Guglielmo Minervino | ISB International Society of Biourbanism (original) (raw)

Papers by Guglielmo Minervino

Il progetto LEO nasce da un’azione sinergica tra la Societa Internazionale di Biourbanistica e il... more Il progetto LEO nasce da un’azione sinergica tra la Societa Internazionale di Biourbanistica e il Comune di Carpineto Romano (RM). Obiettivo generale e quello di agevolare la rinascita socio-economica della comunita locale, favorendo quelle competenze tecniche e capacita creative necessarie per rafforzare sia l’ambito socio-economico che quello culturale. Il progetto si articola su azioni volte ad avviare un mini-incubatore di sviluppo cittadino e territoriale, capace di trasmettere conoscenze tecnologiche, professionali e manageriali e un processo di valorizzazione e promozione di Carpineto Romano come territorio turistico. Ogni azione e strutturata in modo sistemico, secondo il modello peer-to-peer e tale da coniugare tradizione ed innovazione, locale e globale. Parole chiave: biourbanistica, peer-to-peer , innovazione

Sustainability, 2019

This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve ... more This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve a socially innovative urban governance. The “Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics” (MONUM) in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) proves a representative case of innovation in the public sector. As a new type of government agency, it is essentially an open innovation lab dedicated to innovative evidence-based policymaking. Following a new dynamic organizational pattern in urban governance, MONUM is conducive to project-oriented social innovation practices and horizontal multi-sectoral collaboration among the three societal sectors: public, private, and civil. Its results suggest that first, the peculiarity of MONUM lies in its hybrid and boundary-blurring nature. Second, new institutional forms that experiment with urban governance can rely on multi-sectoral collaboration. Third, MONUM has experimented with a systemic approach to social innovation following the “design thinking theory.” The MON...

Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements, 2016

Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple princi... more Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple principles that inspired codes and building rules that were customised locally. This system allowed the emergence of peculiar urban and architectonical forms. This article illustrates the Fina, a semi-public space that runs alongside all exterior walls of a building. Uses within the Fina reflect shared responsibilities between citizens and public authorities about the use and management of urban space. Examples of permanent and temporary uses are shown with drawings over photos that were taken in a small hill town of medieval origin, named Belmonte Calabro, in southern Italy. Results of the study allowed the authors to derive lessons for contemporary applications in urbanism about the management of public space. The article concludes by presenting recommendations for developing urban management policies applicable to both historical and modern built environments.

Smart Metropolitan Regional Development, 2018

The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation... more The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation, and produced several “distortions” both in the social system and in the job market: the destruction of a welfare program, the attack to the right of the labor market and workers right, the powerful growing of financial institutions supported by the ICT. This means the need to identify a new epistemological approach, suggesting a conceptual framework for ecological economics based on systemic principles of life and a shift from techno-city to a human city. A model, called the homological smart city, could be a new way, based on direct citizen participation, peer-to-peer community, neuroergonomics, biophilic design, and biourban economics. The operational character of this model is explored by analyzing the most recent Italian experiences in reaction to the diffused crisis conditions. Several villages, towns and cities have seen a slow phenomenon of the revival of local communities, for the merit of grassroots’ initiatives of social innovation constituted mostly of young people that, leveraging on their capabilities and a peer-to-peer network supported by the ICT, promote a novel vision for the future of their community, building a more sustainable urban system. Through a change of paradigm, the human being is put at the centre of the system and its designing, considering social innovators as the key actors of change and local assets as the key resources for the implementation of Biourbanism principles. In the above perspective, the experience of a new biourban strategy named “mushrooming”, implemented in Finland, constitutes a good example of practice-oriented to consider diversification as a principle of life in a city and developed by testing with real-life conditions. The Finnish experience was started to build a network to foster interaction between small self-organized co-working communities, by taking into account spatial and economic processes that emerged due to this. These processes were able to activate connected diversification, recognized as a systemic principle of life that fits the context of urban development especially well. The principle of connected diversification drives the methodological process structured for the case study of the Metropolitan City of Naples, one of the 14 Italian metropolitan cities, with a specific attention for the 16 municipalities of the Coast Area. Starting from vulnerability and resilience concepts, the study dealt according to a multi-methodological approach, based on a GeoDesign process supported by multi-criteria analysis, multi-group analysis, and spatial analysis. The elaboration of Spatial Opportunity Maps (SOMs) is the output of a multidimensional evaluation process that leads to the identification of a biourban strategy, characterized by human smart spatial solutions, place-based and situated actions. The enhancement of the coastal area of the Metropolitan City of Naples can be considered as a prerequisite for the activation of a process-oriented to the identification of “homogeneous zones”, conceived not only as areas with similar characteristics but, above all, as territories where it is possible to promote networks of opportunities between the various municipalities and their communities. Cooperation has conceived a source of mutual benefit and involves a mutual convenience, based on the constant construction of bonds and relationships and the interdependence determined by spatial proximity. Economic processes require cooperative-collaborative behaviours between the various components and become increasingly territorialized, and therefore more resilient and, at the same time, less and less associated with the production of negative environmental impact.

