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To analyze the issue of cities-migrants interactions, as well as social-monetary values interactions, it is necessary to place it in a “higher” context, in order not to risk losing the necessary connection with universal ethical principles, and in a “broader” one, in which understanding complexity on a global scale interprets local conditions. The study of migration flows and urban dynamics, as well as housing markets, through theoretical paradigms and scientific tools from different disciplines provides an opportunity to learn and compare, dialogue and interface with new keys to understanding the problem, or with alternative interpretations and unprecedented perspectives in the path of multiculturalism, which has become an inescapable premise for the formation of an inclusive society. Despite different scientific and cultural backgrounds, many concepts emerge as cross-cutting, weaving a network of connections that transcends supposed disciplinary “boundaries” and, at the same time, highlights the possibility of expressing different visions and interpretations. This plurality of disciplinary expertise and cultural sensitivities, intellectual passion and willingness to confrontation can be represented by a chain of words—such as global, local, glocal, cities, territories, values, language, human dignity, human capital, citizenship, identity, cohabitation, public space, urban space—and constitutes the connotative trait of this volume in which the science of Appraisal and Valuation “measures” and compares itself with other social sciences.

Incessant migratory flows move towards nations or cities where they can find better living conditions, driven by economic inequalities, political and social instability, war conflicts and environmental emergencies, and generate real or perceived perturbations in the social and economic organization of territories. The changes in value, social, spatial and economic systems resulting from migration flows were debated during the SIEV conference “Values Spaces Migrations. Identity and Otherness in the Multicultural City”, which took place in October 2020 Incessanti flussi migratori si muovono verso nazioni o città in cui trovare condizioni di vita migliori sospinti da sperequazioni economiche, instabilità politiche e sociali, conflitti bellici ed emergenze ambientali, e generano perturbazioni, reali o percepite, sull’organizzazione sociale, ed economica dei territori. I mutamenti dei sistemi valoriali, sociali, spaziali ed economici conseguenti ai flussi migratori sono stati dibattuti durante il convegno SIEV “Valori Spazi Migrazioni. Identità e alterità nella citta multiculturale”, che si è svolto nel mese di ottobre del 2020.

Changes in consumer shopping behavior and in retail spaces, such as shopping malls, department stores and e-commerce, have modified localization models of traditional retail shops, also affecting urban fabric and spatial distribution of urban rent. Even city centers have undergone significant transformations or even decline, especially if local economic system and real estate market are weak and recessionary. A significant amount of commercial properties may have long vacancy due to excess supply, since many traditional shops close their business because they are no longer competitive and, moreover, there is no immediate takeover by new tenants. The decline of central urban areas depends on the interaction of multiple economic, social and cultural factors, but it can be countered by urban policies oriented not only to physical redevelopment of urban fabric, but also to social cohesion and multiculturalism. Migrants bearers of varied cultural values, coming from different continents and settling permanently in the Italian cities, have rented some of these empty properties by locating retail shops specifically oriented to their own communities or also to the citizens needs. The presence of migrants contributes, indeed, to support the retail real estate demand, to mitigate the minus-valorization of real estate capital and also to contain the revenues contraction. This phenomenon has been analyzed in some streets of the historic centre of Palermo that are traditionally shopping areas and have become the privileged place for locating retail shops managed by immigrants.

The European Union’s environmental policies actively promote the transition to a low-carbon society and to sustainable energy systems that improve people’s quality of life and do not negatively impact the natural environment. To achieve these goals, the European Union funded several programs to pilot energy efficiency measures for buildings and districts and, lately, launched the European Green Deal. The results of these experimentations have shown that often the economic feasibility of retrofitting interventions is not achieved without public grants. This contribution aims to analyze the influence of financial parameters on the profitability of projects of energy efficient districts. The study is based on the data from the demo sites of the CITyFiED program (Soma in Turkey and Laguna de Duero in Spain) that are reworked according to new several alternative scenarios, differentiated by cost financing and amount of public grants.

The European Green Deal proposes an epochal change in the European society by transforming environmental and climatic problems into opportunities and making sustainable and fair the European Union economic system. Radical changes will also concern urban redevelopment and energy efficiency measures in order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve these objectives, rules and standards, as well as financial resources and assessment tools, are needed to support both urban planning and public decision process. This paper aims to analyze the existing European programs that are applied in some European smart cities, as they constitute a valuable source of information for the development of financial schemes and evaluation tools ad hoc for the Green Deal implementation. Moreover, the analysis of the pilot projects of the ZenN program has made possible to identify some critical issues regarding the economic feasibility of energy retrofit at a district scale, though further studies will be required to respond to the new assessment challenges launched by the Green Deal.

