the preliminary analysis of the energy uses and potential renewable supply in the
area. Within this framework, a preliminary design was included of the building
energy retrofit of Cascina Nosedo, an ancient farmhouse. Other parts focus on the
assessments of the food chains involved in the agricultural lands which are involved
in the project.
Keywords Agri-food · Food chains assessment · Jobs and skills development ·
UIA-OpenAgri · Rur-urban · Circular economy
1 Introduction
In Europe, over 70% of the total population lives in urban areas, which can reasonably play a key role in pursuing a sustainable development (UIA Web site). In
order to provide urban areas with resources to test innovative solutions to the main
urban challenges, the European Union (EU) has launched a set of initiatives named
‘Urban Innovative Actions’ (UIA). Among the challenges faced, a lively debate looks
at the strategic role of the agri-food sector in ensuring sustainable urban development. Broadly speaking, the agri-food sector has multidimensional implications on
the economy, society, health, and the environment and is interconnected with several sectors in mutual competition for resource exploitation, e.g., fishery, forestry,
P. Caputo (B) · S. Ferrari · F. Zagarella
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: paola.caputo@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_13
125