This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve ... more This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve a socially innovative urban governance. The "Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics" (MONUM) in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) proves a representative case of innovation in the public sector. As a new type of government agency, it is essentially an open innovation lab dedicated to innovative evidence-based policymaking. Following a new dynamic organizational pattern in urban governance, MONUM is conducive to project-oriented social innovation practices and horizontal multi-sectoral collaboration among the three societal sectors: public, private, and civil. Its results suggest that first, the peculiarity of MONUM lies in its hybrid and boundary-blurring nature. Second, new institutional forms that experiment with urban governance can rely on multi-sectoral collaboration. Third, MONUM has experimented with a systemic approach to social innovation following the "design thinking theory." The MONUM case can contribute to the current debate in Europe on the need to harmonize EU policies for an effective social inclusion by promoting the application of the place-sensitive approach.

Small towns…from problem to resource. Sustainable strategies for the valorization of building, landscape and cultural heritage in inland areas., 2019

This paper, which is a synthesis of the author's Ph.D. thesis, builds upon Besim Hakim's study of... more This paper, which is a synthesis of the author's Ph.D. thesis, builds upon Besim Hakim's study of Mediterranean and Near Eastern historical cities. Hakim unveiled that these historical cities had grown and been shaped through a morphogenetic process of unfolding. Such a process is based on generative aspects that are common to living organisms. Generative aspects had led to building based on a simple step-by-step procedure guided and coded as an algorithm. It is similar to what drives the growth and development of a human embryo. This paper presents a method that supports the adoption of generative programs in urban regeneration processes for historical centres and heritage districts. Therefore, it offers a new approach to urban regeneration based on generative programs. This research was conducted for the first time in the Calabria region of Italy. It concludes with a contemporary proposal on how to support a generative program for urban regeneration.

Putting Tradition into Practice: Heritage, Place and Design, 2017

Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple princi... more Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple principles that inspired codes and building rules that were customised locally. This system allowed the emergence of peculiar urban and architectonical forms. This article illustrates the Fina, a semi-public space that runs alongside all exterior walls of a building. Uses within the Fina reflect shared responsibilities between citizens and public authorities about the use and management of urban space. Examples of permanent and temporary uses are shown with drawings over photos that were taken in a small hill town of medieval origin, named Belmonte Calabro, in southern Italy. Results of the study allowed the authors to derive lessons for contemporary applications in urbanism about the management of public space. The article concludes by presenting recommendations for developing urban management policies applicable to both historical and modern built environments.

The LEO project stems from a synergy action between the International Society of Biourbanism... more The LEO project stems from a synergy action between the International Society of Biourbanism and the City of Carpineto Romano (Rome, IT). Overall objective is to facilitate the socio-economic revival of the local community, enhancing technical and creative skills necessary to improve both the socio-economic and cultural field.
The project consists of actions to start a mini-incubator of city and territorial development able to convey technical, professional and managerial knowledge, and a promotion process of Carpineto Romano as tourist territory. Every action is structured in a systemic way, according to a peer-to-peer
model, combining tradition and innovation, local and global.

