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Freedom of Information (FOI) is considered a crown jewel of reforms fostering public administration transparency and accountability. However, FOI's symbolic power alone cannot overcome the organizational barriers and obstacles to its effective implementation. This paper presents the results of a field experiment performed in Italy, a late FOI adopter, where an FOI request was sent to the 307 municipalities with more than 30k inhabitants. The experimental design exploits marginal wording variation in the requests to test whether municipalities discriminate between ordinary citizens and high-profile requesters. The experimental evidence suggests that most Italian municipalities reply to FOI requests. The results show two opposite types of discretionary bias: Northern municipalities tend to favor high-profile requesters, whereas Southern municipalities tend to respond to them with a higher degree of attrition. The study investigates the determinants of this difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy retrofitting of residential buildings is considered a challenge to be tackled not only at building level, but also at urban scale, to give a stronger impulse for a concrete transition towards climate neutrality. This paper presents an easy-to-use analysis method based on the elaboration and scaling-up of data collected through the energy performance certificates (EPCs) to identify different urban energy zones distinguished by their energy performance index. This method is therefore conceived for better informing urban planning decisions, thus boosting more effective energy-sensitive urban planning strategies and eventually to foresee dedicated financial instruments to act in the more energy demanding areas of the city, establishing priorities for integrated strategies. This analytical method has been applied and tested in one municipality in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, where the recent urban planning law is pushing municipalities towards the development of urban planning strategies oriented to drastically improve the energy efficiency of the existing building stock. Results show that only a small number of areas manage to reach a good performance with fairly low levels of energy performance index, with the most critical situation found in the most central areas of the capital and in the hamlets. • Easy-to-use method for assessing energy performance of residential building at urban scale is proposed • Method based on data easily available for local authorities, like energy performance certificates (EPCs) and urban morphology • The method supports urban planners in municipalities in taking more targeted decisions for improving energy efficiency • The main output of the method is the definition of an energy performance index (EPI) for different urban contexts • EPI allows to wisely balance economic incentives, identifying areas where multi-purpose interventions are recommended [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obligations arising from legislation and other instruments affect the macro-level decision-making related to the transition toward a circular economy (CE), which is a multifaceted topic since it tries to aggregate the interests of different stakeholders. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the current policies, strategies and initiatives related to the CE transition from a multicriteria perspective and under the lens of NIT (New Institutional Theory). This is the first approach that analyses which CE strategies and related practices boost the transition from a macro-level perspective, using a multicriteria method and considering developed and emerging economies. For this reason, this paper can be helpful for researchers and practitioners involved in implementing strategy and policymaking aimed at the transition toward a CE. It also contributes to the discussion on the global transition to the CE by identifying differences and similarities between countries. The proposed methodology has been applied to compare the realities in Italy and Brazil. The perceptions of several stakeholders from the two countries have been gathered through a questionnaire to evaluate numerous strategies against several social, environmental, economic, and technical criteria. The main results are: Italy presents a proactive behaviour, a higher level of institutionalisation, and a coercive isomorphism related to European regulations and strategies. In contrast, Brazil has reactive behaviour, a lower level of institutionalisation, and is impelled by mimetic isomorphism. Although it is possible to observe several advances in the last years in Brazil, the transition to a CE is still in the early stages compared to Italy. [Display omitted] • Transitioning to a new economic model is not a quick and straightforward process. • Transition requires changes in countries, regions, cities, supply chains and companies. • Some strategies and related practices have been adopted to enable the transition. • National legislation and Action Plans can boost the transition toward a circular economy. • In developing countries, the exploration of CE concept and its potential benefits has been rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the presence of urban wildlife has increased in many cities around the world, with the consequent increase of human-animal relations. The city of Genoa (NW Italy) is a particularly complex case study where such phenomena are associated with rural depopulation of the surrounding countryside and spontaneous rewilding processes that have led several animal species to approach urban areas in search of new spaces. This paper deals with human-wildlife interactions in Genoa in relation to the geography of the city by way of a survey circulated throughout Genoa. Drawing from survey data, the research investigates residents' perceptions and understanding of urban wildlife in relation to their area of residency with a focus on wild boars. People's responses show that some areas of the city have a higher level of interaction with wildlife, and this partly affects the way in which such phenomena are perceived and tolerated by the