The transformation of cities into smarter and more sustainable environments is essential towards achieving the objectives of the decarbonization of the economy. In this sense, holistic strategies are required to design and implement urban regeneration strategies. The EU-funded REMOURBAN project has developed an Urban Regeneration Model which provides the mechanisms to implement more efficiently these processes, integrating technologies, business models, management procedures and evaluation mechanisms, where the evaluation is sought as the main supporting mechanism throughout the various phases of the city transformation process. The framework developed considers two levels of evaluation: city level, to assess both sustainability and smartness of the city as a whole from a comprehensive and integrated perspective, and project level, to provide a clear identification of the impact of implementation of technologies and solutions on three key priority areas (sustainable districts and built environment, sustainable urban mobility and integrated infrastructures and processes) aimed at achieving the city high-level goals. This paper introduces the Urban Regeneration Model and describes the evaluation framework and its implementation in the city of Valladolid (Spain).

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REMOURBAN is an European project whose main objective is the development and validation in three lighthouse cities (Valladolid-Spain, Nottingham-UK and Tepebasi/Eskisehir-Turkey) of a sustainable urban regeneration model that leverages the convergence area of the energy, mobility and ICT sectors in order to accelerate the deployment of innovative technologies, organizational and economic solutions to significantly increase resource and energy efficiency, improve the sustainability of urban transport and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas. For developing this model, REMOURBAN is implementing several strategies at city level based on: the creation of a holistic catalogue of innovative technologies and solutions on energy, mobility and ICTs favouring the replicability, the identification and overcome of nontechnical barriers, the development of new integrated business models oriented at the creation of a European market for innovation and the definition of a complete evaluation procedure using sustainability and smartness indicators. This urban renovation strategy is focused on the citizens, where they become the cornerstones to making a smart city a reality For this reason, citizens are being actively engaged in REMOURBAN and the population awareness about energy and environmental impact of their daily activities are increased. In order to ensure the usefulness and high replication of the REMOURBAN project at European level, the sustainable urban regeneration model is aimed at the decision makers, investors, public administrations and the industrial sector. Furthermore, in order to ensure this replicability, two follower cities, Seraing (Belgium) and Miskolc (Hungary) are involved in the project so they can apply the developed model once it is validated. The project will allow demonstrating that, by means of improving the current conditions of a city, it is possible to achieve low energy districts and more sustainable urban transport, as well as to perceive a greater quality of life. REMOURBAN, thus, will focus on improving the energy efficiency, reduction of GHG emissions, refurbishment of districts, transport sustainability, access to urban information and citizen engagement. A big impact across Europe is intended to be achieved by the REMOURBAN project results at European level, showing the model for sustainable urban regeneration can be easily applied and replicated. With the aim at maximizing the impact of the project results, This research was supported by the project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 646511.The article reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. The information in this document is provided as is and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose. The user thereof uses the information at its sole risk and liability

Abstract:With the aim of achieving a Near Zero Energy District, a series of interventions have been designed focusing on improving the sustainability of the FASA neighborhood in Valladolid, increasing its energy efficiency and reducing the CO2 emissions of its buildings. In order to achieve this objective, the REMOURBAN project will act on the envelope of its buildings, on their illumination and it will modify the thermal installations to replace the current fossil fuels by renewable sources, for both heating and domestic hot water. These actions will make Valladolid a smart city benchmark with interventions in the energy, mobility and ICT sectors.Keywords: district; envelope; biomass; energy efficiency; smart city BackgroundThe sustainable development of urban areas is a key challenge for Europe where the retrofitting of its buildings and, more specifically, its thermal retrofitting takes on special importance. In Spain, more than half of the buildings are built without adequate thermal insulation, which means a very high energy consumption and mostly from fossil fuels which exacerbates the problem of external energy dependence. In order to deal with this situation, projects such as REMOURBAN are demonstrating innovative, efficient and accessible technologies and processes in districts whose energy problems are evident in order to achieve Near Zero Energy Districts that serve as a reference and allow the replicability of this type of actions in other similar neighborhoods, improving the environment and the quality of life of citizens. Description of the ProjectREMOURBAN is a large scale demonstration project, whose purpose is to accelerate the urban transformation towards the smart city concept taking into account all aspects of sustainability. Several objectives will be achieved, being the most relevant the development of a holistic and replicable model for sustainable urban regeneration, with a jointly approach in the sectors of energy, mobility and ICTs. This urban regeneration model will be developed and validated in three lighthouse cities (Valladolid-Spain, Nottingham-UK and Tepebaşı/Eskisehir-Turkey) accelerating the deployment of innovative technologies, organisational and economic solutions to significantly increase resource and energy efficiency, improve the sustainability of urban transport and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.In Valladolid, the FASA neighborhood has been selected for the implementation of a set of interventions designed in order to achieve this neighborhood become a Near Zero Energy District.

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