Current mobility strategies tend to pursue sustainable solutions with low environmental and economic impact, such as the disincentive to the use of private vehicles. Mobility on foot is among the most advantageous forms for short distances, especially if different technological and infrastructural solutions are inserted in the urban context such as underpasses that limit the likely conflicts with motor vehicles. These solutions, however, are not easily perceived as positive because people often do not like to change their usual routes or because they feel psychological discomfort when they pass through closed places. This research work focuses on the evaluation of the benefits of including a small underpass in the city of Rijeka, Croatia and through an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multi-criteria analysis, it was possible to prioritize a number of decision-making alternatives, related to qualitative and quantitative evaluations, otherwise not directly comparable, and combining multidimensional measurement scales into a single priority scale. This analysis allows to provide cues for local and non-local urban planning, encouraging through the participatory form an active comparison between the population and local authorities and at the same time allows to assess which multidisciplinary processes (psychological/engineering) are possible to put in place to encourage the research on pedestrian behavior.

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Since complex urban systems are a combination of different spatial typologies and may have various complex characteristics (human, environmental, social, economic, political, and cultural), decision-making cannot be done without a holistic approach and complex analysis and evaluation of the possible development scenarios. This is especially true in today’s world, where spatial and urban planning must consider various objectives such as sustainable development, accessibility, landscape characteristics, and public interests on a strategic level. This results in the need to use appropriate decision support and decision-making tools in the strategic urban planning process of complex urban environments with Historic Urban Landscapes (HUL) characteristics to improve urban development and resilience. The proposed evaluation model, “Strategic Planning for Urban Resilience—SPUR model,” is based on a holistic approach to spatial planning with an emphasis on the strategic sustainable development of urban voids as HULs and was tested on the case study of the Delta area in the City of Rijeka, Croatia. The proposed holistic approach can help in scenario building, evaluation, and selection of planning alternatives, as well as decision-making processes in urban management, by enabling the evaluation and control of complex scenarios from a sustainable development perspective.

Abstract:The paper describes the shifting perspective from the contemplative view to the dynamic-evolutionary view of heritage and the main characteristics of the resulting multi-criterial decision-aid tool for the evaluation of heritage. With the integration of conservation in planning processes and with opening of the procedures to public participation, there is a need for decision-aid tools that can help increase rationality and transparency in decision-making processes related to planning. By understanding the contemporary view of heritage and the landscape, it is possible to create tools capable of accounting for spatial complexity and the extant cultural, social, historic and economic relations. With this in mind, a specific tool was created that can be used for the analysis, diagnosis, evaluation and monitoring of spatial heritage (registered and under consideration for protection), identifying opportunities, defining strategies for heritage management processes, and in the creation and evaluation of development and management scenarios. The paper illustrates a shift in the consideration of heritage in spatial planning and presents an application of the developed model in a case study.