Nowadays, energy equalization is one of the many issues concerning the energy policies on the urban scale and in the perspective of reducing the Urban Heat Island effects (UHI-e). The different economic-financial profiles of the interventions implemented in the buildings having a wide range of climatic locations, typological arrangements, architectural-historical constraints, need to be coordinated within unitary local energy-environmental policies inspired by economic-financial as well as environmental issues. The renovation of existing hotels to achieve a nearly Zero-Energy performance is one of the goals of the 2050 EU’s energy policy. This paper presents the nZEB retrofit case of an existing historic hotel and proposes a step by step approach to nZEB performance with a perspective on the costs, in order to identify the most effective energy solutions. Such approach allows highlighting useful insights regarding energy and economic-financial strategies for achieving nZEB standards.

This paper aims to examine the theme of energy retrofit within the circumscribed field of refurbishment interventions on load-bearing masonry buildings built in the early 20th century. These include a remarkable share of the fabric of many European cities and, in particular, they can be found in geographical areas characterized by a Mediterranean (mild) climate. The main objective is to increase the climate resilience of the buildings by verifying the economic feasibility and the environmental sustainability of the interventions at the same time observing the specific architectural features of the buildings. We put forward alternative retrofit solutions carrying out synoptic comparisons of several technological solutions and types of materials, assisted by the use of digital tools such as BIM. In order to increase the environmental compatibility of the intervention, this article carries out a closer examination of the comparison between the employment of nanostructured, conventional – of synthetic origin –, and natural materials. The selection of the best intervention solution required the elaboration of an iterative flexible integrated process of assessment of energy, technological, economic, environmental and architectural aspects. The methodology we propose here is applied to the case study of Palazzo Utveggio (Palermo, Italy).

The issue of affordable housing has again become crucial in ensuring a greater social equity, increasing social cohesion and reducing inequalities within metropolitan or regional systems which, in the current climate of severe economic crisis, have to respond to global challenges of development, innovation and sustainability. This study aims at building a system of knowledge about the housing affordability on the territorial scale, by which to identify the local characteristics of housing problems that could be solved through traditional planning tools or new practices of social housing, which involves private stakeholders and/or public administrations. This system of knowledge should include the analysis of the wealth distribution both in terms of income and real estate market price, and the calculation of the income-thresholds (based on the HAI-Housing Affordability Index) that filter the access to the real estate market. All these data are used to define the correspondences between groups of people and affordable housings, distinguishing them both by income and urban location. This approach is applied to the case study of the territorial system of the Province of Syracuse (Italy) and it allows appraising the gap between housing prices and income level in different areas of seven towns. To know the size and the spatial distribution of these gaps is a valuable tool to orientate the housing policy, to select the best model of social housing and to design the equitable parameters of social housing projects for each town.

Archaeological sites are part of the history and identity of a community playing a strategic role on the different scales of the cultural and economic common life. Whereas on the one end the most famous archaeological sites attract huge flows of tourists and investment, on the other hand, many minor archaeological sites remain almost ignored and neglected. This study proposes a project-evaluation approach devoted to the &ldquo, minor&rdquo, archaeological site development, outlining a territorial, socio-economic, and landscape communication pattern aimed at creating an archaeological network integrating other cultural and natural resources. As such, these networks get able to match the demand of customers who shy away from iper-consumerist tourism and want to deepen their knowledge of a place. The proposed approach integrates knowledge, evaluation, and design in a multiscale pattern whose scope is to foster and extend the archaeological research program, involving public and private stake/stockholders to widen the cultural-contemplative experience and promote further educational events concerning the themes of the local identity. With reference to the archaeological basin of Tornamb&egrave, Italy, a Web-GIS knowledge system has been drawn to provide the territorial information requested by the economic-evaluation multiscale pattern implemented to verify the cost-effectiveness of the project. The expected negative results of the economic valuation supported the allocation pattern of the considerable investment costs, as well as the hypothetic scenarios about the evolution of the cultural-contemplative experience due to the extension of the archaeological estate. Some disciplinary remarks propose a heterodox approach for a further interpretation of the economic results and financial indexes, by introducing the monetary dimension of such a social capital asset.

