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Cities are investing in data-driven smart technologies to improve performance and efficiency and to generate a vast amount of data. Finding the opportunities to innovatively use this data help governments and authorities to forecast, respond, and plan for future scenarios. Access to real-time data and information can provide effective services that improve productivity, resulting in environmental, social, and economic benefits. It also assists in the decision-making process and provides opportunities for community engagement and participation by improving digital literacy and culture. This paper aims to review and analyze current practices of data-driven smart applications that contribute to the smooth functioning of urban city systems and the problems they face. The research methodology is qualitative: a systematic and extensive literature review carried out by PRISMA method. Data and information from different case studies carried out globally assisted in the inductive approach. Content analysis identified smart city indicators and related criteria in the case study examples. The study concluded that smart people, smart living, and smart governance methods that have come into practice at a later stage are as important as smart mobility, smart environments, and smart economy measures that were implemented early on, and cities are opening up to new, transparent participatory governance approaches where citizens play a key role. It also illustrates that the current new wave of smart cities with real time data are promoting citizen participation focusing on human, social capital as an essential component in future cities.

This paper analyses the influence of museum lighting design on the brand image and human satisfaction inside exhibition halls, taking Birmingham museum and art gallery as the case study of this research focusing on the exhibition that included the ancient Egyptian displays. Four different generated lighting scenes using virtual reality were generated. The results showed that the lighting had an impact on the brand image and affect the willingness of people to revisit the museum and recommend it to family and friends. This research considers the museum’s visitors as active participants not just passive recipients of environmental stimuli. The research tried to provide a better understanding of how the exhibition environment in terms of lighting is perceived and provide further insight into how exhibition lighting design can enhance the visitor’s experience and create a brand image. According to the research results, visitors tend to be willing to return and stay longer in the presence of diverse and exciting lighting settings.

In natural disaster and man-made conflict scenarios, livelihoods, assets, community networks and relationships get destroyed and in many areas, lives and communities are devastated. Re-settling these communities and providing them the essential support to adapt to the new or changed environments has been a major challenge for governments. Taking into consideration case studies from two South Asian countries, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, this paper explores the displacement and re-location cycle experienced and the impact disaster, conflict and reconciliation has on families, community and stakeholder relationships and networks as they re-build their lives in the re-settlement process. The case studies were selected from available literature to focus on different kinds of natural disasters and civil conflicts. The paper focuses on characteristics of resilient communities and how these characteristics have aided the recovery and re-settlement. It also identifies attributes that are inherent in communities that have undergone disaster and displacement and explores how these attributes have helped communities in re-building their lives. From the literature and the case study results and information, it is seen that topics of safety, security, and livelihoods summarises the core needs that are important for transitional settlement and shelter. Having ownership of assets, a shelter or dwelling unit or land is also important in the re-settlement process. These requirements vary according to the ethnicity, religion and culture and the challenges for the relief agencies are to provide alternative solutions that match these requirements in the short and long term.

The Work Package 7 (Research Futures & Special Interest Groups) of the ANDROID project, within a specific working group, selected Venice and its territory as an emblematic case study of a region that could be affected by cross-border disastrous events. The paper provides a general overview on the topic, trying to organise the large amount of available scientific literature in some strategic cores, identifying undoubted milestones, open questions and future research needs, following a holistic approach to risk assessment. This case study is carried out not only as an engaging exercise, but with the purpose to provide a reference point for scientists and teachers interested to translate multifaceted knowledge into specific solutions. In fact, the paper is strongly linked as a whole to other three ones (presented at the 4th International Conference on Building resilience by WP7 group participants), which deepen respectively hazard, vulnerability/resilience, and mitigation about the site taken into consideration. Furthermore, the City of Venice takes part to the UNISDR Program “Making Cities Resilient”, and planned a robust intervention, consisting in the realisation of mobile dikes located at the openings of the lagoon (MOSE project, almost terminated), which has been strongly debated since the beginning, due to possible negative consequences on the environment. At last, the paper analyses drawbacks and benefits of the above said intervention, and suggests further proposals for the global safeguard of Venice and its lagoon.

The Work Package 7 (Research Futures & Special Interest Groups) of the ANDROID project, selected Venice and its territory as an emblematic case study of a region that could be affected by cross-border disastrous events. The paper provides a general overview on the topic, trying to organise the large amount of available scientific literature in some strategic cores, identifying undoubted milestones, open questions and future research needs, following a holistic approach to risk assessment. This case study is carried out not only as an engaging exercise, but with the purpose to provide a reference point for scientists and teachers interested to translate multifaceted knowledge into specific solutions. In fact, the paper is strongly linked as a whole to other three ones (presented at the 4th International Conference on Building resilience), which deepen respectively hazard, vulnerability/resilience, and mitigation about the site taken into consideration. Furthermore, the City of Venice takes part to the UNISDR Program “Making Cities Resilient”, and planned a robust intervention, consisting in the realisation of mobile dikes located at the openings of the lagoon (MOSE project, almost terminated), which has been strongly debated since the beginning, due to possible negative consequences on the environment. At last, the paper analyses drawbacks and benefits of the above said intervention, and suggests further proposals for the global safeguard of Venice and its lagoon.