Social innovation (SI) impacts are long-term changes that affect different dimensions of territorial capital (i.e., economy, society, environment, governance) for the territory in which SI occurs. Yet, systematic empirical evidence and theoretically sound assessments of the impacts of SI are scarce. This paper aims to fill the gap and assess the different aspects of SI’s impacts in European and Mediterranean areas that are characterized by marginalization processes. To assess the impacts of SI in marginalized areas, we use the evaluation framework developed within the Social Innovation in Marginalized Rural Areas (SIMRA) Horizon 2020 project and apply it to nine SI initiatives related to the fields of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rural development. Our findings show that SI produces cross-sectoral (societal, economic, environmental, and governmental) and multi-level impacts (on individuals, community, and society), which have improved the societal well-being, and contributed to the reduction of certain forms of marginality, mainly inside the territory in which SI occurred.

Social innovation is considered a relevant concept to tackle societal challenges and needs in rural areas and to promote smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. The characterising sector of rural areas is agriculture; therefore, the focus of this paper is on social innovation in the field of social farming. Among the many factors leading to the emergence and development of social innovation, agency has been considered relevant in the literature on transformability and transformative social innovation as it is the ability to turn contextual difficulties into opportunities for social innovation and for inclusive growth. This paper proposes an evaluation framework to assess the different dimensions of agency by triangulating quantitative with qualitative data and by using indicators. This paper adopts a case study approach, analysing two cases of social farming in Italy and the Netherlands. The results show that the social innovation idea and the resilience of the agency are among the most relevant dimensions for the emergence and development of social innovations. Finally, this paper discusses the three most relevant factors for agency to lead to social innovation: idea and embeddedness of the agency, transformability of the context through agency´s resilience, and agency as catalyst for empowerment.

Public space and mobility are two challenging topics in many contemporary cities. These topics give rise to important questions such as how does the element of public space affect the sustainability of urban mobility in contemporary cities? And how does facilitating mobility contribute to the livability of the public realm? The purpose of this paper is to attempt to answer these questions. On one hand, the paper explores the relationship between public space and urban mobility in the contemporary city, specifically by addressing the extent to which urban mobility can create better public spaces and even assist in producing a more sustainable model of mobility. Although ignored for a long time in the discourse on urban planning, the relationship between public space and urban mobility has the potential to create livable cities. Indeed, the use of public space by walking and cycling contributes to economic, environmental and social sustainability. Hence, together with economic, ecological and social indicators, public space and urban mobility also constitute relevant city components, when measuring a city's sustainability performance. On the other hand, this paper seeks to suggest a set of measures related to public space and soft mobility that can be integrated into an already existing set of indicators commonly used to measure urban sustainability. In this regard, the paper contributes to the debate surrounding the need to invest more in public spaces and at the same time suggests to planners and policy makers that it is necessary to develop international measures for the evaluation of urban mobility and the sustainability of public space.Keywords: public space; urban mobility; sustainable city indicators; contemporary city; everyday urbanism. THE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC SPACETo cite this article: Ravazzoli, E., Torricelli, G. P. IntroductionIn the last 20 years, public spaces have acquired a renewed visibility in urban planning discourse as an essential ingredient for urban sustainability. Public spaces play a central role in the creation of inclusive communities and more specifically, in the formation of a public culture and in enriching cultural diversity (Low et al. 2005). In particular, there is a resumed interest in re-establishing the relationship between public space and urban mobility. The creation of attractive public spaces, (which are also mobility hubs e.g. stations, airports, bus stops, intermodal terminals), and the use of streets, sidewalks and bike lanes for daily mobility (e.g. walking and cycling) constitute a key challenge for the design of sustainable mobility systems and the creation of sustainable and liveable cities (Wheeler 2013). Improving soft mobility measures and the modal shift and upgrading the quality of public spaces, constitute two important aims for any plan to realise the sustainable liveable city of the future. Urban mobility (e.g. our daily mobility and the experience of moving) is something that involves public spaces. Conceived for a long time as two separate entities a...

Increasing accessibility and balancing its distribution across space and social groups are two fundamental goals to make transport more sustainable and equitable. In the next decades, autonomous vehicles (AVs) could significantly transform the transport system, influencing accessibility and transport equity. In particular, depending on the assumed features of AVs (e.g., private or collective) and the considered spatial, social, and regulative context (e.g., rural or urban areas), impacts may be very different. Nevertheless, research in this field is still limited, and the relationship between AV assumptions and accessibility impacts is still partially unclear. This paper aims to provide a framework of the key and emerging aspects related to the implications of AVs for accessibility and transport equity. To set this framework, we perform an analysis of the scientific literature based on a conceptual model describing the implications of AVs for the distribution of accessibility across space and social groups. We recognize four main expected impacts of AVs on accessibility: (1) accessibility polarization, (2) accessibility sprawl, (3) exacerbation of social accessibility inequities, and (4) alleviation of social accessibility inequities. These impacts are described and analyzed in relation to the main AV assumptions expected to trigger them through different mechanisms. Based on the results, some recommendations for future studies intending to focus on the relation between AVs, accessibility, and transport equity are provided.

No abstract