The City of Turin has officially become one of the 100 “Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”, a candidate to become an important hub of experimentation and innovation about climate matters at an European level. Taking this challenge as a starting point, the Politecnico di Torino has entrusted FULL with the design and delivery of the course “City of the Future – Smart Solutions and Contemporary Approaches”, aimed at students of the “Intraprendenti” pathway selected on the basis of merit requirements.
The course aims to prepare students for local and global challenges by reflecting on the actions needed to make the cities of the future more equitable and sustainable through technological and social innovation. The economic wellbeing and quality of life of more than half of the world’s population depend on urban and metropolitan areas, the ability to balance growth and innovation in urban areas with social needs and the mitigation of environmental risks and social inequalities, and the concern to protect and promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage for future development.
In this context, the teaching proposes an interdisciplinary approach to the most pressing urban issues, such as: mobility, energy consumption, the water cycle, digital infrastructure, the fight against economic and social inequalities, the regeneration of economic and social inequalities, the regeneration of urban spaces through the ability to reuse the material and immaterial heritage embedded in urban forms and landscapes. Methods, technologies and best practices in the development of applications for smart mobility through the internet of things, climate control and zero energy districts in the urban environment, energy communities, ecosystem services for resilient and sustainable cities through an eco-hydrological approach, new tools for representing the city and city data, methods for assessing the socio-economic impact of policies on the future of urban populations are explored. Each topic is addressed by combining a theoretical framework with laboratory and application activities related to the Turin context.
The lectures include the participation of lecturers affiliated with the FULL centre and external guests, and will explore in detail the research conducted both within the Interdepartmental Centre of the Politecnico di Torino and internationally, success stories, and the analysis of some experiments in pilot cities. The disciplinary areas involved are urban studies, planning and architecture, energy, environmental, network and electronic engineering, and geomatics. The first edition of the course ran from November 2022 to June 2023. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Chiara Foglietta, Councillor of the City of Turin for Ecological and Digital Transition, Innovation, Mobility and Transport.
Third edition is underway for 2024/25.
2022/23 Course program
INTRODUCTION
– 04/11/2022 Presentation of “100 Climate-neutral Cities by 2030,” the case of Turin (with Councilor Chiara Foglietta) + presentation of the course and exercise (Loris Servillo, Caterina Quaglio)
MODULE I/a – Physical and social infrastructure
– 11/11/2022 NZEB, Nearly zero-energy buildings (Maria Ferrara)
– 11/18/2022 Integration of renewable sources and energy communities + visit to the PVZEN laboratory – PhotoVoltaic Zero Energy Network (Enrico Fabrizio)
– 11/25/2022 How food market logistics are changing our cities (Agostino
Strina)
– 12/02/2022 The Valentino Park project (Elena Vigliocco)
– 12/16/2022 Wrap-up 1 (Loris Servillo, Caterina Quaglio)
MODULE II – Ecology and circular economy
13/01/2023 – Designing Circularity – Introduction to the Circular Economy (Elena Piera Montacchini and Silvia Tedesco)
03/03/2023 – Reuse of Rainwater (Roberto Revelli)
10/03/2023 – Water Remediation (Tiziana Tosco)
17/03/2023 – Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) + Visit to Open011 proGIreg (Maicol Negrello)
24/03/2023 – Visit to Ortialti (Elena Carmagnati)
31/03/2023 – Wrap-up 2 (Loris Servillo, Caterina Quaglio)
MODULE III – Smart and Digital
14/04/2023 – The Airbnb Model (Francesco Milone, Chiara Iacovone)
MODULE II/b – Ecology and Circular Economy
21/04/2023 – Green Deal and Environmental Policies (Elisa Ughetto)
MODULE III – Smart and Digital
28/04/2023 – Mobility and Vehicle Traffic Simulation Systems (Marco Rapelli)
05/05/2023 – Visit to 5T (2:00–6:00 PM, two groups)
MODULE I/b – Physical and Social Infrastructure
-12/05/2023 – Regenerating the Existing City (Nadia Caruso)
-19/05/2023 – Regenerating the Existing City, Bike Tour of Case Studies in Turin (Daniele Campobenedetto)
– 26/05/2023 Wrap-up 3 (Loris Servillo, Caterina Quaglio)
(TBD) FINAL EVENT: Presentation of the work and open discussion
cover photo credit: Lucio Beltrami
