Learning from Two Early Brownfield Redevelopment Projects in Italy: Soil Desealing, Cooling Effects, and Implementation of Nature-Based Solutions Through Traditional Planning Tools

Enzo Falco (), Emanuele Garda, Linda Zardo and Chiara Cortinovis
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Enzo Falco: Planning for Ecosystem Services Lab., Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy
Emanuele Garda: Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienze Applicate, University of Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5, 24044 Dalmine, Italy
Linda Zardo: Department of Architecture and Arts, IUAV University of Venice, Santa Croce, 191, 30135 Venezia, Italy
Chiara Cortinovis: Planning for Ecosystem Services Lab., Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: Consideration of the future fate of brownfields in urban environments has driven a complex ‘season’ of decisions, planning, and implementation that has seen the emergence of different approaches and actions for their reuse. Among the various experiences of brownfield redevelopment, some projects have also promoted the partial renaturalisation of areas through soil desealing and demolition of existing buildings. These greening initiatives have provided new public facilities, e.g., parks and green areas, helping to improve the conditions of urban environments both from ecological and social perspectives. This article adopts ex ante and ex post methods to analyse two Italian case studies of brownfield regeneration involving desealing interventions and investigates two key aspects: (i) the planning process and tools that were put in place to implement the projects and (ii) the impacts for human wellbeing that were produced in terms of cooling effects. The analyses conducted show the real effectiveness of renaturation interventions especially related to reforestation measures in terms of temperature reduction. The examination of the two case studies also revealed the importance and potential success of traditional planning and implementation tools in promoting interventions that can now be considered innovative in terms of their actual contribution to current urban challenges. The results therefore allow us to emphasize the fundamental importance of the philosophy and basic principles of a transformation process, even guided by traditional planning tools, for the improvement of the environmental conditions of an urban context and the successful implementation of nature-based solutions.

Keywords: green spaces; desealing; brownfield redevelopment; urban heat island; spatial planning; NbS implementation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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