Keywords: biourbanism, peer-to-peer, innovation

Books by Guglielmo Minervino

Springer, 2018

The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation... more The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation, and produced several “distortions” both in the social system and in the job market: the destruction of a welfare program, the attack to the right of the labor market and workers right, the powerful growing of financial institutions supported by the ICT. This means the need to identify a new epistemological approach, suggesting a conceptual framework for ecological economics based on systemic principles of life and a shift from techno-city to a human city. A model, called the homological smart city, could be a new way, based on direct citizen participation, peer-to-peer community, neuroergonomics, biophilic design, and biourban economics. The operational character of this model is explored by analyzing the most recent Italian experiences in reaction to the diffused crisis conditions. Several villages, towns and cities have seen a slow phenomenon of the revival of local communities, for the merit of grassroots’ initiatives of social innovation constituted mostly of young people that, leveraging on their capabilities and a peer-to-peer network supported by the ICT, promote a novel vision for the future of their community, building a more sustainable urban system. Through a change of paradigm, the human being is put at the centre of the system and its designing, considering social innovators as the key actors of change and local assets as the key resources for the implementation of Biourbanism principles. In the above perspective, the experience of a new biourban strategy named “mushrooming”, implemented in Finland, constitutes a good example of practice-oriented to consider diversification as a principle of life in a city and developed by testing with real-life conditions. The Finnish experience was started to build a network to foster interaction between small self-organized co-working communities, by taking into account spatial and economic processes that emerged due to this. These processes were able to activate connected diversification, recognized as a systemic principle of life that fits the context of urban development especially well. The principle of connected diversification drives the methodological process structured for the case study of the Metropolitan City of Naples, one of the 14 Italian metropolitan cities, with a specific attention for the 16 municipalities of the Coast Area. Starting from vulnerability and resilience concepts, the study dealt according to a multi-methodological approach, based on a GeoDesign process supported by multi-criteria analysis, multi-group analysis, and spatial analysis. The elaboration of Spatial Opportunity Maps (SOMs) is the output of a multidimensional evaluation process that leads to the identification of a biourban strategy, characterized by human smart spatial solutions, place-based and situated actions. The enhancement of the coastal area of the Metropolitan City of Naples can be considered as a prerequisite for the activation of a process-oriented to the identification of “homogeneous zones”, conceived not only as areas with similar characteristics but, above all, as territories where it is possible to promote networks of opportunities between the various municipalities and their communities. Cooperation has conceived a source of mutual benefit and involves a mutual convenience, based on the constant construction of bonds and relationships and the interdependence determined by spatial proximity. Economic processes require cooperative-collaborative behaviours between the various components and become increasingly territorialized, and therefore more resilient and, at the same time, less and less associated with the production of negative environmental impact.

The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development... more The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development. The book surveys the state of the art of Smart City Economic Development through a literature survey. The book uses 13 in depth city research case studies in 10 countries such as the North America, Europe, Africa and Asia to explain how a smart economy changes the urban spatial system and vice versa. This book focuses
on exploratory city studies in different countries, which investigate how urban spatial systems adapt to the specific needs of smart urban economy. The theory of smart city economic development is not yet entirely understood and applied in metropolitan regional plans. Smart urban economies are largely the result of the influence of ICT
applications on all aspects of urban economy, which in turn changes the land-use system.
It points out that the dynamics of smart city GDP creation takes ‘different paths,’ which need further empirical study, hypothesis testing and mathematical modelling. Although there are hypotheses on how smart cities generate wealth and social benefits for nations, there are no significant empirical studies available on how they generate urban economic development through urban spatial adaptation. This book with 13 cities research studies is one attempt to fill in the gap in knowledge base.

