SSAB_2017

URBAN TRANSITION: Reshaping Urban Districts (Amsterdam - Bologna)

Areas: Climate & energy challenges Urban design

Project code: AREC0012_2017-1.6.1-436_P125-01

Programme: Climate KIC Catapult programme 2017

Call: Climate KIC Catapult programme 2017

Developed under the umbrella of the Urban Transition Theme and financed by EIT under the Climate KIC Catapult programme, the project explores the transition of two different urban environments in Bologna and Amsterdam potentially impacting on the city as a whole system:

Amsterdam Overtoomse veld - In the neighbourhood of Overtoomse Veld, the De Key housing corporation owns complexes undergoing retrofitting. The challenge was to develop a strategy for implementing energy conservation measures while increasing the local community’s awareness of energy savings and sustainable solutions.
Bologna Sant’Orsola District - The Sant’Orsola District is a very specialised site close to the city centre that hosts one of the city’s hospitals undergoing a renovation process. The challenges were to define innovative retrofitting methodologies, connect the surroundings providing additional services, define new arrangements for outdoor spaces while considering the end users’ perspective.

The project follows the typical Climate KIC research environment mixing academic research methodology with market-oriented solutions. The main outcome of the programme is the delivery of an international summer school involving both PhDs and professionals from cross-related disciplines and creating a tailored solution within the proposed real-life city challenges. The programme was joined by people from Afghanistan, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Australia, China, Croatia, Hungary, Mexico and Switzerland, creating a very intercultural work environment dealing with circular cities, energy efficiency and sustainable transition. During the programme, participants worked in small, interdisciplinary design teams to develop innovative solutions for lighthouse projects in strategic areas, applying collaborative, multi-perspective, cross-disciplinary approaches to design unconventional and creative ideas and solutions to boost effective actions in the urban setting, closely cooperating with international experts, researchers of the University of Bologna, municipality and district representatives, local stakeholders and citizen associations.

Project duration

01.2017 – 12.2017

Department scientific supervisor

Jacopo GASPARI (Dipartimento di Architettura DA)

Coordinator

Dipartimento di Architettura DA (Jacopo GASPARI) con Martine VAN VEELEN

Partnership

University of Bologna – Department of Architecture

City of Bologna

City of Amsterdam

Urban Center Bologna

SENSE - Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment