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The urban heat island effect can be studied through satellite imaging, field measurements, or analytical and numerical tools. However, the latter methods are considered more comprehensive due to the complexity of the built environment and the large quantity of data required for an adequate analysis. This study aims to investigate the extent to which specific urban bioclimatic design concepts and strategies affect the urban heat island intensity in Mediterranean semi-arid environmental conditions, classified as subtropical. The case study site chosen was Kaimakli, an urban district in Nicosia, Cyprus, known for high urban heat island intensities due to its location and rapid growth characterized by more impervious materials and less green vegetation. The analysis of the specific site considers parameters such as urban density, vegetation, soil sealing effect, building age and materials, land coverage ratio, and orientation. A design scenario consisting of three mitigation policies of different building types, heights, and vegetated types was developed and investigated. The study found that under semi-arid conditions, the use of extensive vegetation in an urban block of a 200 × 200 m² area and the reduction of the built area by about 10% resulted in an air temperature reduction of 1.5 °C during the summer solstice at 3:00 pm. These findings quantify the impact of specific urban heat island mitigation practices on decreasing the intensity of the effect under subtropical climatic conditions. This study provides valuable insights into the potential of specific urban bioclimatic design concepts and strategies to mitigate the urban heat island effect. The use of extensive vegetation and a reduction in the built area have been shown to be effective in reducing air temperatures, which can have significant implications for public health, energy consumption, and overall urban sustainability.

This article examines the interactions between digital and social media as the contemporary incubators of place perceptions and the critical debate of environmental quality. Digital and social media may change the way people live but not the way they use physical spaces. This indirect reading of place acts in terms of perceptual understanding in a number of ways, but, most importantly, it becomes fundamental in the “construction” of the sense of place. This is because it impacts on the way information is associated with reality or a contract of the reality which is generated through its “interference” with our intellectual and emotive understanding of place. At the same time, the politics of a new “sociality” contains participations and exclusions. The article adopts comparative case study research as the methodological approach for investigating notions of how urban space is perceived through the case study of Eleftheria Square in Nicosia, a controversial urban regeneration project that generated an extensive debate through digital and social media in Cyprus during the last two decades. It is an attempt of a parallel decoding of (i) a more formal or directive view through digital newspapers’ survey and (ii) an informal view through a Facebook group content analysis. Through the case study, the inefficiencies and potentialities of the new media tools in informing the wider public are clear by providing at the same time evidence of their priorities, preferences, and fears. The article comes to two basic conclusions: (i) the perceptions of urban projects through digital media are not static but fluent and constantly updated, usually turning positive as projects are completed and experienced; and (ii) the interactive and synchronous nature of social media provides a more accurate and updated picture of the society’s changing perceptions of public space.

In Europe, regions in the Mediterranean area share common characteristics in terms of high sensitivity to climate change impacts. Does this translate into specificities regarding climate action that could arise from these Mediterranean characteristics? This paper sheds light on regional and local climate mitigation actions of the Mediterranean Europe, focusing on the plans to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in a representative sample of 51 regions and 73 cities across 9 Mediterranean countries (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). The study investigates: (i) the availability of local and regional mitigation plans, (ii) their goals in term of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets on the short and medium-long term, and (iii) the impact of transnational climate networks on such local and regional climate mitigation planning. Results of this study indicate an uneven and fragmented planning, that shows a Mediterranean West-East divide, and a link with population size. However, overall, both regional and city action seem insufficiently ambitious with regards to meeting the Paris Agreement, at least at city level. While national frameworks are currently weak in influencing regional and local actions, transnational networks seem to be engaging factors for commitment (at city level) and ambitiousness (at regional level). The uneven and fragmented progress revealed by this study, does not align with the characteristics shared by investigated regions and cities in terms of environmental, socio-political, climatic and economic conditions. The results support the call of a common green deal at the Mediterranean level to further address specific Mediterranean challenges and related needs. This will allow to capitalise on available resources, generate local-specific knowledge, build capacities, and support Mediterranean regions and cities in preparing the next generation of more ambitious mitigation plans. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Cities across the globe recognise their role in climate mitigation and are acting to reduce carbon emissions. Knowing whether cities set ambitious climate and energy targets is critical for determining their contribution towards the global 1.5 °C target, partly because it helps to identify areas where further action is necessary. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the mitigation targets of 327 European cities, as declared in their local climate plans. The sample encompasses over 25% of the EU population and includes cities of all sizes across all Member States, plus the UK. The study analyses whether the type of plan, city size, membership of climate networks, and its regional location are associated with different levels of mitigation ambition. Results reveal that 78% of the cities have a GHG emissions reduction target. However, with an average target of 47%, European cities are not on track to reach the Paris Agreement: they need to roughly double their ambitions and efforts. Some cities are ambitious, e.g. 25% of our sample (81) aim to reach carbon neutrality, with the earliest target date being 2020.90% of these cities are members of the Climate Alliance and 75% of the Covenant of Mayors. City size is the strongest predictor for carbon neutrality, whilst climate network(s) membership, combining adaptation and mitigation into a single strategy, and local motivation also play a role. The methods, data, results and analysis of this study can serve as a reference and baseline for tracking climate mitigation ambitions across European and global cities. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Combating social exclusion of older adults is a key objective of European social policy. But from the beginning of the debate, social exclusion has mainly been interpreted as arising from economic circumstances. Doubts have been raised as to whether this narrow focus contributes to solving the problems identified. In particular, spatial aspects come to the fore, highlighting the fact that exclusion always happens in a specific place. However, spatial exclusion is often reduced to a territorial concept of ‘where’ the exclusion takes place. – but it is simplistic to state that everything happens in a space. The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it presents a theoretical model, developed during and through the ROSEnet COST Action. The model integrates dimensions of age, space and exclusion in one perspective – the ASE Triangle. Second, this chapter explores the potential of the ASE Triangle to enhance our understanding of two specific European case studies of older people’s exclusion, in Greater Dublin – Ireland, and Nicosia – Cyprus. By ‘upgrading space’ as a theory-led idea we contribute to and challenge existing (human) gerontological theory of space. Similar to the exploration of a relational vision of space, our model does not only consider “experience” of space exclusion, but offers the possibility to simultaneously encompass it in societal processes.