Conference Presentations by Guglielmo Minervino

Rigenerazione urbana e progetto sociale. Quaderni del laboratorio di urbanistica e architettura, 2016

Il Progetto Artena è un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo antico... more Il Progetto Artena è un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo antico dell'omonima cittadina laziale. Al contempo è la prototipazione di un modello di sviluppo funzionale applicabile alla maggior parte della provincia italiana. Biourbanistica, micro-economia sistemica, teoria delle reti e cultura biofilica, ci suggeriscono che la rivisitazione dell'unità urbana a dimensione umana può offrire soluzioni originali alla crisi dell'intero sistema. L'articolo presenta brevemente il promo caso studio, il Progetto Artena, nel quale i concetti della biourbanistica sono stati sperimentati.

Design strategico e service design applicato al territorio e alla sua vita, ridefinizione degli a... more Design strategico e service design applicato al territorio e alla sua vita, ridefinizione degli assetti urbanistici infra- e strutturali, fino ai dettagli architettonici (biofilia), e start up innovativo, il Progetto Artena è la prima applicazione dei principi della biourbanistica (neuroergonomia, biofilia, sostenibilità strutturale, leggi della forma, delle scale, e costruttale) al design per il cambiamento sociale, sotto forma di un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo di Artena (Roma). Esso è al contempo ricerca sperimentale, e procedura di prototipazione di un modello di sviluppo funzionale per l’Italia.
L’intero progetto procede per partecipazione maieutica, e si auto sostiene economicamente, attraverso i sottoprogetti che realizzano la visione generale
Il Progetto è teso a disegnare lo spazio fisico, virtuale e socioeconomico, sottintendendo che ogni spazio ha una valenza biopolitica. Averne cura vuol dire perciò avere cura degli abitanti che con esso scambiano energie, in una gerarchia che dalla piccola unità abitativa si espande a interi continenti. La dematerializzazione delle città, legata al processo globale di “segnificazione” economica, va bilanciata con la realizzazione di veri luoghi fisici che permettono interazione reale, e dunque la vita di noi tutti (placemaking). Curare un luogo “minore” come Artena serve a comprendere che il cuore del mondo, come la soluzione di un problema, può essere ovunque.

Il centro storico di Artena (RM) ha subito una pesante distruzione bellica durante l'ultima guerr... more Il centro storico di Artena (RM) ha subito una pesante distruzione bellica durante l'ultima guerra. Da allora la situazione è rimasta immutata ed oggi ancora resistono degli ampi spazi aperti con le rovine dei muri in pietra a testimonianza degli edifici di un tempo. Artena rientrata nel nuovo Piano Città prevede la ricostruzione di tutte le abitazioni demolite per destinarne buona parte ad housing sociale. La ricostruzione ha obiettivi di ripopolamento e allentamento della tensione abitativa, quando è evidente lo scontro con la tendenza ad abbandonare il borgo: il problema non è la disponibilità di case ma di vitalità del centro. Attualmente Artena ha iniziato una fase di rinascita grazie all'avvio del " ProgettoArtena " , madre della seguente proposta di ricostruzione alternativa che propone non più la ricostruzione delle antiche abitazioni ma la trasformazione di quelle aree in spazi pubblici strutturati, accoglienti, in grado di garantire funzione e memoria, versatili nella loro gestione, integrati e sostenibili per l'antico tessuto cittadino. Lo spazio privato che diventa pubblico.

Project Reports by Guglielmo Minervino

This is the 9th Bulletin of the Smart Economy in Smart Cities, an international collaborative res... more This is the 9th Bulletin of the Smart Economy in Smart Cities, an international collaborative research programme that involves 70 authors, 16 cities and 13 countries. This Bulletin focuses on the case studies of Amphwa, Thailand and Cape Town, South Africa.

Research by Guglielmo Minervino

General Coordination: Emeritus Prof. Besim Hasim Research Aim Mediterranean Urban Codes’ goal is... more General Coordination: Emeritus Prof. Besim Hasim

Research Aim
Mediterranean Urban Codes’ goal is to articulate how those codes shaped the traditional built environment, so as to provide lessons and models for contemporary and future architects, urban designers, city administrators and officials, and lawyers, who are involved in formulating or revising codes.

