Since pedestrians are impacted by solar radiation differently, urban designers must evaluate solar radiation exposure of pedestrian paths adopting an inclusive approach. This paper proposes a maximum threshold of direct solar radiation exposure for pedestrians based on activity, user profile and environmental conditions, defined as the difference between the energy consumption before feeling exhausted and the energy cost of walking. Two users of diverse walking abilities, a young adult and an elderly person with mobility impairment, were characterised by metabolic activity, walking speed and maximum energy capacity. Based on the theoretical framework, the energy budget of young adults to cope with thermal stress was set as three times higher than for the elderly. This framework was used to quantify the contribution of direct solar radiation to energy balance and then classify walkability during clear-sky summer hours; the term ‘walkable’ referred to environmental conditions allowing users to walk without feeling exhausted. The methodology was tested on an open area and an urban canyon in Milan; applicability by urban designers was key in developing a simplified way to evaluate shading needs. This approach could be applied to evaluate solar radiation exposure of pedestrian paths adopting diverse user experiences as an evaluation criterion.

In response to the global challenges brought on by climate change, cities around the world are adapting, innovating through nature-based strategies for sustainable development. Climate adaptation requires new interdisciplinary approaches in which different disciplines as well as research and practice proactively co-create and collaborate on adaptation to reduce the ongoing effects of anthropogenic climate change. Although awareness on climate adaptation is on the rise, new approaches for urban development are still in development. Moreover, existing approaches mainly focus on local-scale levels or lack a crossover with urban and landscape planning. The present contribution offers an example of an integrated approach bridging urban climatology, landscape planning, and governance to assess and develop climate adaptation solutions linking city and district levels. The city of Verona was taken as a case study to test this approach and its implications for the development of a green and blue infrastructure with a climate-responsive master plan for the district of Verona South. Through critical reflection on the application of the approach to the case study, we aimed to identify its potentials and barriers. Based on this reflection, we provide herein recommendations on how climate modelling can be integrated into planning, as well as on how urban planners and urban climatologists can support each other in making credible and salient climate adaptation solutions.

We are facing an urgent global environmental crisis that requires a reframing of traditional professional and conceptual boundaries within the urban environment. Complex and multidisciplinary issues need complex and multidisciplinary solutions, which result from the collaboration of many different disciplines concerned with the urban environment. A more integrated ecological perspective that recognizes the complexity of urban environments and resituates our ‘artificial’ or human-made world within its natural ecosystem can facilitate this shift towards greater knowledge exchange. C40 Cities case studies provide a framework within which to understand the disciplines and scales encompassed by ecological solutions, while projects at MIT Senseable City Lab and CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati highlight how data is used as a tool in driving ecological solutions. The artificial world of sensors, data and networks creates a bridge between the ‘artificial’ and ‘natural’ elements of our urban environments, allowing us to fully understand the present condition, connect city users and decision makers, and better integrate ecological solutions into the built environment.