Cities are gaining prominence committing to respond to the threat of climate change, e.g., by developing local climate plans or strategies. However, little is known regarding the approaches and processes of plan development and implementation, or the success and effectiveness of proposed measures. Mainstreaming is regarded as one approach associated with (implementation) success, but the extent of integration of local climate policies and plans in ongoing sectoral and/or development planning is unclear. This paper analyses 885 cities across the 28 European countries to create a first reference baseline on the degree of climate mainstreaming in local climate plans. This will help to compare the benefits of mainstreaming versus dedicated climate plans, looking at policy effectiveness and ultimately delivery of much needed climate change efforts at the city level. All core cities of the European Urban Audit sample were analyzed, and their local climate plans classified as dedicated or mainstreamed in other local policy initiatives. It was found that the degree of mainstreaming is low for mitigation (9% of reviewed cities; 12% of the identified plans) and somewhat higher for adaptation (10% of cities; 29% of plans). In particular horizontal mainstreaming is a major effort for local authorities; an effort that does not necessarily pay off in terms of success of action implementation. This study concludes that climate change issues in local municipalities are best tackled by either, developing a dedicated local climate plan in parallel to a mainstreamed plan or by subsequently developing first the dedicated and later a mainstreaming plan (joint or subsequent “dual track approach”). Cities that currently provide dedicated local climate plans (66% of cities for mitigation; 26% of cities for adaptation) may follow-up with a mainstreaming approach. This promises effective implementation of tangible climate actions as well as subsequent diffusion of climate issues into other local sector policies. The development of only broad sustainability or resilience strategies is seen as critical. We thank the many council representatives that supported the datacollection. Special thanks to Birgit Georgi who helped in setting up this large net work of researchers across the EU-28. We also thank the EU COST Action TU 0902 (ledbyRichardDawson) that established the core research network and the positive engagement and interaction of th emembers of this group. OH is Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and was funded by the UK EPSRC LC Transforms: Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites Project (grant number EP/N010612/1). EKL was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Czechia, within the National Sustainability Program I (NPU I) (grant number LO1415). DG ac-knowledges support by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), Italy ("Departments of Excellence" grant L. 232/2016). HO was supported by the Ministry of Education and Research, Estonia (grantnumberIUT34-17). MO acknowledges funding from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), Spain (grant number IJCI-2016-28835). SS acknowledges that CENSE's research is partially funded by the Science Foundation, Portugal (grant number UID/AMB/04085/2019). The paper reflects only the views of the authors. The European Union, the European Environment Agency or other supporting bodies are not liable for any use that may be made of the information that is provided in this manuscript.

The Department of Architecture at Frederick University Cyprus offers a five-year program which leads to the professional degree of an Architect Engineer. The aim is to educate future architects, providing them with knowledge and sensitivity on the built environment of the European and Mediterranean region and to become an outstanding academic center for studies in the wider European context. There are 4 compulsory courses that directly deal with architectural history and cultural heritage and another 13 that put cultural heritage as a base for their learning outcomes. In addition, research and diploma project courses give also the option to students, to deal with the analysis of historical buildings and constructional systems, history of architecture, urban restoration projects, integration of contemporary architecture into a heritage environment and intervention proposals. Many courses bring students in direct contact with selected historical buildings and urban complexes. Two compulsory courses include investigation on site, constructional analysis and intervention proposals on selected monuments. The Department offers a Master’s Degree in “Conservation and Restoration of Historical Structures and Monuments”. The aim of the program is to instruct students, not only in the methodology concerning the protection and restoration of historical buildings, but also in the practices, which are nowadays internationally applied in restoration projects. The course accepts students with degrees in architecture, civil engineering, archaeology, history etc. Finally, the Department’s strategic goal is the dissemination of research on heritage conservation to the local society through public lectures, high school student events, cooperation with local authorities and publications.