Sponsor(s): International Society of Biourbanism

Il progetto LEO nasce da un’azione sinergica tra la Societa Internazionale di Biourbanistica e il... more Il progetto LEO nasce da un’azione sinergica tra la Societa Internazionale di Biourbanistica e il Comune di Carpineto Romano (RM). Obiettivo generale e quello di agevolare la rinascita socio-economica della comunita locale, favorendo quelle competenze tecniche e capacita creative necessarie per rafforzare sia l’ambito socio-economico che quello culturale. Il progetto si articola su azioni volte ad avviare un mini-incubatore di sviluppo cittadino e territoriale, capace di trasmettere conoscenze tecnologiche, professionali e manageriali e un processo di valorizzazione e promozione di Carpineto Romano come territorio turistico. Ogni azione e strutturata in modo sistemico, secondo il modello peer-to-peer e tale da coniugare tradizione ed innovazione, locale e globale. Parole chiave: biourbanistica, peer-to-peer , innovazione

Sustainability, 2019

This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve ... more This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve a socially innovative urban governance. The “Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics” (MONUM) in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) proves a representative case of innovation in the public sector. As a new type of government agency, it is essentially an open innovation lab dedicated to innovative evidence-based policymaking. Following a new dynamic organizational pattern in urban governance, MONUM is conducive to project-oriented social innovation practices and horizontal multi-sectoral collaboration among the three societal sectors: public, private, and civil. Its results suggest that first, the peculiarity of MONUM lies in its hybrid and boundary-blurring nature. Second, new institutional forms that experiment with urban governance can rely on multi-sectoral collaboration. Third, MONUM has experimented with a systemic approach to social innovation following the “design thinking theory.” The MON...

Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements, 2016

Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple princi... more Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple principles that inspired codes and building rules that were customised locally. This system allowed the emergence of peculiar urban and architectonical forms. This article illustrates the Fina, a semi-public space that runs alongside all exterior walls of a building. Uses within the Fina reflect shared responsibilities between citizens and public authorities about the use and management of urban space. Examples of permanent and temporary uses are shown with drawings over photos that were taken in a small hill town of medieval origin, named Belmonte Calabro, in southern Italy. Results of the study allowed the authors to derive lessons for contemporary applications in urbanism about the management of public space. The article concludes by presenting recommendations for developing urban management policies applicable to both historical and modern built environments.

Smart Metropolitan Regional Development, 2018

The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation... more The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation, and produced several “distortions” both in the social system and in the job market: the destruction of a welfare program, the attack to the right of the labor market and workers right, the powerful growing of financial institutions supported by the ICT. This means the need to identify a new epistemological approach, suggesting a conceptual framework for ecological economics based on systemic principles of life and a shift from techno-city to a human city. A model, called the homological smart city, could be a new way, based on direct citizen participation, peer-to-peer community, neuroergonomics, biophilic design, and biourban economics. The operational character of this model is explored by analyzing the most recent Italian experiences in reaction to the diffused crisis conditions. Several villages, towns and cities have seen a slow phenomenon of the revival of local communities, for the merit of grassroots’ initiatives of social innovation constituted mostly of young people that, leveraging on their capabilities and a peer-to-peer network supported by the ICT, promote a novel vision for the future of their community, building a more sustainable urban system. Through a change of paradigm, the human being is put at the centre of the system and its designing, considering social innovators as the key actors of change and local assets as the key resources for the implementation of Biourbanism principles. In the above perspective, the experience of a new biourban strategy named “mushrooming”, implemented in Finland, constitutes a good example of practice-oriented to consider diversification as a principle of life in a city and developed by testing with real-life conditions. The Finnish experience was started to build a network to foster interaction between small self-organized co-working communities, by taking into account spatial and economic processes that emerged due to this. These processes were able to activate connected diversification, recognized as a systemic principle of life that fits the context of urban development especially well. The principle of connected diversification drives the methodological process structured for the case study of the Metropolitan City of Naples, one of the 14 Italian metropolitan cities, with a specific attention for the 16 municipalities of the Coast Area. Starting from vulnerability and resilience concepts, the study dealt according to a multi-methodological approach, based on a GeoDesign process supported by multi-criteria analysis, multi-group analysis, and spatial analysis. The elaboration of Spatial Opportunity Maps (SOMs) is the output of a multidimensional evaluation process that leads to the identification of a biourban strategy, characterized by human smart spatial solutions, place-based and situated actions. The enhancement of the coastal area of the Metropolitan City of Naples can be considered as a prerequisite for the activation of a process-oriented to the identification of “homogeneous zones”, conceived not only as areas with similar characteristics but, above all, as territories where it is possible to promote networks of opportunities between the various municipalities and their communities. Cooperation has conceived a source of mutual benefit and involves a mutual convenience, based on the constant construction of bonds and relationships and the interdependence determined by spatial proximity. Economic processes require cooperative-collaborative behaviours between the various components and become increasingly territorialized, and therefore more resilient and, at the same time, less and less associated with the production of negative environmental impact.

