Italian Urban Areas Research Articles

Assessing the stability of underground caves through iSUMM (innovative, straightforward, user-friendly, mechanically-based method)

A huge number of sinkhole events has been recorded in different Italian urban areas, with an occurrence frequency largely increasing in the last decades, sometimes even causing loss of human lives. The main reason for such catastrophic events is the presence of man-made underground cavities, excavated within soft rocks, several decades ago and then abandoned, at shallow depths. Here, the possibility of interaction with overlying buildings and infrastructures and the corresponding sinkhole hazard is relatively high. In such contexts, the low mechanical properties of the soft rock formations where the cavities have been excavated, like those formed of calcarenites, which outcrop in large areas of Southern Italy, and their high susceptibility to weathering processes, represent one of the most important predisposing factors for instability. Therefore, assessing the stability of underground cavities is crucial for land management and planning purposes. The mechanically-based stability charts developed by Perrotti et al. (Int J Geomech 18(7):04018071, 2018) have proved to be a valid tool for preliminary stability assessment and, although allow to identify an eventual proneness of the cave to instability, they do not provide quantitative assessment about the safety margin itself. In that regard, this study intends to present the most recent outcomes obtained in the development of the methodology and is aimed at promoting an enhanced way for their application, so that the charts can become an operative tool for preliminary sinkhole hazard assessment in similar regions in the world.

Cost-Effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions under Different Implementation Scenarios: A National Perspective for Italian Urban Areas

Worldwide, national governments and private organizations are increasingly investing in Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to foster both human well-being and biodiversity while achieving climate and environmental targets. Yet, investments in NBS remain uncoordinated among planning levels, their co-benefits underestimated, and their effectiveness undermined. This study aims to provide a spatially explicit approach to optimize the budget allocation for NBS implementation across Italian urban areas while maximizing their effectiveness in terms of environmental health. We explored three different NBS implementation scenarios oriented to (i) maximize the Ecosystem Services supply of NBS (Scenario BP), (ii) minimize costs of NBS (Scenario LC), and (iii) maximize Ecosystem Services supply of NBS at the lowest cost (Scenario CP). Once selected, we prioritized their allocation through the territory following an environmental risk index for population, and we explored the relationship between costs and effectiveness for the three scenarios. The implementation of Scenario BP costs EUR 777 billion while showing 31 billion of effectiveness. Scenario LC costs 70% less than scenario BP (EUR 206 billion) while losing 70% of its effectiveness. Scenario CP costs 60% less than Scenario BP (EUR 301 billion), offering just 20% less effectiveness. Our results show that employing the risk index for NBS allocation would allow for reducing the surface of interventions by saving 67% of the budget in the three scenarios with a negligible loss in terms of return for human health. The here-proposed approach can guide the national funds’ allocation system, improving its cost-effectiveness and equitableness.

Overview of the bus network characteristics in the Italian medium size urban areas

Public transport services represent one of the main solutions for promoting a more sustainable urban mobility system but, in many Italian urban areas, there are still many critical issues about the level and quality of offered services. Starting from such issues, amplified by the pandemic condition, the present paper deals with the systematic analysis of the bus network characteristics and riderships in many Italian cities and towns, characterized by a supply of public transport services mainly based on buses. The database built for the study is related to 54 municipalities, with a population from 80,000 to 360,000 inhabitants, and it is composed by a large set of indicators about supply and demand of the bus services network and of the territorial characteristics of the municipalities. The results of the analysis permit to underline the existence of very different condition about level of provided services, impacting on the level of demand using the public transport. These differences are not only related to the territorial characteristics but are also due to completely different characteristics of the supply. The urban areas of Northern Italy, seem to present, in almost all of the analyzes carried out, both a quantity and quality level of the supply provided, as well as the level of demand satisfied, clearly superior to both urban areas of Central and Southern Italy. Finally, the study proposes a new method for the estimation of the overall annual level of bus services, for overcoming the limits of the existing models, hardly dependent on the historical expenditure criterion. The new method is based on the identification of the effective transport needs and the robustness and availability of the input data.