population. In addition, the results show that there is no clear opposition towards urban wildlife and that people are concerned about sustainable forms of urban planning to the benefit of both residents and wildlife. • Rewilding processes involve both rural and urban areas of Liguria (NW Italy). • In recent times city of Genoa (NW Italy) has seen a progressive increase of wildlife. • Intensity of human-animal interactions varies in relation to people's area of residency. • People are concerned about public safety and good quality of urban environments but also animal welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether the gender of elected politicians affects the performance of Italian local governments in providing equitable and sustainable well-being to citizens. In fact, Italy was the first country in the European Union to include citizens' well-being objectives in economic planning. We use data on more than 6000 Italian municipalities for two years to investigate the relationship between gender representation at three bodies of local government with measures of socio-economic and environmental sustainability and find that larger representation of women in municipal leadership, executive and council bodies is significantly associated with improved municipal well-being. These results are also confirmed by accounting for endogenous issues, by adopting an extended definition of well-being and other robustness checks. Differences among northern and southern regions emerge with regard to the effects of incumbent female politicians. Other heterogeneous impacts are unclear or less marked. • A Wroclaw composite index of well-being is constructed at municipal level. • Gender quotas is used as instrumental variable in 2SLS regressions. • A larger share of women in municipal political bodies improves citizen's well-being. • Heterogeneity effects are detected among North vs. Center-South macro-regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to ground gentrification processes within a broader urban transformation pattern and within a deeper historical account, taking an ordinary city into consideration: Turin, in the North West of Italy. The paper elaborates on qualitative data collected along a twenty year span, allowing reflection on different phases and dynamics of capital extraction across time. We will show that, problematically, gentrification was considered as a positive model by local authorities and that it was adopted as a reference by both private and public actors to generate local growth and to react to economic crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimal design of multi-vector energy hubs in energy communities. • MILP model using a multi-objective function. • Application to a real case represented by a university campus. One of the main ways to reach the important targets of the European Commission in the energy field set by 2030 is to implement sustainable energy systems to cover electrical and thermal energy demands, as well as transportation needs, in urban areas. In the aforesaid scenario, multi-vector energy hubs consist of installing small and medium size power plants, mainly fed by renewable sources, and charging infrastructures for electric vehicles in sustainable urban districts. The optimal design of such systems can be faced from different points of view and using different methods, one of the most adopted being the development of mathematical programming algorithms typically aimed to minimize global costs and emissions. The contribution of this paper is to propose an innovative methodology to optimally design a multi-vector energy hub able to supply electricity and thermal energy, for space heating and cooling, to a set of buildings within a sustainable district acting as a local energy community. The developed mixed integer linear programming model is characterized by very detailed models of the technologies and by a multi-objective function which is proposed to evaluate the impact of the optimal solution on global costs and emissions. The proposed mathematical model is very comprehensive as it involves a wide range of energy technologies with detailed modelling by considering the impact of external ambient conditions and energy vector temperature values on the plant conversion efficiency, thus showing high replicability potential in real contexts. In the case study, the model is applied to a university campus in the North of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the critical literature that links greening initiatives with the risk of gentrification. As urban areas become greener and provide high quality amenities, they attract wealthier residents, thus channelling the benefits of greening to a few. Most existing research has analysed the results of greening initiatives once they have been completed. This article explores green gentrification as a form of strategic action, by analysing the emerging Green Tree Strategy (GTS) for Porto Marghera, Italy. This area has undergone historical greening initiatives, beginning with the "garden city" of Enebezeer Howard (1902). The GTS is the newest green regeneration initiative in Porto Marghera. The data were collected via semi-structured interviews and through an online social network survey. The results show that the GTS has a clear ideological core – built around a new strategy of perception – but also that its appeal can be challenged in terms of industrial and employment displacement. The support for the GTS is fragmented and lacks consensus in Porto Marghera. However, if local actors are to successfully resist further attempts at green gentrification, they likely need to build an alternative vision, organized around a balanced development between green infrastructures and social inclusiveness. • Sustainability and greening initiatives in cities often lead to gentrification. • The Green Tree Strategy (GTS) is an early stage greening initiative proposed for Porto Marghera, Italy. • We explore the GTS as a form of strategic action, developing in a social movement like fashion. • Green gentrification is avoidable but resisting it requires an alternative conception of equitable greening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]