This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve ... more This paper investigates how public sector institutions change their form and approach to achieve a socially innovative urban governance. The "Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics" (MONUM) in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) proves a representative case of innovation in the public sector. As a new type of government agency, it is essentially an open innovation lab dedicated to innovative evidence-based policymaking. Following a new dynamic organizational pattern in urban governance, MONUM is conducive to project-oriented social innovation practices and horizontal multi-sectoral collaboration among the three societal sectors: public, private, and civil. Its results suggest that first, the peculiarity of MONUM lies in its hybrid and boundary-blurring nature. Second, new institutional forms that experiment with urban governance can rely on multi-sectoral collaboration. Third, MONUM has experimented with a systemic approach to social innovation following the "design thinking theory." The MONUM case can contribute to the current debate in Europe on the need to harmonize EU policies for an effective social inclusion by promoting the application of the place-sensitive approach.

Small towns…from problem to resource. Sustainable strategies for the valorization of building, landscape and cultural heritage in inland areas., 2019

This paper, which is a synthesis of the author's Ph.D. thesis, builds upon Besim Hakim's study of... more This paper, which is a synthesis of the author's Ph.D. thesis, builds upon Besim Hakim's study of Mediterranean and Near Eastern historical cities. Hakim unveiled that these historical cities had grown and been shaped through a morphogenetic process of unfolding. Such a process is based on generative aspects that are common to living organisms. Generative aspects had led to building based on a simple step-by-step procedure guided and coded as an algorithm. It is similar to what drives the growth and development of a human embryo. This paper presents a method that supports the adoption of generative programs in urban regeneration processes for historical centres and heritage districts. Therefore, it offers a new approach to urban regeneration based on generative programs. This research was conducted for the first time in the Calabria region of Italy. It concludes with a contemporary proposal on how to support a generative program for urban regeneration.

Putting Tradition into Practice: Heritage, Place and Design, 2017

Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple princi... more Urbanism in Mediterranean countries was characterised by a building system based on simple principles that inspired codes and building rules that were customised locally. This system allowed the emergence of peculiar urban and architectonical forms. This article illustrates the Fina, a semi-public space that runs alongside all exterior walls of a building. Uses within the Fina reflect shared responsibilities between citizens and public authorities about the use and management of urban space. Examples of permanent and temporary uses are shown with drawings over photos that were taken in a small hill town of medieval origin, named Belmonte Calabro, in southern Italy. Results of the study allowed the authors to derive lessons for contemporary applications in urbanism about the management of public space. The article concludes by presenting recommendations for developing urban management policies applicable to both historical and modern built environments.

The LEO project stems from a synergy action between the International Society of Biourbanism... more The LEO project stems from a synergy action between the International Society of Biourbanism and the City of Carpineto Romano (Rome, IT). Overall objective is to facilitate the socio-economic revival of the local community, enhancing technical and creative skills necessary to improve both the socio-economic and cultural field.
The project consists of actions to start a mini-incubator of city and territorial development able to convey technical, professional and managerial knowledge, and a promotion process of Carpineto Romano as tourist territory. Every action is structured in a systemic way, according to a peer-to-peer
model, combining tradition and innovation, local and global.

