Italian Cities Research Articles

Religion and the internet: digital religion, (hyper)mediated spaces, and materiality

This article offers theoretical reflections on the study of religion and the Internet by critically discussing the notion of “digital religion” (Campbell 2012). In particular, it stresses the importance of integrating material and spatial approaches to the study of digital religion. In doing so, it proposes the theory of “hypermediated religious spaces” to describe processes of religious mediation between online and offline environments by taking into account materiality and space. The article discusses theoretical perspectives by means of case studies: first, the importance of materiality within Internet practices is illustrated through the example of Neo-Pagan online rituals; second, the notion of space, and “third space” in particular, in relation to Internet practices is analyzed through the case of the hashtag #Nous-Sommes-Unis, circulated by French Muslims; third, the theory of hypermediated spaces is exemplified by the analysis of a live-streamed mass in the Italian city of Manerbio during the Covid-19 lockdown. The article aims at kindling scholarly reflections on terminologies and theories for the global and interdisciplinary study of digital religion.

Tactical Urbanism in Italy: From Grassroots to Institutional Tool—Assessing Value of Public Space Experiments

The paper aims to evaluate the value that the experimentation of tactical urban planning activities can assume for the city, through the critical account of some practices in three Italian cities of large (Milan), medium-large (Bari), and medium size (Taranto), which in recent years, in some cases unknowingly, have experienced its effects, also forced by the thrust offered by the need to respond to the consequences of the pandemic. The authors reflect on how short-term interventions started by tactical urbanism movement are inspiring planning institutions to implement short-term place-making initiatives. The contribution moves within the context of new generation urban regeneration in which the transformation of existing spaces is a process of community reconstruction through the redevelopment of public spaces increasingly open to multiple and temporary uses. First through a process of rereading the state of the art of the project of public spaces in Italy and its transformation caused by the pandemic, then through a comparative look between the three case studies, conclusions are drawn on the urban value of the experiments conducted and, on their ability, to identify a new reference point for the sustainable urban regeneration of public spaces.

Airborne concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 in indoor community environments in Italy.

COVID-19 pandemic raised a debate regarding the role of airborne transmission. Information regarding virus-laden aerosol concentrations is still scarce in community indoors and what are the risks for general public and the efficiency of restriction policies. This work investigates, for the first time in Italy, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air samples collected in different community indoors (one train station, two food markets, one canteen, one shopping centre, one hair salon, and one pharmacy) in three Italian cities: metropolitan city of Venice (NE of Italy), Bologna (central Italy), and Lecce (SE of Italy). Air samples were collected during the maximum spread of the second wave of pandemic in Italy (November and December 2020). All collected samples tested negative for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, using both real-time RT-PCR and ddPCR, and no significant differences were observed comparing samples taken with and without customers. Modelling average concentrations, using influx of customers’ data and local epidemiological information, indicated low values (i.e. < 0.8 copies m−3 when cotton facemasks are used and even lower for surgical facemasks). The results, even if with some limitations, suggest that the restrictive policies enforced could effectively reduce the risk of airborne transmissions in the community indoor investigated, providing that physical distance is respected.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-021-16737-7.

New Older Users’ Attitudes Toward Social Networking Sites and Loneliness: The Case of the Oldest-Old Residents in a Small Italian City

Older adults make little use of social networking sites (SNS). SNS has become essential for maintaining social contacts and countering loneliness in the current era marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. This study explores the attitudes of the oldest-old on SNS after attending a training course on SNS use. The study’s goals are to investigate their personal experiences, choices of use and to survey their views on the usefulness of SNS and its effects on mitigating loneliness for older people. The interviews were conducted in the context of the “Ageing in a Networked Society—Social Experiment Study.” The participants, who were randomly selected for the course on SNS use, agreed to be interviewed during the post-intervention evaluation ( N = 39). Results show SNS are mainly and productively used with relatives and friends. A positive view is reported for the potential impact of using SNS to counter loneliness, but mainly for socially isolated older individuals, while only a few find online contact futile. Intergenerational communication and a perspective of SNS as a leisure activity were identified as motivational factors for SNS use. Rare use or non-use are mainly related to privacy and security issues and technical difficulties. This is also the reason underlying the majority’s preference for WhatsApp over Facebook. These findings confirm the need for widespread SNS-focused online communication training interventions for seniors. On the speculative level, these results complement the existing literature by delving deeper into the perceptions of new older SNS users, a poorly studied segment of the population.

