Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Vaubau is an excellent example of Smart Planning, namely of an urban district
organized to facilitate the mobility of its inhabitants. A tram that takes people to
the city centre in Freiburg crosses the main road. The tram network covers the
entire city.
The cars in the district are a few. Families, to go on vacation, use a Club Car
Sharing service or share the property with other families.
Through this example we can understand how much the intelligent mobility
system influence the shape and layout of the city of the future. The district is also
an excellent example of smart Energy use: the buildings of the district produce
more Energy than what they consume thanks to solar panels and thermal solar
collectors.
The importance of the research centres as development motor in territories is
proved by the experience of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia that has applied the use of
innovative software to urban mobility. While Aarhus, the second largest city in
Denmark is making the technological city district of Katrinebjerg a ''world class
environment'' for research and local business. Also citizens are involved supporting
their participation to decisions concerning the community. The Danish city is also
building the Navitas Park, the new city hub for research and innovation that will be
ended by 2014 on the renewed waterfront among low carbon emissions buildings.
2.1.2
Euro-Mediterranean Cities
Turin in Italy has candidate itself to become a ''Smart City'' (Pagani
2012
) having
a special attention to environmental issues developing low carbon technologies for
uses and functions of cities. It is certainly the first Italian city that can praise itself
for having taken some concrete steps towards the transformation into an eco-
sustainable city, namely able to meet the inhabitants needs reducing its own carbon
footprint. With the adhesion to the Covenant of Mayors, committing cities to
support the European Union target to reduce of 20 % the CO
2
emissions by 2020,
the city of Turin has completed the elaboration and started implementation of its
own Action Plan for Sustainable Energy.
Specifically, the CO
2
emissions in the city of Turin has been reduced from
6.270.591 ton in 1991 (taken as reference year) to 5.100.346 ton in 2005, with a
reduction of 18.7 % in the considered period.
The pro-capita emissions in 2005 have reached 5.6 ton/inhabitant. The city
mainly works on three different directions: the Energy conversion, the remote
heating and that of sustainable mobility.
In Italy, Parma has signed an agreement with IBM for the realization of video-
branches installed along the city roads where citizens can remotely conclude
administrative records. Improving the relation between citizens and public
administrations in Italian cities, where the level of bureaucracy is quite high, is one
of the main targets of 'smartness' oriented actions.
