ranging from the city itself as an aggregated unit of analysis, to the district/building,
from sustainable innovative products and processes to be developed and deployed
in the construction sector to multi-scalar strategies to improve building
performances.
Starting from the most aggregated level of analysis, the first specific challenge
addressed in this volume refers to the possible strategies to relaunch
socio-economic development in urban environments through regenerative processes. The key concern, then, is how the regeneration of the built environment can
promote not only economic growth processes but also the efficient use of local
economic, social and environmental resources, from a circular economy perspective
and consistently with sustainability principles.
The second specific challenge relates to the regeneration of urban spaces from a
resilient and circular perspective. The key concern in this case is how regeneration
of the built environment can be achieved through the reuse and requalification of
existing buildings by developing efficient, structurally adequate, resilient, adaptive,
flexible and convertible building systems; through the requalification of abandoned
and peri-urban areas by planning construction and demolition, by managing and/or
reusing building waste, by promoting sustainable buildings, by limiting land use, by
activating virtuous and innovative circular processes between primary and secondary
materials; and through the requalification of the urban fabric in minor centres by
promoting the history and identity of rural villages and peri-urban areas as to favour
their conservation and resilience with respect to risk factors such as earthquakes.
The third specific challenge is associated with the development and the
deployment of innovative products and processes in the construction sector in the
effort to move towards sustainable and circular principles. The key concern then
refers to the ideation of new components, products, systems and processes starting
from the reuse of existing products and materials that can lead to changes in the
construction sector filière as well as to the use of innovative materials aimed at
promoting the development of structural requalification technologies and techniques based on the use of materials that have been recycled or can be easily
recyclable/convertible, according to a circular economy perspective.
The fourth and last specific challenge is linked to the development of
multi-scalar (i.e. from the building to the city) approaches for enhancing the performances of the existing building stock, as well as of the new buildings. This
concerns multi-scalar strategies as to mitigate climate change effects by limiting
local metabolism, by improving energy efficiency practice, by integrating locally
available resources, by diffusing smart buildings, systems and grids as well as by
implementing actions to improve the existing buildings and public spaces with the
aim of reducing risk factors for individual and collective health, of promoting built
environment quality from both a social and environmental perspective along all
phases from the project, to construction, from use to maintenance and dismantling.
Addressing these complex fields of research requires the availability and the
integration of multiple disciplines that span from engineering to architecture and
regional and urban economics and studies. Such multidisciplinary, in fact, enables
to disentangle and to unpack the multidimensional nature of all processes impacting
viii
Introduction
from sustainable innovative products and processes to be developed and deployed
in the construction sector to multi-scalar strategies to improve building
performances.
Starting from the most aggregated level of analysis, the first specific challenge
addressed in this volume refers to the possible strategies to relaunch
socio-economic development in urban environments through regenerative processes. The key concern, then, is how the regeneration of the built environment can
promote not only economic growth processes but also the efficient use of local
economic, social and environmental resources, from a circular economy perspective
and consistently with sustainability principles.
The second specific challenge relates to the regeneration of urban spaces from a
resilient and circular perspective. The key concern in this case is how regeneration
of the built environment can be achieved through the reuse and requalification of
existing buildings by developing efficient, structurally adequate, resilient, adaptive,
flexible and convertible building systems; through the requalification of abandoned
and peri-urban areas by planning construction and demolition, by managing and/or
reusing building waste, by promoting sustainable buildings, by limiting land use, by
activating virtuous and innovative circular processes between primary and secondary
materials; and through the requalification of the urban fabric in minor centres by
promoting the history and identity of rural villages and peri-urban areas as to favour
their conservation and resilience with respect to risk factors such as earthquakes.
The third specific challenge is associated with the development and the
deployment of innovative products and processes in the construction sector in the
effort to move towards sustainable and circular principles. The key concern then
refers to the ideation of new components, products, systems and processes starting
from the reuse of existing products and materials that can lead to changes in the
construction sector filière as well as to the use of innovative materials aimed at
promoting the development of structural requalification technologies and techniques based on the use of materials that have been recycled or can be easily
recyclable/convertible, according to a circular economy perspective.
The fourth and last specific challenge is linked to the development of
multi-scalar (i.e. from the building to the city) approaches for enhancing the performances of the existing building stock, as well as of the new buildings. This
concerns multi-scalar strategies as to mitigate climate change effects by limiting
local metabolism, by improving energy efficiency practice, by integrating locally
available resources, by diffusing smart buildings, systems and grids as well as by
implementing actions to improve the existing buildings and public spaces with the
aim of reducing risk factors for individual and collective health, of promoting built
environment quality from both a social and environmental perspective along all
phases from the project, to construction, from use to maintenance and dismantling.
Addressing these complex fields of research requires the availability and the
integration of multiple disciplines that span from engineering to architecture and
regional and urban economics and studies. Such multidisciplinary, in fact, enables
to disentangle and to unpack the multidimensional nature of all processes impacting
viii
Introduction