Design of a solar district heating system with seasonal storage in Italy

The residential sector is responsible for 26% of final energy consumption in the European Union. A key strategy to reduce household fossil fuel use is solar district heating with seasonal thermal energy storage. Although this technology has been widely applied in Northern Europe (Sweden, Denmark, and Germany), it has not been implemented in Italy. This research presents a new numerical tool, and applies it to the REPLICATE project in the Italian city of Florence, which is financed under the Horizon 2020 Smart Cities and Communities initiative. Our novel tool, which is based on a dynamic model coupled with the finite element method, has been developed to guide the design of the district heating plant and obtain a reliable estimation of performance, notably storage heat losses. The overall aim is to reduce the prediction inaccuracies that have characterized past projects. The final dynamic model is implemented in TRNSYS, and makes it possible to select the main plant parameters and define control strategies. It is linked to a detailed heat transfer model developed in COMSOL Multiphysics®, which can calculate storage heat losses and determine the optimal thickness of insulation material. Our in-depth parametric study determined the optimal volume of the hot water tank to be 3800 m3, and the size of the solar field to be 1000 m2. We also evaluated the effectiveness of the addition of a water–water heat pump. This analysis found that it is a crucial component as it can increase storage capacity and improve the performance of solar collectors by up to 124 MWh. Our results indicate that with an optimized configuration, the solar fraction of the system can reach up to 44%.

Synergies between buildings retrofit and district heating. The role of DH in a decarbonized scenario for the city of Milano

The goal of this work is to present challenges and opportunities for the development of 4th generation district heating in future decarbonized scenarios for the Italian city of Milano. The work has been developed in the framework of a Climate-KIC project to support Milano municipality in developing decarbonization measures. The first part of the work consists in the evaluation of a geographical distribution of the civil sector heat demand according to a bottom-up approach based on open data. Thanks to this statistical tool, also buildings retrofit can be analysed. Three retrofit scenarios are simulated according to policy goals for 2030 and 2050, foreseeing a retrofit priority of worst energy performances buildings, resulting in 8.8TWh, for the first two scenarios, and 9.4TWh for the last one. The areas characterized by the majority of retrofit can be identified as the most suitable for low temperature district heating development. Renewables and low temperature waste heat sources are also assessed, resulting in 9.8TWh of available heat. The application of district heating in combination with the identified renewables is assessed in these scenarios with a clustering approach. The evaluation of potential diffusion of 4GDH is based on the comparison between the overall cost of district heating and the competing individual systems costs: district heating is considered feasible only in retrofitted buildings where district heating cost is lower than individual systems cost (about 0.7TWh in each scenarios). The retrofitting scenarios combined with the diffusion of renewable based 4GDH are assessed also in terms of environmental impact. The current greenhouse gas emissions related to the actual heating systems, evaluated through the Thermal Systems Regional Cadastre database, is compared to the district heating development scenarios and to individual heat pump system scenarios. The results show the highest reduction of emission in the district heating scenarios (65%).

District heating network maintenance planning optimization

To ensure the correct functioning of district heating networks and minimize critical failures, utilities allocate every year a significant part of their budget to maintenance operations. In the present work we describe a risk-based approach implemented to tackle the problem of designing optimal multi-year maintenance campaigns, applied to the Italian city of Brescia, showing how data-driven techniques can help decision makers assess the long terms impacts of budget allocations.

‘We do things that matter’: Humanitarian representations of health and welfare services for forced migrants

The article explores welfare and health practitioners’ representations of work practices and professional values underpinning their engagement with forced migrants within a polyfunctional health service in an Italian metropolitan city. It explores the integrated approach developed to cater for asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection’s specific needs. Building on interviews with health professionals and welfare workers, the article aims to critically discuss how concepts of care and responsibility are talked about and what kind of values underpin their work ethics. Humanitarian representations emerging from the narratives of health and welfare workers suggest that care and compassion are asymmetric and inherently racialised emotions and the use of vulnerability to depict service users can work to legitimise problematic practices as well as maintaining a focus on the compassionate saviours, whilst at the same time silencing people in need.