Indisputably, urban design and soil sealing are parameters that can either aggravate or mitigate the urban heat island phenomenon, observed in dense urban environments around the world. Large sealed surfaces have been extensively reported to induce higher surface temperatures. The aim of this work is to answer a critical scientific question: on what extent do actually sealed soils contribute to the urban heat island. As an example, a case study was developed for the case of Nicosia – a city that experiences high urban heat island intensities due to its geographical location and its continuous urban growth. Three scenarios were developed with ranging percentages of unsealed surfaces – 0%, 20% and 40% of vegetation coverage and were simulated in an established microclimate modelling tool ENVI-met. The effect of the urban design and soil sealing in the investigated scenarios was analysed by presenting the results for a range of parameters, including ground- and canopy-level temperatures, diffused and reflected radiations, relative humidity, wind speed and sky view factor. The results indicated that the most effective scenario is the case where 40% of the ground is unsealed, primarily due to the impact on the canopy-level temperature and the wind speed. The authors believe that more attention should be drawn to this alarming topic by both policy-makers and researchers.

The Paris Agreement aims to limit global mean temperature rise this century to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. This target has wide-ranging implications for Europe and its cities, which are the source of substantial greenhouse gas emissions. This paper reports the state of local planning for climate change by collecting and analysing information about local climate mitigation and adaptation plans across 885 urban areas of the EU-28. A typology and framework for analysis was developed that classifies local climate plans in terms of their alignment with spatial (local, national and international) and other climate related policies. Out of eight types of local climate plans identified in total we document three types of stand-alone local climate plans classified as type A1 (autonomously produced plans), A2 (plans produced to comply with national regulations) or A3 (plans developed for international climate networks). There is wide variation among countries in the prevalence of local climate plans, with generally more plans developed by central and northern European cities. Approximately 66% of EU cities have a type A1, A2, or A3 mitigation plan, 26% an adaptation plan, and 17% a joint adaptation and mitigation plan, while about 33% lack any form of stand-alone local climate plan (i.e. what we classify as A1, A2, A3 plans). Mitigation plans are more numerous than adaptation plans, but planning for mitigation does not always precede planning for adaptation. Our analysis reveals that city size, national legislation, and international networks can influence the development of local climate plans. We found that size does matter as about 80% of the cities with above 500,000 inhabitants have a comprehensive and stand-alone mitigation and/or an adaptation plan (A1). Cities in four countries with national climate legislation (A2), i.e. Denmark, France, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, are nearly twice as likely to produce local mitigation plans, and five times more likely to produce local adaptation plans, compared to cities in countries without such legislation. A1 and A2 mitigation plans are particularly numerous in Denmark, Poland, Germany, and Finland; while A1 and A2 adaptation plans are prevalent in Denmark, Finland, UK and France. The integration of adaptation and mitigation is country-specific and can mainly be observed in two countries where local climate plans are compulsory, i.e. France and the UK. Finally, local climate plans produced for international climate networks (A3) are mostly found in the many countries where autonomous (type A1) plans are less common. This is the most comprehensive analysis of local climate planning to date. The findings are of international importance as they will inform and support decision-making towards climate planning and policy development at national, EU and global level being based on the most comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of local climate planning available to date. EU COST Action TU0902 that made the initial work possible and the positive engagement and interaction of the members of this group which led to this work. MO acknowledges funding from the Spanish Government (Grant no. FPDI-2013-16631). EKL was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of CR within the National Sustainability Program I (NPU I), grant number LO1415. OH and RD were funded by the EC project RAMSES Reconciling Adaptation, Mitigation and Sustainable Development for Cities (contract Ref 308497) and the EPSRC project LC Transforms: Low Carbon Transitions of Fleet Operations in Metropolitan Sites Project (EP/N010612/1).

Private and public gardens have always been an integral part of European cities – as spaces for urban food production, recreation and social interaction. Democracy and public awareness at local level are key components of collaborative planning and participatory spatial practices. Community building and social cohesion, human well-being, empowerment, cooperation, solidarity and multicultural integration are goals of community gardeners across Europe, and not only in gardens located in vulnerable city areas, or addressed to population in special needs. The kinds of actors involved in urban gardening initiatives in different countries are similar. A broad variety of actors and forms of gardening can be found reaching from illegal/extra-legal guerrilla gardening by unorganized groups to top-down, supported community gardens and hybrid forms of these. Urban gardening is creating a new field of debate among grassroots movements, local politics and formal planning. Traditional seeds come from Peliti and other organic farmers, and a seed bank has been set up with different Greek varieties.

In the contemporary age of access the role of “immaterial networking” has been highly reinforced, driving the emergence of the internet as an essential tool for the social and economic daily routine. The main spatial and developmental features of Greek small and medium sized centres play a major influential role on the development and use of internet applications. The research conducted has examined this interaction and identified two main tendencies. Dynamic and powerful centres, which are near the basic development axes, have a dominant position in the web, as far as both connectivity and use is concerned. Moreover, in some small and medium sized peripheral centres local enterprises tend to overcome their lack of accessibility through increasing the use of the internet. How can we measure this potential and come to more reliable conclusions? Is this procedure related to a local economy extroversion?