A wide diffusion of green envelopes in cities can be an opportunity to improve urban environment conditions and reduce negative effects of climate change. The green roof system is a widespread solution adopted all over the world due to the relative simplicity of installation and the large private and social benefits provided. Despite this, some factors hinder the diffusion of the green roof system, not only economic factors (due to the higher installation costs compare to a traditional roof solution), but also technical factors connected to lack of knowledge. The present paper investigates the factors influencing designers in the choice of a building roof systems, comparing a traditional solution and a greening system. The involvement of architects, engineers, and researchers allows the selection of the most important factors. Results of the study identifies their priority, and through a sustainability-based multicriteria analysis, the role played by each one in the decision process. This approach provides interesting hints to identify effective strategies to support a wider diffusion of greening systems for urban resilience.

The conditions why processes of urban regeneration can be developed in modern-day cities have changed enormously over the last decade. Unlike the recent past, where the reuse for urban uses of former industrial areas was only based on maximising the amount of space, after the housing bubble begun in 2008, the profit margins for operators were reduced, and today, they faced to a sharp contraction in demand and a surplus of supply. Consequently, the framework within which we carry out the investment decisions is increasingly complex and is characterised by the opposition of a potential conflict between two forces. On the one hand, the public administration which seeks to take full advantage of the urban transformation processes to improve the quality of live for citizens; on the other, the private entity that has the aim of maximising the profits obtainable from the intervention and to the minimise business risk. Therefore, to ensure the overall feasibility of an intervention, urban viability must correspond to an economic and financial sustainability. The paper analyses the role of the economic evaluation in urban regeneration interventions through the analysis of a case study in the city of Genoa.

One of the indicators that measures the economic development of a territory is its infrastructural endowment (road, rail, etc.). The presence of roads, railways, and airports are essential elements in creating the optimal conditions for the establishment or development of productive activities and economic growth; and also to generate benefits. However, the presence of infrastructure can have strong impacts on the environment and the living conditions of the population and infrastructure can be subject to actions related to contrast and opposition. Therefore, in parallel with the economic and environmental sustainability assessment, it is essential to decide whether or not to build new infrastructure. In addition, social sustainability is also pursued on the basis of an assessment that takes into account various aspects that relate the work to the population, also in order to identify the most satisfactory design solution. Alongside the adopted methodology, the assessment must be identified suitable criteria which are capable of taking into account the various impacts generated by the infrastructure, not only of an economic and environmental type, but also social and attributed relative importance (or weight) that is congruous with the correct balance of the three aspects of sustainability. This contribution deals with the identification of criteria for assessing the social sustainability of infrastructure projects, by taking as reference the 24 infrastructure projects in the planning and construction phase in the Liguria Region that make use of the Regional Law n. 39/2007 on the “Regional Strategic Intervention Programs—P.R.I.S.” (Regional Strategic Intervention Programs); which guarantees citizens affected by the infrastructure. In this research work, the selection is performed through the involvement of local stakeholders as well as the subjects and institutions that operate within the decision-making process of a work (designers, technicians from public administrations). The selected criteria are then weighted through the pairwise comparison method used in the multi-criteria technique of ThomasSaaty—Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The goal is to identify the useful criteria for assessing social sustainability and the weights attributed by the various parties involved in the decision-making process by citizens directly or indirectly affected by the infrastructure.