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Climate Action Planning is one of the top priorities of cities in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening climate-resilience, as pointed out by the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Agreement. This study aims at assessing the development of climate change mitigation and adaptation planning in Italian cities. To this end, we analysed the availability of Local Climate Plans (LCPs) in 76 cities, which are included in the Eurostat Urban Audit (UA-2015) database. In a further step, we analysed the content of the urban climate change mitigation and adaptation plans available in a smaller sample of 32 Italian cities of 2007 Eurostat Urban Audit database (UA-3), looking at the single actions undertaken for addressing mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Results show the almost total absence of comprehensive and stand-alone urban climate change adaptation plans in Italy (except for two cities, Ancona and Bologna), whereas we found that in 61 out of 76 cities municipal civil protection plans are the instruments that deal with local emergencies associated to extreme weather events. On the other hand, 56 out of 76 urban climate change mitigation plans (i.e. Sustainable Energy Action Plans) are being developed in the framework of the Covenant of Mayors, which is a transnational network of local governments created by the European Union (EU) in 2012. The results obtained on the mitigation side point out that, in absence of a national law that imposes Italian cities to develop LCPs, transnational networks are an effective boost to voluntary commitment to reach EU climate and energy objectives. • The research shows a positive trend on urban climate change action in Italy. • Italian cities are more focused on mitigation than to adaptation. • Transnational networks have a crucial role in boosting climate planning in cities. • Cities need to adopt a more holistic approach in dealing with climate change. • More technical and financial resources are necessary to boost local climate actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transformation of single family home settlements is a central issue in the search for a more sustainable city. This residential model remains very popular among middle class households, in spite of the relevant costs and impacts related to its functioning. Local authorities are increasingly concerned with its associated impacts, even when they do not have clear planning strategies. The case study presented is about a municipality that is part of the Catania Metropolitan Area, in Italy. Built up areas cover more than 50% of the municipality’s total land and the prevailing development type is the detached single family home. The existing settlement pattern is essentially an “automobile city” for about 20.000 inhabitants with a very limited presence of services. The analyses conducted show that this settlement is unsustainable, not in terms of insufficient green areas, or permeable soils but because it lacks any urban quality. The resulting impact on the environment is considerable both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the contribution to urban water runoff. The paper presents the first results of a consulting activity for the local municipality that is revising its General Master Plan. This activity, conducted by the University of Catania, includes a set of analyses based on land use data and the definition of general planning criteria. The aim is develop a proposal, based on principles of sustainable urban planning, that can effect a change towards a new pattern of urban development characterised by densification, mixed use planning and reduced private car dependence by concentrating new services in pedestrian oriented areas. The challenge of the proposal presented is to define a set of specific rules that can limit the uncontrolled sprawl by contextualising these general and widely accepted principles to local conditions. The work is part of GRaBS (Green and Blue Space Adaptation for Urban Areas and Eco Towns), a project funded by the EU Interreg IV C programme). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]