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The work is focused on the integration of space syntax analysis (SSA) in a process of participatory planning focused on a neighbourhood scale where the challenge of promoting pedestrian-friendly regeneration process is a bottom-up priority. The promotion of active mobility is one of the main themes of the urban regeneration project CAST operating on the western part of the city of Potenza (capital of the Basilicata region, Italy). Both the state of the art of the case study area and the potential effects of the intervention proposed on the basis of the participatory process have been assessed by SSA as a walkability assessment method. By measuring a street network’s syntactic parameters, it was possible to further enrich the cognitive framework relating to the current situation and to simultaneously evaluate the effects (in terms of potential movement and social usage) deriving from design interventions. The paper presents a methodology to evaluate the urban pedestrian environment and to provide an insight for walking-related intervention and improvements in neighbourhood-scale planning, according to a participatory approach. The research, based on specific local characteristics, represents a transferable approach to supporting and informing policy-makers and designers engaged in inclusive and participative urban regeneration projects.

© 2019 American Chemical Society. Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) are a promising solar energy technology for reducing architectural barriers to the integration of photovoltaic systems into the built environment. In this work, the first demonstration of thin-film LSCs based on a thermally reversible cross-linked host polymer is presented. This smart material is obtained via a dynamic-chemistry approach based on the Diels-Alder (DA) reaction between a furan-functionalized acrylic copolymer and an aliphatic bismaleimide to obtain optically clear, cross-linked systems capable of healing mechanical damage upon heat treatment. By carefully tuning the concentration of a perylene-based luminophore dopant, an optical efficiency as high as 4.9% can be achieved with this DA-based LSC. In addition, full recovery of device efficiency is demonstrated after complete thermal healing of mechanically induced surface damages as a result of the embedded DA functionality. The approach presented here paves the way to the development of highly efficient multifunctional thermoresponsive smart LSC systems.

This study analyzes urban street network of the city of Potenza in Basilicata region to provide input for a sustainable urban mobility-based strategy enabling students to reach schools through the use of low-carbon transport modes’ share. The analyses have been carried out by using Place Syntax Analysis in order to identify a network of paths which guarantees pedestrian and bicycle access to schools located in the urban area of Potenza. Within urban space morphology research, combining Space Syntax and GIS-methods, Place Syntax allows to perform analyses of the spatial configuration of streets taking into account both street network layout and the location of spatial opportunities. Urban form (in our analysis, in terms of configurational characteristics) and accessibility to destinations (schools in this study) are essential to increase the share of walking and bicycling as the preferred modes of people’s daily travel. The paper shows the potential integration between active transport modes and public transport in the city of Potenza. Ensuring an easy transition between walking, cycling and public transport (e.g. by designing a widespread and direct network of cycle-pedestrian paths to and from the stations) contributes to create a “Hybrid Oriented Sustainable Urban Development” towards low-carbon settlements characterized by a significant reduction in congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions.

Prolonged durability in outdoor environment and ease of application are highly required features for self-healing coatings. To this end, a novel transparent and self-healing nanocomposite for optical applications, based on Diels-Alder (DA) chemistry is developed in this work. First, a novel, highly soluble, bismaleimide enabled a simple coating fabrication by coupling with furan-functionalized polyacrylates in industrially relevant solvents. The resulting crosslinked coatings exhibited high transparency and complete absence of color, as assessed by UV–vis spectroscopy. Their thermal behavior and the conditions required by the healing process were significantly affected by the degree of furan/maleimide functionality of the system. Secondly, the addition of a small amount of a commercial antioxidant stabilized the optical properties against photo-oxidative weathering, both on clear and titania-pigmented coatings, as determined by colorimetric analysis. Finally, dispersion of silica nanoparticles in the DA-based matrix allowed to enhance the surface hardness of the coatings, while retaining the self-healing ability.

Open data availability, participation and knowledge sharing are becoming increasingly important in planning processes aimed at protecting and enhancing the territory. This paper presents an application of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) for the creation of an open database for the enhancement of Basilicata region territory. The work was carried out during the Smart Basilicata training project and led to the definition of a map of the services of the regional territory, starting from open source tools and data available online and processed through geographic information systems.