Keywords: biourbanism, peer-to-peer, innovation

Springer, 2018

The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation... more The assumption of Neoliberalism in the economy has multiplied exponentially financing speculation, and produced several “distortions” both in the social system and in the job market: the destruction of a welfare program, the attack to the right of the labor market and workers right, the powerful growing of financial institutions supported by the ICT. This means the need to identify a new epistemological approach, suggesting a conceptual framework for ecological economics based on systemic principles of life and a shift from techno-city to a human city. A model, called the homological smart city, could be a new way, based on direct citizen participation, peer-to-peer community, neuroergonomics, biophilic design, and biourban economics. The operational character of this model is explored by analyzing the most recent Italian experiences in reaction to the diffused crisis conditions. Several villages, towns and cities have seen a slow phenomenon of the revival of local communities, for the merit of grassroots’ initiatives of social innovation constituted mostly of young people that, leveraging on their capabilities and a peer-to-peer network supported by the ICT, promote a novel vision for the future of their community, building a more sustainable urban system. Through a change of paradigm, the human being is put at the centre of the system and its designing, considering social innovators as the key actors of change and local assets as the key resources for the implementation of Biourbanism principles. In the above perspective, the experience of a new biourban strategy named “mushrooming”, implemented in Finland, constitutes a good example of practice-oriented to consider diversification as a principle of life in a city and developed by testing with real-life conditions. The Finnish experience was started to build a network to foster interaction between small self-organized co-working communities, by taking into account spatial and economic processes that emerged due to this. These processes were able to activate connected diversification, recognized as a systemic principle of life that fits the context of urban development especially well. The principle of connected diversification drives the methodological process structured for the case study of the Metropolitan City of Naples, one of the 14 Italian metropolitan cities, with a specific attention for the 16 municipalities of the Coast Area. Starting from vulnerability and resilience concepts, the study dealt according to a multi-methodological approach, based on a GeoDesign process supported by multi-criteria analysis, multi-group analysis, and spatial analysis. The elaboration of Spatial Opportunity Maps (SOMs) is the output of a multidimensional evaluation process that leads to the identification of a biourban strategy, characterized by human smart spatial solutions, place-based and situated actions. The enhancement of the coastal area of the Metropolitan City of Naples can be considered as a prerequisite for the activation of a process-oriented to the identification of “homogeneous zones”, conceived not only as areas with similar characteristics but, above all, as territories where it is possible to promote networks of opportunities between the various municipalities and their communities. Cooperation has conceived a source of mutual benefit and involves a mutual convenience, based on the constant construction of bonds and relationships and the interdependence determined by spatial proximity. Economic processes require cooperative-collaborative behaviours between the various components and become increasingly territorialized, and therefore more resilient and, at the same time, less and less associated with the production of negative environmental impact.

The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development... more The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development. The book surveys the state of the art of Smart City Economic Development through a literature survey. The book uses 13 in depth city research case studies in 10 countries such as the North America, Europe, Africa and Asia to explain how a smart economy changes the urban spatial system and vice versa. This book focuses
on exploratory city studies in different countries, which investigate how urban spatial systems adapt to the specific needs of smart urban economy. The theory of smart city economic development is not yet entirely understood and applied in metropolitan regional plans. Smart urban economies are largely the result of the influence of ICT
applications on all aspects of urban economy, which in turn changes the land-use system.
It points out that the dynamics of smart city GDP creation takes ‘different paths,’ which need further empirical study, hypothesis testing and mathematical modelling. Although there are hypotheses on how smart cities generate wealth and social benefits for nations, there are no significant empirical studies available on how they generate urban economic development through urban spatial adaptation. This book with 13 cities research studies is one attempt to fill in the gap in knowledge base.