A space of one's own: queering the map, challenging the borders: the production of safe spaces in Italian urban areas

In this essay, I analyse the development of Italian queer and feminist communities through the production of safe spaces, trying to understand how belonging and togetherness occur in the search of ‘a space of one’s own’. The dimension of space is taken into account as the environment in which the movements carry out their political activities and as a product of the community in itself. Furthermore, the contested notion of safety is challenging to understand the grassroots responses to violence and exclusion. These topics are crucial in order to understand contemporary sexual democracy and sexual citizenship from a southern perspective, and to shed light on the role new political actors such as queer people and feminists play in shaping cities, social networks and politics.

Modeling Local BES Indicators by Copula-Based Bayesian Networks

In Italy, the measure of the Equitable and Sustainable Well-being is provided by the Italian Institute of Statistics by means of a dashboard of basic and composite indicators. To investigate the dependence structure between the different domains of well-being, we propose the use of Non-Parametric Bayesian Networks based on the normal copula distribution, that allow to explore the conditional independence relationships between the composite indicators. The main advantage of the non-parametric models is that, as opposed to the parametric approach, they do not require any assumption on the marginal distributions of the variables. The proposed model is applied to the Equitable and Sustainable Well-being indicators measured at the provincial level and enriches the analysis of well-being by inspecting similarities and differences between Italian urban areas and territories.

Impact of environmental pollution and climate changes on the incidence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Abstract Background/Introduction Several reports have highlighted the detrimental impact of environmental pollution and climate changes on cardiovascular disease. However, detailed analyses aiming at disentangling the differential impact of pollution versus climate are lacking. Most importantly, limited research has focused on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe yet distinctive form of acute coronary syndrome. Purpose/Methods We aimed at appraising the impact of environmental pollution and climate changes on the incidence of STEMI, analyzing the bivariate and multivariate association between several environmental and atmospheric parameters and the daily incidence of STEMI in two large Italian urban areas. Specifically, we appraised: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NOX), ozone, particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) and than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and rainfall. On top of same day association, we appraised STEMI risk 1, 2, and 3 days later. Computations were performed using a multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear model with Poisson likelihood and log link, yielding incidence ratios (95% confidence intervals) and corresponding p values. Results A total of 4458 days at risk were appraised, 3473 cases of STEMI. Specifically, no STEMI occurred in 1920 (44.8%) days, whereas one or more occurred in the remaining 2365 (55.2%) days. Multilevel modeling identified several pollution and climate predictors of STEMI, either occurring on the same day, or on the following ones. In particular, concentrations of CO (p=0.024), NOX (p=0.039), O3 (p=0.003), PM10 (p=0.033), and PM2.5 (p=0.042) predicted STEMI as early as three day before the event, as well subsequently, and NO predicted STEMI one day before (p=0.010), as well as on the same day. A similar predictive role was evident for temperature and atmospheric pressure (all p<0.05). Notably, strong correlations were evident between same-day temperature, pollutants and climate. Conclusions The risk of STEMI in the current primary percuntaneous coronary intervention area is strongly associated with pollution and climate features. Most notably, environmental and climate changes can be exploited to predict STEMI risk in the following days. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

Impact of environmental pollution and weather changes on the incidence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Environmental pollution and weather changes unfavorably impact on cardiovascular disease. However, limited research has focused on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe yet distinctive form of acute coronary syndrome. We appraised the impact of environmental and weather changes on the incidence of STEMI, analysing the bivariate and multivariable association between several environmental and atmospheric parameters and the daily incidence of STEMI in two large Italian urban areas. Specifically, we appraised: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NOX), ozone, particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) and than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity and rainfall. A total of 4285 days at risk were appraised, with 3473 cases of STEMI. Specifically, no STEMI occurred in 1920 (44.8%) days, whereas one or more occurred in the remaining 2365 (55.2%) days. Multilevel modelling identified several pollution and weather predictors of STEMI. In particular, concentrations of CO (p = 0.024), NOX (p = 0.039), ozone (p = 0.003), PM10 (p = 0.033) and PM2.5 (p = 0.042) predicted STEMI as early as three days before the event, as well as subsequently, and NO predicted STEMI one day before (p = 0.010), as well as on the same day. A similar predictive role was evident for temperature and atmospheric pressure (all p < 0.05). The risk of STEMI is strongly associated with pollution and weather features. While causation cannot yet be proven, environmental and weather changes could be exploited to predict STEMI risk in the following days.

Housing Demand in Urban Areas and Sanitary Requirements of Dwellings in Italy.

The phenomenon of urbanisation is becoming increasingly prevalent on a global level, and the health issues regarding the urban environment are of primary importance in public health. Accordingly, the present manuscript describes an analysis of the housing conditions of Italian urban areas, referring to the city of Sassari (Sardinia), Italy, focused on the dwelling structural and sanitary conditions issued by the Italian regulations. Data relating to the housing conditions of the population were acquired by the Local Hygiene and Public Health Service (SISP), in a period between 2012 and 2016. Qualitative variables were summarised with absolute and relative (percentages) frequencies, whereas quantitative variables with means and standard deviations depending on their parametric distribution. Statistical comparisons for qualitative and quantitative variables were performed with the χ2 test or Student's t-test, respectively. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Finally, the dwellings and the collected variables were georeferenced on a city map. During the 2012–2016 observation period, 363 certification requests were received from 193 (53.2%) foreign-born citizens and 170 (46.8%) Italians at the SISP offices. The main reasons relate to the request for a residency permit (46.6%) and to obtain a subsidy from the local government (32.8%). Overall, 15.4% of dwellings were found to be improper, while 35.3% and 22.0% were found to be unhygienic and uninhabitable, respectively. The foreigners' homes were found to be suitable in 82.7% of cases; the housing of Italian citizens, on the contrary, was found to be suitable in 28% of the observations. The present study offers a cross section of the housing conditions of Italian urban areas, referring to the city of Sassari. To the authors' best knowledge, this observation is the first one carried out in Sardinia and one of the first observations in Italy. It has emerged that “hygienically unsuitable” homes are those that, in most cases, are located in the city centre. Moreover, the Italian population is hit by a significant housing problem, due to overcrowding, uninhabitability, and unhygienic conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that it is necessary to develop a multidisciplinary approach to guarantee public health, with safe dwellings homes and the surrounding urban context alongside the development of social relations. Nevertheless, there is still little evidence available today on the population housing conditions, especially regarding the private indoor environment, and further research is needed to bridge this knowledge gap.

A Spatial Composite Indicator for Human and Ecosystem Well-Being in the Italian Urban Areas

The concept of well-being has evolved over the last decades and a multidisciplinary literature has acknowledged the multidimensional nature of this phenomenon that encompasses different key dimensions. To give concise measure of well-being, methodologies based on composite indices assume relevance, for their capability to summarize the multidimensional issues, rank the units and provide interesting analysis tools. This paper intends to make a contribution to the efforts of assessing human and ecosystem well-being in the Italian urban areas, by appreciating the spatial dimension of the elementary indicators involved in the building process of the composite indicator. To this end, we derive a set of local weights reflecting the spatial variability of data through the Geographically Weighted PCA. Then, the analysis proceeds by employing a unitary-input DEA model, also known as Benefit of Doubt approach, as a benchmarking tool for constructing a spatial composite indicator to evaluate the well-being in the Italian urban areas. In such way, we can take local peculiarities into account and identify the best performing cities to follow as examples of good administrative practices for promoting urban well-being. The approach followed in this specific study is applied empirically with data from the Urban ‘Equitable and Sustainable Well-Being” (Ur-Bes) project, proposed by ISTAT.

