Research database

Dense urban areas account for more than 80% of global Gross Domestic Product and by 2050 will host around 70% of global population. But while reducing the impact of anthropogenic activities by lowering the emissions deriving from transportation and building energy use and preserving underdeveloped lands and habitats at the same time, metropolitan areas are facing relevant issues related to their vulnerability to climate and disaster risk, poor human and ecosystems health, and the environmental impact they cause by themselves (e.g. 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions). Regenerative design strategies - among which Nature-based Solutions (NBS) - play a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation, overall improving the environmental quality of dense urban areas by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, improving air quality, managing storm-water, fostering biodiversity and improving human wellbeing. Besides, by increasing the energy performance of buildings they can reduce energy and resources consumption related to heating and cooling demand, thus being effective solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The potential role of NBS in urban areas depends on several factors, among which weather conditions, urban morphology, and what environmental issue needs to be specifically addressed. Moreover, their interaction with buildings and their potential effect on heating and cooling demand requires multi-scalar and multi-criteria analyses and simulations. However, due to poor integration of specialized disciplines within the architectural design process, such evaluations are hardly carried out by designers at an early stage, when strategic choices yet need to be made. The URBAN GENERATION project aims at developing a methodology with a specific design tool to select NBS and generate site-specific early-design solutions addressing climate change adaptation and mitigation. Site selection and site data collection will be carried out by integrating satellite and ground data with meteorological sensors. Moreover, a parametric workflow including a computer-aided multi-criteria evaluation tool will enable a holistic evaluation of the design solutions and the selection of the most performative ones, depending on Key Performance Indicators. In this sense, the overall goal of URBAN GENERATION is to provide designers with advanced tools and analyses to inform their early stage decisions using an iterative design process, from district to building scale.