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Despite the increase in the globally connected population, there is still a high percentage of European citizens who do not have basic digital skills. In the era of smart cities, the Digital Divide affects the possibility for citizens to participate in public life through the use of ICT tools. To deal with this issue, the European Union promotes strategies to develop e-government tools, such as digital participatory platforms (DPPs), in order to connect citizens with the public administration. The research proposes a survey of Italian DPPs, investigated through a questionnaire, to bring out which strategies have been adopted in relation to participation, social inclusion and digital illiteracy, transparency of data, processes, and user-friendliness of the platform. With regard to these issues, certain elements of success of the DPPs presented are highlighted.

The article is focused on the digital participatory platforms (DPPs) as a tool to enhance civic engagement through dialogue and interaction with the Public Administration and to reduce Digital Divide. To this end, the article presents the objectives and the outcomes of “My Smart Quartier,” a project funded within the ERASMUS + 2017 Program, in which the Department of Architecture and Design (DAD) of the Politecnico di Torino participates with a consortium of European partners. The aim of this project is the setting up and testing strategies and actions to reduce digital illiteracy and increase citizen participation. Best practices from the project partner countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal) are selected and analyzed in order to understand if they can constitute innovative ways of participation and civic engagement. Specifically, the article identifies some parameters and indicators that can be used to bring out key success factors of digital participatory platforms.

Nowadays, levels of crime and violence appear to be much higher in large cities in developing countries. This is the result of several factors, such as: the speed of urbanization, the inability of cities to provide sufficient infrastructure and the widening disparities in income and access to housing and services. These levels of inequality can have negative consequences from a social, economic and political point of view, with a destabilizing impact on societies and higher risks for the most disadvantaged people, especially those living in informal settlements. The paper presents the results of a study carried out by the Authors at the Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic of Turin. Urban security is investigated in the context of Kibera slum (Nairobi) through the integration of two different tools, namely Participatory Mapping and Space Syntax. The research analyses the relation between criminal activities and the spatial and configurational features of the street network, with the aim to highlight some key environmental factors to take into consideration while constructing the new road Missing link #12. Specifically, the research identifies and studies seven parameters from the literature review: integration, illumination, vitality and diversity, visibility, active facades, territoriality and maintenance and image. The findings show that urban planning and design strongly impact crime occurrence. The crime hot-spots&rsquo, distribution in Kibera depends on the simultaneous interrelation of multiple components in the space.

The article is focused on the digital participatory platforms (DPPs) as a tool to enhance civic engagement through dialogue and interaction with the Public Administration and to reduce Digital Divide. To this end, the article presents the objectives and the outcomes of “My Smart Quartier,” a project funded within the ERASMUS + 2017 Program, in which the Department of Architecture and Design (DAD) of the Politecnico di Torino participates with a consortium of European partners. The aim of this project is the setting up and testing strategies and actions to reduce digital illiteracy and increase citizen participation. Best practices from the project partner countries (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal) are selected and analyzed in order to understand if they can constitute innovative ways of participation and civic engagement. Specifically, the article identifies some parameters and indicators that can be used to bring out key success factors of digital participatory platforms.

Objectives, Purpose, or Aim: This article investigates whether the physical environment in which childbirth occurs impacts the intrapartum intervention rates and how this might happen. The study explores the spatial physical characteristics that can support the design of spaces to promote the health and well-being of women, their supporters, and maternity care professionals. Background: Medical interventions during childbirth have consequences for the health of women and babies in the immediate and long term. The increase in interventions is multifactorial and may be influenced by the model of care adopted, the relationships between caregivers and the organizational culture, which is made up of many factors, including the built environment. In the field of birth architecture research, there is a gap in the description of the physical characteristics of birth environments that impact users’ health. Method: A scoping review on the topic was performed to understand the direct and indirect impacts of the physical environment on birth intervention rates. Results and Discussion: The findings are organized into three tables reporting the influence that the physical characteristics of a space might have on people’s behaviors, experiences, practices and birth health outcomes. Eight building spaces that require further investigation and research were highlighted: unit layout configuration, midwives’ hub/desk, social room, birth philosophy vectors, configuration of the birth room, size and shape of the birth room, filter, and sensory elements. Conclusions: The findings show the importance of considering the physical environment in maternity care and that further interdisciplinary studies focused on architectural design are needed to enrich the knowledge and evidence on this topic and to develop accurate recommendations for designers.

Many studies highlight how health is influenced by the settings in which people live, work, and receive health care. In\ud particular, the setting in which childbirth takes place is highly influential. The physiological processes of women’s labor\ud and birth are enhanced in optimal (“salutogenic,” or health promoting) environments. Settings can also make a difference\ud in the way maternity staff practice. This paper focuses on how positive examples of Italian birth places incorporate principles\ud of healthy settings. The “Margherita” Birth Centre in Florence and the Maternity Home “Il Nido” in Bologna were\ud purposively selected as cases where the physical-environmental setting seemed to reflect an embedded model of care that\ud promotes health in the context of childbirth. Narrative accounts of the project design were collected from lead professional\ud and direct inspections performed to elicit the key salutogenic components of the physical layout. Comparisons\ud between cases with a standard hospital labor ward layout were performed. Cross-case similarities emerged. The physical\ud characteristics mostly related to optimal settings were a result of collaborative design decisions with stakeholders and\ud users, and the resulting local intention to maximize safe physiological birth, psychosocial wellbeing, facilitate movement\ud and relaxation, prioritize space for privacy, intimacy, and favor human contact and relationships. The key elements\ud identified in this paper have the potential toinform further investigations for the design or renovation of all birth places\ud (including hospitals) in order to optimize the salutogenic component of any setting in any country.\ud (Cite this article as: Setola N, Iannuzzi L, Santini M, Cocina GG, Naldi E, Branchini L, et al. Optimal settings for childbirth.\ud Minerva Ginecol 2018;70:000-000. DOI : 10.23736/S0026-4784.18.04327-7)

The prospective of replace the traditional street furniture with smart ones, in which digital technologies are integrated, is fascinating many cities all over the world. Many cities are today in a dichotomous situation: on the one hand, some “smart” street furniture are installed with less success than expected, on the other hand, in many public spaces the “traditional” street furniture are still not sufficient or not integrated, with problems of effective usability, or they are in worrying degraded conditions. The research group of Department of Architecture and Design (Politecnico di Torino) participates to a demonstrative project called “Smart square meter, looking the city meter by meter” where a partnership of companies intends to test smart street furniture in the city of Turin and Milan. The paper describes the role assumed by the research group in the demonstrative project and the contributions in terms of service design, integration in the built environment, analysis of citizens and public administration’s needs.