A Measure of Well-Being Across the Italian Urban Areas: An Integrated DEA-Entropy Approach

In recent years, there has been an increasing proliferation of initiatives focusing on the concept of quality of life and well-being. At the centre of these studies there is the recognizing that the GDP offers only a partial perspective of factors affecting people’s lives. Following this line of the research, this paper is aimed at computing the well-being efficiencies of a sample of Italian Province capital cities, using a methodological approach that combines data envelopment analysis (DEA) with Shannon’s entropy formula. To avoid subjectivity in choosing a representative set of variables that proxy the phenomenon under study, we rely on the theoretical framework adopted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) within the equitable and sustainable well-being (BES) project. The dashboard of indicators included in the analysis are related to the Ur-BES initiative, promoted by ISTAT to implement the BES framework at cities level. In a first step of the analysis, an immediate focus on separate dimensions of urban well-being is obtained by summarizing the plurality of available indicators through the building of composite indices. Next, the adopted integrated DEA–Shannon entropy approach has permitted to increase the discriminatory power of DEA procedure and attain a more reliable profiling of Italian Province capital cities well-being efficiencies. The results show a marked duality between the Northern and Southern cities, highlighting important differences in many aspects of human and ecosystem well-being.

The Evolutionary Dynamic of the Main Urban Labour Market Areas

If the Labour Market Areas consist of «territorial units identified by a set of adjacent municipalities approximated with travel-to-work daily commuting flows», the change in the number of municipalities that make them up, can be considered an indicator of the changes in the levels of socio-economic interaction within the LMAs. In particular, in the hierarchical-functional LMAs, where the daily commute to work moves from the periphery of the system toward its center, the variation in the number of municipalities that are part of it can be interpreted as the result of a change in the attractiveness of the economic and employment level of the center for its immediate geographical surroundings. Following any changes in the spatial configuration of the 21 local labour systems of the major Italian urban areas and crossing data with that relating to demographic and economic level, an interpretive framework can be built of the evolutionary dynamics of these metropolitan areas and the role they occupy within the national urban system.

The impact of built-up surfaces on land surface temperatures in Italian urban areas

Urban areas are characterized by the very high degree of soil sealing and continuous built-up areas: Italy is one of the European countries with the highest artificial land cover rate, which causes a substantial spatial variation in the land surface temperature (LST), modifying the urban microclimate and contributing to the urban heat island effect. Nevertheless, quantitative data regarding the contribution of different densities of built-up surfaces in determining urban spatial LST changes is currently lacking in Italy. This study, which aimed to provide clear and quantitative city-specific information on annual and seasonal spatial LST modifications resulting from increased urban built-up coverage, was conducted generally throughout the whole year, and specifically in two different periods (cool/cold and warm/hot periods). Four cities (Milan, Rome, Bologna and Florence) were included in the study. The LST layer and the built-up-surface indicator were obtained via use of MODIS remote sensing data products (1km) and a very high-resolution map (5m) of built-up surfaces recently developed by the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research. The relationships between the dependent (mean daily, daytime and nighttime LST values) and independent (built-up surfaces) variables were investigated through linear regression analyses, and comprehensive built-up-surface-related LST maps were also developed. Statistically significant linear relationships (p<0.001) between built-up surfaces and spatial LST variations were observed in all the cities studied, with a higher impact during the warm/hot period than in the cool/cold ones. Daytime and nighttime LST slope patterns depend on the city size and relative urban morphology. If implemented in the existing city plan, the urban maps of built-up-surface-related LST developed in this study might be able to support more sustainable urban land management practices by identifying the critical areas (Hot-Spots) that would benefit most from mitigation actions by local authorities, land-use decision makers, and urban planners.

Temperature Characterization of Different Urban Microhabitats of Aedes albopictus (Diptera Culicidae) in Central-Northern Italy.

Aedes albopictus (Skuse) is an invasive mosquito species that has spread to many countries in temperate regions bordering the Mediterranean basin, where it is becoming a major public health concern. A good knowledge of the thermal features of the most productive breeding sites for Ae. albopictus is crucial for a better estimation of the mosquitoes' life cycle and developmental rates. In this article, we address the problem of predicting air temperature in three microhabitats common in urban and suburban areas and the air and water temperature inside an ordinary catch basin, which is considered the most productive breeding site for Ae. albopictus in Italy. Temperature differences were statistically proven between the three microhabitats and between the catch basin external and internal temperature. The impacts on the developmental rates for each life stage of Ae. albopictus were tested through a parametric function of the temperature, and the aquatic stages resulted as being the most affected using the specific temperature inside a typical catch basin instead of a generic air temperature. The impact of snow cover on the catch basin internal temperature, and consequently on the mortality of diapausing eggs, was also evaluated. These data can be useful to improve epidemiological models for a better prediction of Ae. albopictus seasonal and population dynamics in central-northern Italian urban areas.