Rigenerazione urbana e progetto sociale. Quaderni del laboratorio di urbanistica e architettura, 2016

Il Progetto Artena è un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo antico... more Il Progetto Artena è un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo antico dell'omonima cittadina laziale. Al contempo è la prototipazione di un modello di sviluppo funzionale applicabile alla maggior parte della provincia italiana. Biourbanistica, micro-economia sistemica, teoria delle reti e cultura biofilica, ci suggeriscono che la rivisitazione dell'unità urbana a dimensione umana può offrire soluzioni originali alla crisi dell'intero sistema. L'articolo presenta brevemente il promo caso studio, il Progetto Artena, nel quale i concetti della biourbanistica sono stati sperimentati.

Design strategico e service design applicato al territorio e alla sua vita, ridefinizione degli a... more Design strategico e service design applicato al territorio e alla sua vita, ridefinizione degli assetti urbanistici infra- e strutturali, fino ai dettagli architettonici (biofilia), e start up innovativo, il Progetto Artena è la prima applicazione dei principi della biourbanistica (neuroergonomia, biofilia, sostenibilità strutturale, leggi della forma, delle scale, e costruttale) al design per il cambiamento sociale, sotto forma di un servizio di analisi, strategia e azione per la rinascita del borgo di Artena (Roma). Esso è al contempo ricerca sperimentale, e procedura di prototipazione di un modello di sviluppo funzionale per l’Italia.
L’intero progetto procede per partecipazione maieutica, e si auto sostiene economicamente, attraverso i sottoprogetti che realizzano la visione generale
Il Progetto è teso a disegnare lo spazio fisico, virtuale e socioeconomico, sottintendendo che ogni spazio ha una valenza biopolitica. Averne cura vuol dire perciò avere cura degli abitanti che con esso scambiano energie, in una gerarchia che dalla piccola unità abitativa si espande a interi continenti. La dematerializzazione delle città, legata al processo globale di “segnificazione” economica, va bilanciata con la realizzazione di veri luoghi fisici che permettono interazione reale, e dunque la vita di noi tutti (placemaking). Curare un luogo “minore” come Artena serve a comprendere che il cuore del mondo, come la soluzione di un problema, può essere ovunque.

Il centro storico di Artena (RM) ha subito una pesante distruzione bellica durante l'ultima guerr... more Il centro storico di Artena (RM) ha subito una pesante distruzione bellica durante l'ultima guerra. Da allora la situazione è rimasta immutata ed oggi ancora resistono degli ampi spazi aperti con le rovine dei muri in pietra a testimonianza degli edifici di un tempo. Artena rientrata nel nuovo Piano Città prevede la ricostruzione di tutte le abitazioni demolite per destinarne buona parte ad housing sociale. La ricostruzione ha obiettivi di ripopolamento e allentamento della tensione abitativa, quando è evidente lo scontro con la tendenza ad abbandonare il borgo: il problema non è la disponibilità di case ma di vitalità del centro. Attualmente Artena ha iniziato una fase di rinascita grazie all'avvio del " ProgettoArtena " , madre della seguente proposta di ricostruzione alternativa che propone non più la ricostruzione delle antiche abitazioni ma la trasformazione di quelle aree in spazi pubblici strutturati, accoglienti, in grado di garantire funzione e memoria, versatili nella loro gestione, integrati e sostenibili per l'antico tessuto cittadino. Lo spazio privato che diventa pubblico.

This is the 9th Bulletin of the Smart Economy in Smart Cities, an international collaborative res... more This is the 9th Bulletin of the Smart Economy in Smart Cities, an international collaborative research programme that involves 70 authors, 16 cities and 13 countries. This Bulletin focuses on the case studies of Amphwa, Thailand and Cape Town, South Africa.

General Coordination: Emeritus Prof. Besim Hasim Research Aim Mediterranean Urban Codes’ goal is... more General Coordination: Emeritus Prof. Besim Hasim

Research Aim
Mediterranean Urban Codes’ goal is to articulate how those codes shaped the traditional built environment, so as to provide lessons and models for contemporary and future architects, urban designers, city administrators and officials, and lawyers, who are involved in formulating or revising codes.

Sponsor(s): International Society of Biourbanism