Built heritage resources (BHRs) are multidimensional assets that need to be conceived under a sustainability and circular economy framework. Whereas it is essential that their conservation, management, and enjoyment are sustainable, it is also necessary that the environmental, cultural, and socio-economic contexts in which they are integrated are sustainable too. Like other amenities, BHRs can improve the quality of the urban environment and generate externalities; additionally, they may influence sectors such as real estate, hospitality, and tourism. In this framework, this contribution aims to identify spatial relationships occurring between BHRs and short-term rentals (STRs), i.e., a recent economic phenomenon facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb. Through the application of Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis techniques and taking Turin (Italy) as a case study, this article provides evidence that spatial correlation patterns between BHRs and STRs exist, and that the areas most affected by STRs are the residential neighborhoods located in the proximity of the historic center of the city. Relations with other sets of socio-economic variables are highlighted too, and conclusions suggest that future studies are essential not only to monitor sustainability issues and reflect on new housing models and sustainable uses of buildings, but also to understand the evolution of the phenomenon in light of the pandemic Covid-19.

In the last few decades the renewal of waterfront contexts has been especially inspired by neoliberal approaches favoring the creation of residential units and entertainment facilities. However, sustainability frameworks suggest that the economic dimension should be interpreted in a way that goes beyond the profitability of the interventions and that takes into account non-monetary values as well. In light of the complex social value (CSV) theory—which considers as a fundamental value component the intrinsic values attributed by communities to environmental and cultural heritage resources—this article proposes the adoption of exploratory methods to firstly map and then integrate citizens’ points of view into the evaluation and design of redevelopment scenarios, selecting the ex-industrial complex of Officine Piaggio (Italy) as a case study. Survey results highlighted that discrepancies between the new functions advanced by official redevelopment proposals and citizens’ opinions were present, and that values such as memory and collective meaning need to be considered if multidimensional sustainability represents a goal. Coherent with these results, a new project scenario is then envisioned and implications related to the application of exploratory methods in the decision-making and policy-design processes are finally advanced.

Increasingly over the last decade, there has been attention and expectations on the role that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions can play in increasing accountability, participation, and transparency in the public administration. In addition, attention to citizen participation is more and more at the center of the debate about smart cities. However, technological solutions have been often proposed without considering the first citizen's needs and the sociotechnical misalignment within the city, i.e., in peripheral area. This paper outlines the design and implementation process of a we-government IT tool, called MiraMap. The project has been developed in the Mirafiori District in Torino (Italy), a neighborhood, which is characterized by the problems of marginality and by several undergoing urban transformations with a very high potential for social and economic development in the next few years. This makes Mirafiori Sud a valuable case study environment to experiment new methods and IT solutions to strengthen the connection between citizens and public administration. The object of MiraMap, indeed, is to facilitate communication and management between citizens and administration in reporting of issues and claims but also in submitting proposals. Collecting and handling of this information in an efficient way are crucial to improve the quality of life in urban suburbs, addressing more targeted and better performed public policies. In order to achieve those results, we combined First Life, a new local social network based on an interactive map, with a business process management system for easing reports about claims and proposals to be handled. The research process involves an interdisciplinary team, composed by architects, computer scientists, engineers, geographers, and legal experts, with the direct participation of local administrators and citizens.INDEX TERMS Citizen engagement and smart governance, mobile crowdsensing for smart cities, modeling the social impact of smart technologies, case studies and testbeds for smart cities around the world, applied research in smart cities.

Nowadays, through ICT supports and their applications, the concept of smart cities has evolved into smart communities, where the collaborative relationship between citizens and public administration generates multi-dimensional impacts: urban sites are living labs and agents of innovation and inclusion. As a first step, this article aims to critically review the state of the art of the assessment methods of these impacts through a set of synthetic indicators; the second step is to elaborate a specific framework to evaluate quality of life through a set of impact indicators for smart communities and inclusive urban processes. According to some referenced authors, cities and communities are smart if they perform well in six smart categories: smart economy; smart people; smart governance; smart mobility; smart environment; and smart living. Considering a recent experiment carried out in Turin (Italy), the authors propose a methodology, whose trial is ongoing, based on a hierarchical multiscale framework defining a set of smart community indicators.

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