Differential mortality of infectious disease in Italian polities: COVID-19, past plague epidemics, and currently endemic respiratory disease.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has harshly impacted Italy since its arrival in February 2020. In particular, provinces in Italy's Central and Northern macroregions have dealt with disproportionately greater case prevalence and mortality rates than those in the South. In this paper, we compare the morbidity and mortality dynamics of 16th and 17th century Plague outbreaks with those of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across Italian regions. We also include data on infectious respiratory diseases which are presently endemic to Italy in order to analyze the regional differences between epidemic and endemic disease. A Growth Curve Analysis allowed for the estimation of time-related intercepts and slopes across the 16th and 17th centuries. Those statistical parameters were later incorporated as criterion variables in multiple General Linear Models. These statistical examinations determined that the Northern macroregion had a higher intercept than the Southern macroregion. This indicated that provinces located in Northern Italy had historically experienced higher plague mortalities than Southern polities. The analyses also revealed that this geographical differential in morbidity and mortality persists to this day, as the Northern macroregion has experienced a substantially higher COVID-19 mortality than the Southern macroregion. These results are consistent with previously published analyses. The only other stable and significant predictor of epidemic disease mortality was foreign urban potential, a measure of the degree of interconnectedness between 16th and 17th century Italian cities. Foreign urban potential was negatively associated with plague slope and positively associated with plague intercept, COVID-19 mortality, GDP per capita, and immigration per capita. Its substantial contribution in predicting both past and present outcomes provides a temporal continuity not seen in any other measure tested here. Overall, this study provides compelling evidence that temporally stable geographical factors, impacting both historical and current foreign pathogen spread above and beyond other hypothesized predictors, underlie the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had throughout Central and Northern Italian provinces.

Southern Italian Peripheries at the Ballot Box. Continuity and Innovation in Electoral Behaviours in Three Southern Italian Cities during Post-Crisis Decade (2008–2019)

ABSTRACT The article explores the social and political geography of three southern Italian cities – Bari, Napoli and Reggio Calabria – and investigates inside their centre–periphery cleavage, highlighting whether and how peripheral conditions affect electoral behaviours. It provides a multidimensional statistical analysis based on I.S.T.A.T. data on Italian cities and suburbs and on the results of the political and European elections during the post-economic crisis decade (2008–2019). The study highlights a growing predictive power, after the 2008 crisis, of the peripheral condition on the electoral behaviour, the weakening of the centre-left parties and the specular political success of 5-Star Movement (M.5.S.) in deprived urban areas.

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Fiscal Integration in an Experimental Union: How Path-Breaking Was the EU's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

1459Socioeconomic position influence on the early-life individual exposome in the Italian NINFEA birth cohort

Abstract Background Early exposure to unhealthy lifestyles and environmental risk factors is known to affect health throughout the life-course. There is also evidence that the exposure patterns are influenced by the socioeconomic position (SEP). Methods We use the data of the Turin participants of the Italian NINFEA birth cohort (n∼2500) to study how family SEP drives the early life exposome. SEP at birth is measured through the EHII (Equivalized Household Income Indicator), while the exposome includes urban environment, diet and lifestyle exposures measured during infancy. We use standard regression models to evaluate the effect of EHII on each exposome variable accounting for multiple comparison and potential confounders (Drivers-Exposome Wide Association Study – DExWAS) and the hierarchical clustering on the principal components approach to identify groups with similar exposure pattern. Results The DExWAS show that low EHII is associated with lower consumption of fruit and vegetables, lower levels of NO2, building and facilities densities, traffic, walkability and connectivity index, higher land-use diversity index, and higher exposure to pets. The hierarchical cluster analysis identifies three groups, with subjects belonging to the cluster characterized by higher level of urban environment risk factors and a healthier diet having a higher mean EHII. Conclusions These SEP-early life exposome analyses will be replicated in several European birth cohorts participating in the H2020 ATHLETE and LifeCycle projects. Key messages In the Italian city of Turin children from low SEP family are exposed to higher levels of environmental risk factors and unhealthy lifestyles during infancy.

