Open urban spaces play a key role in achieving city resilience, the urban ability to survive in extreme conditions caused by phenomena such as heat waves and urban heat islands and to absorb change and disruption. Urban regeneration planning and intervention design are critical for providing thermal and wind comfort to citizens and enhancing urban resilience. Supporting decision makers, the microclimate created in urban planning use cases is simulated to identify, assess, and rate the bioclimatic impacts of alternative plans. The Bioclimatic Index is proposed based on the simulation results and the rated plans to strengthen evaluation of urban regeneration plans and interventions that empower urban microclimate and resilience. The methodology is applied to an abandoned space in the Old Port of Patras, Greece, of wet Mediterranean climate, and can be extended to urban areas with similar characteristics.

Sustainable and smart public spaces play a key role in enhancing cities’ potential to address current urban challenges and evaluating and implementing such plans for public spaces is a complex process. A performance model was developed to assist stakeholders in decision making, which integrates this evaluation process. Following an integrated, adaptive approach, the proposed model is based on the multisectoral, demand–supply estimation of the urban comprehensive carrying capacity and the urban smartness of alternative development plans. A comparative evaluation of the new and existing models in a case study area indicated that the holistic methodological framework of the performance model and indicators could better support identification of the best development plan for implementation. Results indicated that the performance model could assist decision makers in addressing the specific needs of individual public spaces and the common urban need for sustainability and smartness.

Cycling’s integration into the intricate facets of urban design, together with walking and public transportation, offers an effective solution to the mobility issues plaguing urban spaces, and is critical to the sustainability of modern cities. In this context, in this research urban cyclists’ needs and preferences are analyzed through questionnaires, and bicycle accessibility to urban areas is assessed using multicriteria analysis. The public’s familiarity with the integration of novel mobility solutions (e.g., e-bicycles) that support accessibility and inclusiveness is tested and analyzed by recording cyclists trajectories on bicycle routes. The European hub of Patras was selected as the case study for a pilot scheme in this analysis. Similar to many medium-sized European cities, several mobility obstacles, including urban topography, hinder bicycle accessibility in the city, especially between the Modern and Old City areas. The research findings indicate that, addressing these obstacles, electric bicycles can substantially increase bicycle accessibility in the city center. The public usage of electric bicycles is encouraged in the pilot study, and the results indicate that it can increase accessibility to urban areas while reducing restrictions related to age, physical condition, and disabilities. Providing citizens access to e-bicycles can increase the number of daily bicycle users, leading to positive impact in urban cohesion, resilience, and sustainability.

To achieve urban resilience, assessment of the bioclimatic impact of various planning solutions should be given high priority in the decision-making process for the implementation of urban planning interventions. To aid in this process and improve the creation of resilient open spaces, the Bioclimatic Index has been developed as an evaluation tool and simple guide for local stakeholders. The assessment of the indicator is essential to determine the likelihood of its use in other Mediterranean cities as the methodological framework was based on the microclimate simulation results of the case study area of Patras Old Port, which is a seaside open space with a Mediterranean climate. In this framework, the Bioclimatic Index is used to rate the regenerated open spaces in Thessaloniki, Malaga, and Genoa, three Mediterranean seaside areas. The indicator values are compared to the microclimate simulation results created based on their planning solutions, aiming to test the accuracy, transferability and scalability of the indicator. The research result showed that the seaside space of Malaga, which has been evaluated as the optimal regeneration plan based on the Bioclimatic Index, creates the most favorable microclimate conditions through seasons, supporting the use of the indicator for evaluating the bioclimatic impact of regeneration plans in Mediterranean cities.