Resilient cities: Mitigation measures for urban districts. A feasibility study

More than 70% of the European population live in cities, which are affected by several critical issues, such as the depletion of energy and material resources, decreasing of food security, increasing of greenhouse gas emissions levels with relevant environmental impacts and management issues (e.g. waste treatment). Urban areas emit about 80% of the global CO2 emissions and they are responsible for about 80% of global energy consumption. Therefore, cities offer a possible action field for decisive local initiatives to address sustainability challenges, especially in terms of policy and societal actions, inspiring specific projects, which could be translated into more systematic programs at higher levels of governance. In order to mitigate climate change effects, the European energy policy is focused on buildings' energy efficiency due to its substantial savings' potential. This paper describes the integrated design approach developed by the Research Unit of the Department of Architectur...