This book explores innovative approaches to sustainable urban development, focusing on energy efficiency, climate adaptation, green infrastructure, and smart city technologies. Addressing pressing environmental challenges, this book presents the most recent research on energy-efficient building design, urban resilience, and sustainable mobility solutions. The first section examines the role of energy efficiency in mitigating climate change, analyzing case studies on retrofitting buildings, passive architecture, and the impact of material choices. The second section explores urban climate resilience, highlighting the benefits of green infrastructure, street trees, and water-sensitive urban design. The third section shifts towards sustainable urban planning, emphasizing mobility transformation, cultural heritage preservation, and equitable urban design. The final section investigates digital tools and technological innovations, including smart cities, robotics, and circular econ
omy practices in urban construction. By bringing together a diverse range of perspectives from architecture, engineering, and urban planning, this book provides actionable insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners committed to creating sustainable cities.
Francesco Alberti is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Department of Architecture, University of Florence. He currently coordinates the Urban Design Laboratories for the five-year single-cycle Master s Degree in Architecture, as well as the Urban and Infrastructure Design Laboratories for the Master s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and Design for Sustainability. He also teaches Smart City Planning in the postgraduate program ABITA (Bioecological Architecture and Technological Innovation for the Environment). Within the same department, he serves as the scientific coordinator of the research unit SUP&R (Sustainable Urban Projects & Research) and of the related university spin-off Urban LIFE (Urban Liveability & Innovation for Everyone). He is also a member of the University of Florence s scientific team at the Urban Mobility spoke of the National Centre on Sustainable Mobility, established in 2022 by the Italian Government.Paola
Gallo is a full professor in Architectural Technology at the University of Florence, Department of Architecture DIDA, where she carries out teaching and research activities. Scientific Secretary since 2007 of the Interuniversity Research Centre in Bio-ecological Architecture and Technological Innovation for the Environment is Coordinator of the ABITA Master at the University of Florence. Scientific Director since 2017 of the TAM Laboratory of Technologies for the Mediterranean Area of the DIDALAB System of the DIDA (Department of Architecture) of the University of Florence. Coordinator of the Ph.D. Program: Sustainability and Innovation for the Built Environment and Product System Design at the DIDA Department of Architecture, University of Florence.Hasim Altan (B.Arch., M.Arch., Ph.D., PGCE, FHEA) is a full professor of Sustainable Design and Architectural Engineering in the College of Engineering at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE. H
e began his academic career as a lecturer after successfully completing his Ph.D. degree in 2004, during which he was also appointed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Architecture at the University of Sheffield (UK). While there, he completed his Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and subsequently became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). He is a Chartered Architect (RIBA) and a Chartered Engineer (CIBSE) with over 20 years of academic and practical experience in the field of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) within the Built Environment across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA) regions.
