Nature-Based Solutions For Urban Adaptivity. Regenerating Former OSI-GHIA Industrial Site

In recent years, the globally increasing challenges affecting modern societies have been brought to significant attention. The growing urbanization along with the destructive effects of climate change, such as prolonged heat waves, urban heat island and flash floods may lead to humanitarian and environmental disasters if not managed properly. This implies the need to urgently foresee proper mitigation and adaptation strategies. As such, the “nature-based solutions" are launched based on biophilic approach as a promising tool for sustainable development and urban adaptivity. Being capable of addressing some priority areas such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, human health and well-being, water and food security, they also target aspects such as carbon sequestration, phytoremediation, run-off water management, ecosystem restoration and sustainable use of energy in urban areas providing environmental, social and economic resilience. Contemporary advances in science and technology provide the possibility to implement “nature-based solutions” in formerly “doubtful” spaces: urban brownfields, built surfaces, under roofs or on rooftops, and even inside buildings. Besides, NBS are flexible to be incorporated into complex hybrid architecture systems, acting simultaneously with other strategic tools such as the adaptive reuse of abandoned or underused spaces. This research has launched a profound Investigation and analysis of the theory of NBS, defining certain tools and strategies for the implementation of NBS and various criteria to simulate and assess their effectiveness in the built environment. The verification of this hypothesis has been carried out by applying these strategies on the former OSI-Ghia industrial site in Turin. A comparative microclimatic assessment has been conducted by using Envi-met software, along with the economic evaluation for adaptive reuse and urban regeneration project organized in phases, providing a multidisciplinary developing pattern for the actual challenges.