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This paper addresses, from engineering point of view, issues in seismic risk assessment. It is more a discussion on the current practice, emphasizing on the multiple uncertainties and weaknesses of the existing methods and approaches, which make the final loss assessment a highly ambiguous problem. The paper is a modest effort to demonstrate that, despite the important progress made the last two decades or so, the common formulation of hazard/risk based on the sequential analyses of source (M, hypocenter), propagation (for one or few IM) and consequences (losses) has probably reached its limits. It contains so many uncertainties affecting seriously the final result, and the way that different communities involved, modellers and end users are approaching the problem is so scattered, that the seismological and engineering community should probably re-think a new or an alternative paradigm.

Defining UHI phenomenon required and interdisciplinar approach using both simulation models and climate data elaborations at regional and metropolitan level. In particular the WP 3 of UHI project provided a detailed survey on the main studies and practices to counteract urban heat islands in different European areas; discussed climate models at regional level; simulated the evaluation of urban warming in the different cities involved in the project, providing locally proper measuring and analysis in connection with the specific urban forms.

Choosing appropriate measurement sites for further investigation is one of the crucial points in determining the UHI intensity. To obtain comparable values among different cities we should use measurements obtained in similar circumstances. In the context of the deployment of an urban climate network, this guideline contains recommendations for meteorological measurement and data processing for data users who are not professionals in the field of climate measurement in urban environments. This paper presents a classification of urban measuring sites, lists steps for choosing representative stations, and provides standardized methods developed for urban climate stations and network design. Finally, these standardized approaches and guidelines are useful for making recommendations for the future deployment of urban climate networks. The final parts include the new communication and data transmission techniques for urban observation networks.

A central strand of research work in the realm of urban physics aims at a better understanding of the variance in microclimatic conditions due to factors such as building agglomeration density, anthropogenic heat production, traffic intensity, presence and extent of green areas and bodies of water. The characteristics and evolution of the urban microclimate is not only relevant to people’s experience of outdoor thermal conditions in the cities. Higher air temperatures also exacerbate discomfort caused by the overheating of indoor spaces and increases cooling energy expenditures. It can be argued that the solid understanding of the temporal and spatial variance of urban microclimate represents a prerequisite for the reliable assessment of the thermal performance of buildings (energy requirements, indoor thermal conditions). In this context, the present treatment entails a three-fold contribution. First, the existence and extent of the UHI phenomena are documented for a number of Central-European cities. Second, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of UHI mitigation measures in these cities is described that is conducted using advanced numeric modelling instruments. Third, a systematic framework is proposed to identify a number of variables of the urban environment that are hypothesized to influence UHI and the urban microclimate variance. These variables pertain to both geometric (morphological) and semantic (material-related) urban features.

Urban areas, with their specific characteristics, modify the atmosphere and produce their own meso- and micro climate. The major aspect of this chapter is the discussion of methods for the quantification and assessment of the urban micro-climate and the most known and world-wide studied phenomenon, the Urban Heat Island (UHI). Four urban measurement stations and one rural measurement station are used to quantify the temporal and spatial climatic characteristics in Stuttgart, Germany. For the quantification of the urban micro-climate and the UHI human thermal, comfort indices were applied. These indices, namely Physiologically Equivalent Temperature and the Universal Thermal Climate Index, are used to describe the integral effect of urban thermal atmosphere, based on the energy exchange of the human body. These indices, following the concept of equivalent temperature, are applied to quantify the integral effect of air temperature, air humidity, wind and radiation fluxes, expressed as mean radiant temperature.

Decision Support System (DSS) is an interactive software-based tool that has been realized in the framework of the project “Development and application of mitigation and adaptation strategies for counteracting the global Urban Heat Islands phenomenon (UHI)” implemented through CE programme 2007–2013 co-financed by the ERDF. DSS is a simplified database management tool that allow the use of the project deliverables uploaded on the web sites with a user-friendly approach.

Users can access to the needed project’s output through knowledge’s needs oriented pathway.

The pilot action took place in a district of Modena, the Villaggio Artigiano, characterized by the presence of disused small industrial buildings, which is part of a wider redevelopment context and regeneration process.

The innovative mixture of instruments proposed by the Municipality to better re-use the territory and to estimate the environmental restoration achieved with the urban interventions, is a starting point to give the planner flexible and easy to use instruments.

Urban Heat Island effect was widely studied in large cities around the world, more rarely in medium size ones. The chapter reports on the study of the UHI phenomenon in Padua, a medium size city of the North-East of Italy, one of the most industrialized and developed parts of the country. Experimental measurements were carried out during 2012 summer, recording the main thermo-hygrometric variables (dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, global solar radiation) by a mobile survey along an exact path crossing different zones of the city area: urban, sub-urban and rural. The analysis of the data highlights the presence of UHI effect with different magnitudes in function of the zone of the city. In the city centre, an historical zone, the effect was up to 7 °C. In the meantime, some measurements in situ were carried out in order to evaluate other thermal comfort indexes rather than air temperature and humidity only: wind velocity and mean radiant temperature (besides the other meteorological variables) in some characteristic sites of the city area like historic centre, high and low density populated residential zones, industrial zone, rural zone, were recorded. In particular, a very famous square of the city (Prato della Valle) was analysed: it can be considered representative of the phenomenon because of the size and the very different characteristics from the UHI effect point of view. RayMan simulation model was used to calculate some outdoor comfort indexes and Envimet model was further used to evaluate the effect of some mitigation strategies in characteristic sites of the city.

Elaborating solutions to counteract UHI effects can represents a relevant challenge for spatial planning and urban design. A specific experimentation has been developed on the city of Padua, analysing different scenarios of urban warming and using specific monitoring tools (Lidar/aerial survey) to define a DIM (Digital Surface Models) providing local situation in terms of green quality and extension, solar incidence/radiation, sky view factors, building materials. This chapter reconstruct the methodology followed during the survey and the elaboration of specific solutions to counteract UHI accordingly different scenarios.

The article presents the results of the pilot action “Urban Heat Islands– Strategy Plan Vienna” (UHI-STRAT Vienna). It sets out by determining what potential consistent consideration of urban climate aspects at different levels of action and decision-making has and how to implement such consideration. In a second step it looks at today’s and future development of UHI and the urban climate. The report goes on to explain the three fields of action identified, i.e. awareness building, information and public relations for UHI, as well as urban infrastructure and large-scale and more detailed technical and structural measures to support strong consideration of the issue. It shows up the levels of action in planning from the master plan to the actual project and the options available in the course. Two feasibility studies reveal how UHI-relevant measures can be implemented in designated areas of the city. They make a clear distinction between measures in the development of new city quarters and measures in adapting existing ones, and they also identify two different levels of planning, the strategic master plan on the one hand and the planning of legal provisions, i.e. the land-use and building development plans on the other hand. The “Master Plan for Nordbahnstraße – Innstraße” in Vienna’s 20th municipal district is used as an example to show how measures can be introduced at different stages of the master plan process. Proposed measures can be embedded in land-use and building development plans, as demonstrated in the case of the quarter surrounding the Vienna University of Technology (Karlsplatz) in the 4th municipal district. The studies were assessed as to the feasibility of the measures proposed, which involved participation of different agencies of the Vienna City Administration. The summary points out the project’s added value for the city, indicating that the journey Vienna has taken to protect the climate while at the same time adapting to the consequences of climate change is bound for success.