Recent critical events brought attention to the increasing exposure of urban environments to both slow and rapid onset disasters, which arise from both anthropogenic and natural causes. These events have particularly severe effects on historic centres, which are characterized by high levels of vulnerability and valuable assets exposed to risk. To minimize the impact on tangible and intangible cultural heritage values, especially in outdoor public areas such as squares and streets, it is crucial to establish coherent mitigative and adaptive solutions for different types of hazards. This research presents a methodology aimed at defining levels of multi-vulnerabilities in historic districts in the Apulia Region (Italy), considering the recurrent hazards to which the latter is prone. It uses a multi-step process based on structured and non-structured methodologies and tools for single risks, examined in combination, to determine the main properties characterizing the vulnerability assessment. The dataset was analyzed in a GIS environment to evaluate the selected Apulian case study (Molfetta) in Multi-Asynchronous Hazard scenarios, showing the compounded levels of criticalities for open areas and streets. This information is intended to support authority and emergency managers in identifying priority interventions and increasing the resilience of the outdoor public places.

In a modern pandemic outbreak, where collective threats require global strategies and local operational defence applications, data-driven solutions for infection tracing and forecasting epidemic trends are crucial to achieve sustainable and socially resilient cities. Indeed, the need for monitoring, containing, and mitigating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has generated a great deal of interest in Digital Proximity Tracing Technology (DPTT) on smartphones, as well as their function and effectiveness and insights of population acceptance. This paper introduces and compares different Data-Driven Epidemic Intelligence Strategies (DDEIS) developed on DPTTs. It aims to clarify to what extent DDEIS could be effective and both technologically and socially suitable in reaching the objective of a swift return to normality for cities, guaranteeing public health safety and minimizing the risk of epidemic resurgence. It assesses key advantages and limits in supporting both individual decision-making and policy-making, considering the role of human behaviour. Specifically, an online survey carried out in Italy revealed user preferences for DPTTs and provided preliminary data for an SEIR (Susceptible–Exposed–Infectious–Recovered) epidemiological model. This was developed to evaluate the impact of DDEIS on COVID-19 spread dynamics, and results are presented together with an evaluation of potential drawbacks.

The study of natural disasters has become increasingly important in recent years as the frequency and impact of such events on society have risen. Italy, which has the largest number of sites on the World Heritage List, offers many examples of interactions between atmospheric phenomena and cultural heritage. The research presented here aimed to investigate the potential of one of these sites, Alberobello in the Apulia region, to respond to the stresses induced by intense weather phenomena that occurred in August 2022. Data from conventional and nonconventional sensors were employed to characterize the event. During previous studies, regions prone to meteorological risk were identified based on long-term model analyses. According to these studies, the marked area resulted in a region sensitive to convective precipitation and thus represents an interesting case study. The weather event investigated caused flooding and damage in the Alberobello surroundings; however, the UNESCO site showed a positive response. We explored the reasons by consulting the literature to outline the site’s peculiarities, especially its architectural features, building materials, and terrain morphology. The results revealed that the mutual relationship between the buildings and the environment and the dual role of cultural heritage are values that need to be protected as a resource for natural hazard mitigation.