Il multiculturalismo è una caratteristica della città post-industriale con la quale la pianificazione deve confrontarsi attraverso nuovi paradigmi. Il saggio illustra le analisi sperimentali condotte in un’area del centro storico di Palermo, al fine di valutare l’eventuale coinvolgimento dei migranti nei processi di gentrification, nel controverso panorama di politiche urbane di rigenerazione e di crisi economica e immobiliare. Alcune misure correttive delle politiche pubbliche sono individuate per tutelare il mix socio-culturale. Multiculturalism is a characteristic of the post-industrial city, which will challenge planning through new paradigms. The essay discusses the experimental analysis con- ducted in an area of the historic centre of Palermo, in order to assess the potential in- volvement of migrants in the processes of gentrification, within the controversial panorama of urban regeneration policies and of economic crisis and real estate. Some public policy corrective measures are identified to protect the socio-cultural mix.

This study deals with the allocation of the firms in a large industrial area of Quarto, a town in the Naples’ district subject to a “Piano di Insediamenti Industriali” – PIP (Industrial Settlement Masterplan). The main concern of the Municipality is the fair integration between environmental issues, economic development and urban identity. Therefore a structured evaluation process, based on a survey about the company profiles and their geographical location, has been carried out in order to make the plan meet the needs of the firms, and to select the best companies to settle in the planned area. A “generative” MAVT pattern has been designed to outline several layout options and to select the best ones. The model also includes equalization and compensation elements by whose means it is possible to determine the extraordinary planning permission fees for the different areas where the firms are located.

The urban transformation projects are very complex and have to be examined from several points of view (socio-cultural, environmental, infrastructural, administrative, and economic-financial) to determine their sustainability. This study aims to test the financial analysis as a tool for outlining the morphogenesis of the project’s characteristics and exploring the frontiers of the financial feasibility especially when the urban projects, according to Italian laws, involve Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). A financial model is applied to a case study (the transformation of an abandoned railway area) in which the absence of an adequate returns on investment, because of the crisis of the real estate market, requires one to iteratively modify the project’s characteristics and define various alternative scenarios for obtaining the project’s form that achieves the financial feasibility.

Clusterin (CLU) is a nearly ubiquitous multifunc- tional protein synthesized in different functionally divergent isoforms, sCLU and nCLU, playing a crucial role by keeping a balance between cell proliferation and death. Studying in vivo CLU expression we found a higher mRNA expression both in neoplastic and hyperplastic tissues in comparison to normal endometria; in particular, by RT-qPCR we demonstrated an increase of the specific sCLU isoform in the neoplastic and hyperplastic endometrial diseases. On the contrary, no CLU increase was detected at the protein level. The CLU gene transcriptional activity was upregulated in the hyperplastic and neoplastic tissues, indicating the existence of a fine post-trans- criptional regulation of CLU expression possibly responsible for the protein decrease in the malignant disease. A specific CLU immunoreactivity was present in all the endometrial glandular cells in comparison to the other cellular compartments where CLU immunoreactivity was lower or absent. In conclusion, our results suggest the existence of a complex regulatory mechanism of CLU gene expression during the progression from normal to malignant cells, possibly contributing to endometrial carcinogen- esis. Moreover, the specific alteration of the sCLU:nCLU ratio associated with the pathological stage, suggests a possible usage of CLU as molecular biomarker for the diagnosis/prognosis of endometrial proliferative diseases.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of a diagnostic protocol, the incremental challenge test (ICT), for patients with and without a history of adverse reactions to local anesthetics (LAs) or other drugs, to select an LA that could be safely used. Study Design: The ICT was performed on 432 subjects, 314 female and 118 male. Four hundred thirty-two challenges were carried out with LAs that were free of adrenaline and preservatives. Chi-square analysis was performed to evaluate the existence of different predispositions to ICT positivity among subjects of the 4 categories studied. Results: Four hundred fifteen tests were completed with no clinical events occurring. The analysis did not show any significant difference (chi-square = 6.17; P >.05). Conclusions: Our results confirm that immunoglobulin E–mediated reactions to LAs are uncommon and that the ICT offers safety and specificity in diagnosing adverse reactions to LAs, allowing for the selection of a safe and reliable LA. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2001;91:402-5)