Kassandra: Redesigning our cities through urban planning

This is the first system of analysis and support for the design of resilient urban centers in which sustainable development is combined with the quality of life and health of people.

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PILOT PROJECT CITY OF MODICA

One of the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic is the need to rethink spaces and the relationship between the human and natural environments. It is precisely these changes that could represent an opportunity for designing resilient cities in which a development planet join the quality of life and the people's health.

KASSANDRA

Architects respond to these new and urgent needs Mark Cannata e Antonio Stornello, who have been working on the development of Kassandra: an innovative IDSS (Integrated Decision Support System) that is able to “foresee"And handle data that impact the development of cities, and specifically in the area of ​​climate change.

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SUSTAINABLE CITY DEVELOPMENT

Citizens have a perception of the relationship between their actions and the impact on improving their quality of life, systematically generating a new approach to sustainable urban design and creating a new architectural aesthetic.

The two architects argue that "this is a major technological and methodological innovation, thanks to which we will have data from the specific level of the individual building to the most general urban level possible, treating all indicators in an integrated manner and calculating the cost-benefit ratio for each hypothetical intervention." It is certain, for professionals in the sector, that the global pandemic has brought to light some important certainties, including that of acquiring the highest possible amount of information to be analyzed, interpreted, and transmitted to those responsible for taking effective decisions. decisions on the actions to be taken with a view to change and improvement. This is explained by the fact that: every positive action by an individual serves as a social push towards others, and that these are all useful lessons for the fight against climate change.

URBAN DESIGN

The concept of recovery must be used to start over with a different approach, which places environmental, social, and economic sustainability at its core, while keeping technology at the heart of the revolutionary change. A data-driven technology: to be interpreted and managed to bring about the necessary changes.

The current situation leads us to encourage the emergence of a common conscience on some issues because, as the architects state, "the irreversibility of climate change cannot be cured with any vaccine."

PILOT PROJECT CITY OF MODICA

In the city of Modica the first one has already been made pilot project, through the reconstruction of the historical stratifications of the territory and the parameters useful for identifying sustainable development scenarios for the future. The center, containing 55.000 inhabitants, has more or less complex constitutive characteristics: it is in fact a historic city with a very complex orography. For this city a three-dimensional parametric model (Building Information Modelling) of a portion of the city which includes approximately 13.000 buildings through which professionals examine solutions aimed at: a level of resilience high, a balance cost-benefit and a balance with the natural environment.

Kassandra can actually become one strategic decision support tool For administrations that, in specific cities, wish to launch a redevelopment initiative that is resilient to the weaknesses created by the Covid-19 pandemic. We must therefore leverage technology to produce and analyze data, while also fostering a shared and collectively accepted understanding of various topics. The urban planning system has also gained importance among professionals and national and international companies, including Eco managementIn this Ravenna-based company, a leader in Italy and abroad in the maintenance of road and motorway greenery, Valerio Molinari (Ecogest's main shareholder) stated that “Kassandra was chosen for the project's flexibility and adaptability.”

The cover photo is taken from Kassandra's website.

Kassandra is a candidate for the 2020 Non Sprecare Award. To submit your projects, follow the instructions provided. here.

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