The impact of different tree planting strategies on ecosystem services and disservices in the piazzas of a northern Italian city

Achieving urban sustainability goals, and improving the quality of life in cities, are aided by the careful selection of tree species for public green spaces. Numerous trade-offs and synergies are necessary to consider when selecting tree species for successful public green spaces and there is little data on effective species mixes. In this transdisciplinary research we consider the relative impacts of nine different tree planting scenarios, as modelled with i-Tree, in three piazzas of Bolzano, North Italy. The scenarios consider the opinions of the general public gathered from focused workshops and data collected via a purposefully created smartphone application in addition to data from local urban tree inventories. Shade provision and aesthetics were the primary factors that influenced citizen tree preferences. Scenarios which included larger tree species generally performed the best due to the greater provision of ecosystem services that arises with larger tree dimensions. Ecosystem disservices also increase with larger trees but can be minimised by careful species selection. Public participation in the planning of urban green spaces can be a beneficial activity which ensures new planning outputs will be well-received whilst providing opportunities for education of citizens about the multiple ecosystem services and disservices in urban contexts. Model outputs revealed that different tree species choices can have greatly different impacts in terms of ecosystem service and disservice provision.

Built Environment Typologies Prone to Risk: A Cluster Analysis of Open Spaces in Italian Cities

Planning for preparedness, in terms of multi-hazard disasters, involves testing the relevant abilities to mitigate damage and build resilience, through the assessment of deterministic disaster scenarios. Among risk-prone assets, open spaces (OSs) play a significant role in the characterization of the built environment (BE) and represent the relevant urban portion on which to develop multi-risk scenarios. The aim of this paper is to elaborate ideal scenarios—namely, Built Environment Typologies (BETs)—for simulation-based risk assessment actions, considering the safety and resilience of BEs in emergency conditions. The investigation is conducted through the GIS data collection of the common characteristics of OSs (i.e., squares), identified through five parameters considered significant in the scientific literature. These data were processed through a non-hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of the cluster analysis identified five groups of OSs, characterized by specific morphological, functional, and physical characteristics. Combining the outcomes of the cluster analysis with a critical analysis, nine final BETs were identified. The resulting BETs were linked to characteristic risk combinations, according to the analysed parameters. Thus, the multi-risk scenarios identified through the statistical analysis lay the basis for future risk assessments of BEs, based on the peculiar characteristics of Italian towns.

Dialogic accounting through popular reporting and digital platforms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the usefulness of popular reporting (PR) in an Italian city as a dialogic accounting tool for promoting citizens’ engagement with digital platforms. This study aims to contribute to the debate on democratic accounting technologies with a focus on PR and digital platforms, using the theoretical lens of dialogic accounting. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal case study is used to analyse the implementation and evolution of PR in the city of Turin, Italy and explore how the city involved its citizens with digital platforms. Findings This study contributes to the debate on public accountability through dialogic accounting tools. Research limitations/implications Multiple sources (surveys, interviews and interventionist workshops) are used to analyse Turin, Italy as a longitudinal case study. Practical implications This study offers practical reflections for legislators, politicians and public managers who need new knowledge and empirical analysis of the effective implementation of the PR as a tool for dialogue and empowering public accounting to hold continuous dialogue with the citizens. Originality/value PR can be considered a useful dialogic accounting tool for politicians, managers and government experts to encourage citizens’ engagement in a pluralistic society.