Quantifying Urban Sprawl with Spatial Autocorrelation Techniques using Multi-Temporal Satellite Data

This study deals with the use of satellite TM multi-temporal data coupled with statistical analyses to quantitatively estimate urban expansion and soil consumption for small towns in southern Italy. The investigated area is close to Bari and was selected because highly representative for Italian urban areas. To cope with the fact that small changes have to be captured and extracted from TM multi-temporal data sets, we adopted the use of spectral indices to emphasize occurring changes, and geospatial data analysis to reveal spatial patterns. Analyses have been carried out using global and local spatial autocorrelation, applied to multi-date NASA Landsat images acquired in 1999 and 2009 and available free of charge. Moreover, in this paper each step of data processing has been carried out using free or open source software tools, such as, operating system (Linux Ubuntu), GIS software (GRASS GIS and Quantum GIS) and software for statistical analysis of data (R). This aspect is very important, since it puts no limits and allows everybody to carry out spatial analyses on remote sensing data. This approach can be very useful to assess and map land cover change and soil degradation, even for small urbanized areas, as in the case of Italy, where recently an increasing number of devastating flash floods have been recorded. These events have been mainly linked to urban expansion and soil consumption and have caused loss of human lives along with enormous damages to urban settlements, bridges, roads, agricultural activities, etc. In these cases, remote sensing can provide reliable operational low cost tools to assess, quantify and map risk areas.

Spatial Structure and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Due to Commuting: An Analysis of Italian Urban Areas

Cirilli A. and Veneri P. Spatial structure and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to commuting: an analysis of Italian urban areas, Regional Studies. This paper investigates whether and to what extent the spatial configuration of an urban area affects the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to commuting. It disentangles the effect – in terms of commuting patterns and, ultimately, polluting emissions – of several features of urban spatial structure such as compactness, monocentricity, concentration and functional diversity. The main finding of the 111 largest Italian urban areas analysed is that urban spatial configuration is an important determinant of commuting patterns and the associated level of per passenger CO2 emissions. In particular, smaller, more compact and less monocentric areas are associated with lower levels of CO2 per commuter, with socio-demographic characteristics also playing a role.

Pilot Field Trials With &lt;I&gt;Aedes albopictus&lt;/I&gt; Irradiated Sterile Males in Italian Urban Areas

The pilot field studies here presented are part of a long-term research program aimed to develop a cost-effective sterile insect technique (SIT) methodology to suppress Aedes albopictus (Skuse) populations. Aedes albopictus is a mosquito species mainly developing in man-made containers and with an island-like urban and suburban distribution. These two features make the application of the sterile insect technique a possible control strategy. Five trials have been performed in three small towns from 2005 to 2009 (Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy). Reared male pupae, sexed by a sieving technique allowing the recovery of approximately 26-29% of males, were exposed to gamma rays and immediately released in the field. Adult population density was estimated based on a weekly monitoring of egg density in the ovitraps, whereas induced sterility was estimated by measuring the hatching percentage of weekly collected eggs in SIT and control areas. Results showed that sterile males released at the rate of 896-1,590 males/ha/wk induced a significant sterility level in the local population. In addition, when the sterility level achieved values in the range of 70-80%, a similar reduction also was found for the egg density in the ovitraps. We could estimate that the minimum egg sterility value of 81% should be maintained to obtain suppression of the local population. Immigration of mated females was not a main issue in the small villages where trials have been run.

