Environmental Urban Morphology: A Multidisciplinary Methodology for the Analysis of Public Spaces in Dense Urban Fabrics

Marco Maretto (), Barbara Gherri, Daniela Maiullari, Chiara Vernizzi, Greta Pitanti, Chiara Finizza and Alice Monacelli
Additional contact information
Marco Maretto: Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43121 Parma, Italy
Barbara Gherri: Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43121 Parma, Italy
Daniela Maiullari: Department of Urbanism, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 134, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
Chiara Vernizzi: Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43121 Parma, Italy
Greta Pitanti: Department of Architecture and Design, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00185 Roma, Italy
Chiara Finizza: Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma, 43121 Parma, Italy
Alice Monacelli: Department of Architecture and Design, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00185 Roma, Italy

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 23, 1-18

Abstract: A city is an organism made of social, economic, cultural, and environmental fabrics, the interactions of which determine the form and functioning of city life. Different disciplines are then involved in analyzing the complex processes of the 21st-century city. The aim of this study was to explore the use of an analytical method that can act as a catalyst for the main players involved in the environmental urban morphology (EUM). This multidisciplinary methodology focuses on the study of public space in dense urban fabrics as a key context for understanding a city. Operationally, the work shows the potential of integrating morphological analysis, pedestrian flow analysis, and environmental analysis and applying them in dense and compact urban fabrics. The first of these analyses methods was carried out using urban survey tools and the geographic information system (GIS) in order to detect the physical forms of the city and develop a number of morphological maps. The second, using the global positioning system (GPS) and on-site detectors, maps pedestrian movement within public spaces. The latter mainly focuses on the microclimatic analysis of public spaces and outdoor comfort, carried out using environmental software such as ENVI-met (4.4 version). The ultimate goal of this study was to achieve the definition of a dynamic, multidisciplinary, and multilayer methodology for the analysis of dense urban fabrics which we believe could be very useful for addressing the regenerative processes of the contemporary city.

Keywords: public open spaces; urban morphology; pedestrian flows; environmental analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16493/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16493/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16493-:d:1292680

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().