Zoekresultaten

Creative districts around the world: celebrating the 500th anniversary of Bairro Alto

Creating knowledge locations in the city

This book focuses on one particular way to promote the urban knowledge economy: the creation of knowledge ‘hotspots’.

Towards Energy Citizenship for a Just and Inclusive Transition: Lessons Learned on Collaborative Approach of Positive Energy Districts from the EU Horizon2020 Smart Cities and Communities Projects

To achieve the “well below 2 degrees” targets, a new ecosystem needs to be defined where citizens become more active, co-managing with relevant stakeholders, the government, and third parties. This means moving from the traditional concept of citizens-as-consumers towards energy citizenship. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) will be the test-bed area where this transformation will take place through social, technological, and governance innovation. This paper focuses on benefits and barriers towards energy citizenships and gathers a diverse set of experiences for the definition of PEDs and Local Energy Markets from the Horizon2020 Smart Cities and Communities projects: Making City, Pocityf, and Atelier.

Creative Districts and Creative Tourism: Greg Richards in conversation with Jorge Piqué.

Designing creative places: the role of creative tourism

Creativity has become a strategy in the making of places, with cities and regions seeking to increase their attractiveness to the creative class, support the creative industries or to become ‘creative cities’. We examine how creativity has been utilised in placemaking in tourism desti-nations through different design strategies. A shift in theoretical focus from creative individuals towards creative districts or places is noted, in line with the developing field of creative place-making. Case studies of creative development indicate strategies need to be sensitive to local context, and follow some basic design principles. Creative placemaking includes consideration of resources, meaning and creativity, driven by clear vision, enabling participation, leaving space for creative expression and developing a coherent narrative

The Benefits of Positive Energy Districts

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are a promising approach to urban energy transformation, aiming to optimize local energy systems and deliver environmental, social and economic benefits. However, their effectiveness and justification for investment rely on understanding the additional value they provide (additionality) in comparison to current policies and planning methods. The additionality perspective is not used yet in current evaluations of PED demonstrations and pilots. Therefore, this paper introduces the concept of additionality in the evaluation of PEDs, focusing on the additional benefits they bring and the circumstances under which they are most effective. We discuss the additionality of PEDs in addressing the challenges of climate neutrality and energy system transformation in three European cities that are funded by the European Commission’s H2020 Programme. It should be noted that given the ongoing status of these projects, the assessment is mainly based on preliminary results, as monitoring is still ongoing and quantitative results are not yet available. The paper discusses the drivers and barriers specific to PEDs, and highlights the challenges posed by technical complexities, financing aspects and social and legal restrictions. Conclusions are drawn regarding the concept of additionality and its implications for the wider development of PEDs as a response to the challenges of climate neutrality and energy system transformation in cities. We conclude that the additionality perspective provides valuable insights into the impact and potential of PEDs for societal goals and recommend this approach for use in the final evaluation of R&I projects involving PEDs using actual monitored data on PEDs.