Dispersal and Survival of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Males in Italian Urban Areas and Significance for Sterile Insect Technique Application

The dispersal and survival of laboratory-reared Aedes albopictus Skuse males were investigated during the summer of 2007 in three Northern Italy urban localities by mark-release-recapture techniques. Two marking methods were compared: one group of males was dusted with fluorescent pigments on the body (FP), and the other group was obtained from a strain whose natural infection of Wolbachia had been removed (WB0). FP- and WB0-marked males were released as adults and pupae, respectively, in one fixed station at each locality. Recaptures were performed by skilled technicians, within a radius of 350 m from the release site, on days 4, 5, and 7 after the release, and the males were collected while flying around the technician's body or in swarms. Recapture rates ranged from 0.63 to 4.72% for FP males and from 2.39 to 11.05% for WB0 males. The mean distance traveled for WB0 males was significantly higher than for FP males; no difference was observed between the dispersal distance measured for the males recaptured on human host versus males recaptured while swarming. No further increase of the dispersal occurred during the postrelease period investigated (from day 4 to day 7 after release). The mean survival rate at the release was 0.51 for FP-marked males and 0.81 for WB0 males. The data obtained are discussed for their significance in planning sterile insect technique programs against Ae. albopictus.

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in Italian rural and urban areas

Background/aims No comparative studies are available, as yet, in Italy, concerning the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in urban and rural areas. The aim is to compare the prevalence of IBS in Italian urban and rural areas. Methods 950 subjects were randomly selected from each area and completed a questionnaire regarding demographic data and the Rome II questionnaire. Results The prevalence of IBS was significantly ( p < 0.05) higher in the urban (9.9%), than in the rural area (4.4%). In the urban area, a significantly higher prevalence of IBS was observed in females than in males, 67/490 (13.7%) vs 27/460 (5.9%) ( p < 0.05), while no gender differences were present in the rural population. Conclusion In the urban area, we found a higher prevalence of IBS, and a significantly higher prevalence of IBS in females than in males, while no gender differences were present in the rural population.

Multivariate Analysis Applied to Trace and Ultra-Trace Elements in Italian Potable Waters Determined by INAA

In this paper we have applied a chemometric treatment for investigating and comparing the element composition in potable water samples collected in two Italian urban areas, Rome and Florence, and analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis. The spectrum of drinkable tap Roman water shows very low limits of potentially toxic elements (Sb, Hg, Cr, Ni, etc.); in particular, they are present at levels below the values suggested by the European laws and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Further, it is also evidenced that the elemental composition is quite similar to that of uncontaminated natural waters. According to the Florence drinking water element characterization, the concentration values show an almost good situation except for Al. Comparing the two water systems a higher level of I, Se and some anthropogenic elements (Cu, Na, Zn) is found in Florence samples. A multivariate statistical treatment such as canonical analysis was performed for identifying the contribution of each element to the chemical composition of Roman water. Keywords: Drinking waters, INAA, Trace elements, Multivariate analysis

Genotyping analyses of tuberculosis transmission among immigrant residents in Italy

We used DNA fingerprinting to analyse tuberculosis (TB) epidemiology in immigrant patients living in two major northern Italian urban areas. The study population included 1999 TB patients (1500 Italian-born and 499 immigrants). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify risk factors related to clustering similar proportions of immigrant and Italian-born patients (46%) had infection with TB strains that belonged to genetic clusters. This supports the hypothesis that the disease in foreign patients is more likely to have arisen from reactivation of latent infection acquired in the country of origin than from recent transmission. Gender, age, human immunodeficiency virus infection and drug resistance were not significantly linked to TB clustering. Risk factors associated with strain clustering were country of origin (Somalia, adjusted OR (AOR) 3.19, p 0.017; Peru, AOR 2.86, p 0.014; and Senegal, AOR 2.60, p 0.045) and city of residence. Immigrant status in the larger urban area was an independent risk factor for infection with clustered TB, as reinforced by a subanalysis of the Senegalese group. In conclusion, variations in TB transmission were observed among immigrants from different countries and even within national groups, where living conditions have been found to exert a profound impact. These results emphasize the importance of improving social integration of immigrant subjects in order to limit risks of TB transmission in developed countries.