The mutual relationship between established process of reconstruction governance and implemented process of reconstruction project: A focus on L’Aquila city 10 years after the Abruzzo earthquake

AbstractIn the recovery process following massive earthquakes in historical Italian cities, the housing construction and restoration of built heritage proceed with relationships that are established among diverse actors. However, much less work has been done on the established processes of governance protocol and research methods have not been accumulated. This study is aimed at determining the characteristics of the established processes of reconstruction governance (RG) in L'Aquila city following the 2009 Abruzzo earthquake in Italy. The research method was adopted from the text analysis and inter‐actor relationship mapping which was obtained in the previous study. Moreover, the mutual relationships between established RG processes and the implemented processes of the reconstruction project (RP) were identified based on the periodization of L’Aquila’s recovery process by combining two initiatives. The results thus obtained revealed that the existence of mutual relationships between the two processes resulted in a diversification of RG and an expansion of the RP domains and types in addition to a centralization of the RP domains. In conclusion, we recommend the diversification and continuous strengthening of RG in the recovery process, early establishment of an intermediary support organization, and public offering projects for expanding civic association participation.

Air quality evaluation during COVID-19 in Southern Italy: the case study of Avellino city

The present study relies on the air quality evaluation during COVID-19 pandemic in Avellino, described in the last years and for several consecutive years, among the worst Italian cities in this context. The main purpose of this manuscript was to investigate the effects of quarantine and lockdown measures on air pollution. The concentrations of the main atmospheric pollutants (Carbon monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Fine Particulate (PM2.5 and PM10), Benzene (C6H6) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were recorded during the period January–December 2020 using two stationary monitoring stations (AV1 and AV2) of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPAC). During the lockdown period (March 9-May 18, 2020), results indicated significant reductions only in the levels of CO, benzene and NO2, while for PM10 the limit of 50 μg m−3 was passed 8 times for AV1 and 13 times for AV2. The results showed the not predominant role of traffic on air quality in Avellino regards to PM levels and make it necessary a serious reflection about important and not extendable decisions to improve the air quality.

Performing Categories through Material, Spatial and Verbal Practices: the case of “Historical Shops”

Categories make intelligible our world by classifying and labelling objects, actors and events around us. Sometimes categories are created by some promoters re-interpreting already existing entities to re-orientate meaning systems according to strategic goals. This phenomenon is particularly spread in urban and cultural contexts, where policy-makers often found labels to re-qualify, valorise or preserve specific areas of interest. Adopting a qualitative methodology and a multiple nested case study, I analyse the case of creation of the Historical Shops category in two Italian cities with the aim of understanding the conditions and the mechanisms through which a category takes life, is acknowledged and performed on a daily basis, and the ones that, instead, hinder this process. Findings show that the interaction of material, spatial and verbal practices enacted within categorical boundaries co-create an externally perceived experience of the category, which, in turn reinforce the categorical members’ identification with the category, hence sustaining category performance. The initial acts of category creation and actions of category promoters and intermediaries may support or undermine the whole process. The study contributes to categorization studies by providing a situated view on categorization where materiality, place, experience and categorical members’ identification have a fundamental role.

‘Useless and dangerous’? Mercenaries in fourteenth century wars

ABSTRACT This article compares two military formats employed in late Medieval Europe. Italian cities contracted out entire military campaigns whereas European monarchies recruited mercenaries in their armies, led by national commanders. How effective were these private armies? When did mercenaries threaten their employers? The article investigates the enterprises of mercenary captains Castracani and Hawkwood in Italy, and mercenaries in France. Private armies were often effective on the battlefield, though public authorities were not always able to control them. Mercenaries’ military strength and governments’ ability to sanction them were decisive for the outcome of these embryonic forms of civil-military relations.

Gambling and (“Dark”) Flow. A holistic Study with Best Practice Cases on How to Minimize Harm

How to apply “minimize harm” as a guiding principle for regulating, redesigning, and running the gambling industry/business? The article looks at gambling through the flow concept using a four-dimensional frame of reference. The attempt is to analyze the problem of gambling from a scientific-technical, interpersonal, systemic and a spiritual-existential perspective. Two best-practice cases are used as illustrations; Norway’s national gambling monopoly operated by Norsk Tipping (NT), and the Italian city Pavia which was transformed from being “Italy’s Las Vegas” to return to the old charming city where gambling are strictly regulated. The third case illustrates the spiritual-existential dimension mirrored by a young American lawyer who became addicted to gambling, but finally sued the casinos that had ruined her life. Implications for further research are discussed, suggesting a move from “dark” flow to “green” flow.