In order to contribute to the debate on climate-proof urban regeneration, the study illustrated in this paper pays attention to the references for eco-districts as possible integrated frameworks that include urbanism and ecology toward urban resilience linked to environmental, social and governance “commitments”. To this end, the research activity has given answer to a need for a contextualization of the urban phenomena and the state of the art on sustainable development and climate proof urban resilience, pointing out the French context as an emblematic scope of study through a literature review of European best practices of eco-district. In consistency with this research framework, the study has developed a case study analysis, focusing on the description and evaluation of four best practices of French EcoQuartiers. The methodology adopted has selected with an inductive method the mitigation and adaptation strategies developed in the implementation of the French emblematic eco-quartiers, combining the official sources of the projects with on-site visits and surveys in order to define an experimental proposal of a grid of methodological-operational references relating to eco-districts. Furthermore, the discussion points out the potentials and limits of the proposed framework, related on the one hand to the quality, innovation, integration, and dissemination of the design solutions, and on the other hand to the economic and social costs of the EcoQuartiers that find a synthesis in the concept of “greentrification”. Finally, the conclusion highlights the interest of the contribution of the French context in climate proof planning and points out research interest in the other national contexts toward a European framework for eco-districts.

The conformation and dynamics of metropolitanisation act as propulsive elements of territorial transformations. The deficiency of infrastructural equipment, the heterogeneity of urban fabric and the lack of services and public spaces contribute to severing the identity ties between settled communities and territories. In light of this, within the more general reflection concerning urban regeneration, we recall the role that cultural heritage plays in the physical and functional organisation of the city, as a reflection of the interaction between community and context. The contribution is contextualized in the research work on the activities related to Thematic Line 4 of the Extended Partnership 5—CHANGES (NRRP). The thematic line activities follow three phases: 1. contextualization; 2. operational phase; 3. experimentation. The research work presented here is part of the ‘operational phase’, to identify strategies and projects for heritage-led regeneration. The article analyses the pilot case of CSOA Forte Prenestino as a starting point for thinking about expanding the research activity to other similar cases. It is a self-managed community centre in Rome (Italy) located in the nineteenth-century Forte, which has become a symbol of collective identity. The case study was identified following three levels of investigation: 1. identification of the municipality, first-level administrative subdivision of the city of Rome (Italy); 2. identification of the main historical, archaeological and architectural emergencies of the municipality; 3. identification of an asset to be analysed as “Heritage by designation” (involvement of experts) and “Heritage by appropriation” (involvement of communities). The research results show the “Recognition Path” of Forte Prenestina: according to what has been ‘designated’ by urban planning instruments, project instruments, legislative instruments and authors of scientific publications and conferences; and on the basis of the bottom-up ‘appropriation’ process of the asset that has allowed its management, assessment of its cultural and social potential and its development. The research results allow us to reflect on heritage-led urban regeneration as a strategy capable of capturing and promoting the links between social integration and cultural–historical identity.

Contemporary peri-urban landscapes face fragmentation, marginalisation, and the neglect of widespread cultural heritage. This article explores heritage-led regeneration as a strategic framework to revitalise marginal areas by focusing on the Campo Trincerato in Rome, a system of fifteen forts and three batteries constructed between 1877 and 1891. Despite being largely abandoned, these fortifications remain structurally intact and spatially coherent, offering opportunities for reconceptualisation as infrastructural nodes within broader urban and territorial networks. The study adopts a multi-scalar methodological approach, combining architectural analysis of typological and structural features with contextual investigation of accessibility, ownership, and planning frameworks. Results reveal that while the Campo Trincerato maintains its systemic coherence, institutional fragmentation and limited reuse represent major barriers to regeneration. Nevertheless, its configuration as a defensive ring highlights potential to establish cultural polarities, ecological connections, and community-driven functions in Rome’s suburban areas. The findings underscore the significance of integrating cultural heritage into contemporary regeneration strategies, transforming neglected military infrastructure into catalysts for urban identity, social cohesion, and sustainable development.

Contemporary cities constitute both the primary site where the climate crisis manifests its most evident impacts and the privileged laboratory for testing strategies of adaptation and resilience. However, the growing emphasis on “climate neutrality” policies risks obscuring the social dimension of urban regeneration processes, thus generating new imbalances and forms of exclusion. This paper offers a critical reflection on the role of urban planning beyond climate neutrality, reorienting it towards a perspective of climate justice capable of integrating ecological transition goals with those of social and territorial cohesion. The research adopts a mixed-method approach, combining theoretical and documentary analysis with empirical case comparison, to investigate the relationship among urban regeneration, urban welfare, and spatial inequalities. The study aims to identify strategies for preventing climate gentrification, a phenomenon in which adaptation and mitigation measures—if not accompanied by adequate redistributive mechanisms—produce socio-spatial displacement effects that exclude the most vulnerable communities from the environmental benefits generated. The comparative analysis of two international case studies—Little Haiti (Miami) and the Green Corridors of Medellín (Colombia)—reveals two contrasting trajectories of the ecological transition: a regressive one, driven by market logics and real-estate valorization, and a progressive one, grounded in principles of equity, participation, and inclusive distribution of environmental benefits.

The distinction between the current urban crisis and that which emerged in the latter half of the last century lies in the rise of environmental concerns linked to the climate crisis, which compound the existing socioeconomic issues. The “new urban question”, in its intersectional sense, necessitates high levels of integration, interdisciplinarity, interscalarity, and iterativity to recompose the physical and socioeconomic components of change. In this regard, the proposed contribution aims to develop a transferable methodology to guide urban regeneration actions that are sustainable from a socio-economic and environmental perspective, capable of leading to the creation of “Healthy Neighbourhoods”. This objective is pursued by the authors through the definition of a toolkit of design parameters to assess the improvement of an urban area before and after the regeneration intervention. Indeed, each proposed parameter affects one or more of the ten indicators used to evaluate the health of a neighbourhood. The proposed methodology will later be tested, in subsequent phases of the research, on the case study of Pietralata (Rome, Italy).