Mazzarella, Chiara (2021) WASTESCAPE REGENERATION. Values, approaches and tools to operationalise circular city models. [Tesi di dottorato]

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This research investigates the wastescapes and their regeneration in urban contexts, presenting a deepening definition and an evaluation framework for a collaborative regeneration process. Because of the concept of waste, the wastescape is deemed as a multidimensional cultural landscape, constituted of discarded parts of metabolic resources, areas, built environment, society, and others systems of waste. Thus, it is composed of various multidimensional waste systems interplaying at different scales. In this sense, a wastescape is not only limited to a spatial domain. The urban physiology and morphology of the Netzstadt framework let define the urban systems of wastescape; mainly, metabolic processes and the built environment are explored in this research, and values, tools and methods to support regenerative processes in the frame of the circular city. Circular economy (CE) is becoming a global challenge to implement regenerative urban strategies in sustainability transition. Urban metabolism of waste, waste architecture and urban communities are the constituent systems considered in this study. Each one has different scales of analysis. While the urban metabolism is analysed at a big scale, the wasted architecture and urban community role are observed locally. The two scales reveal complementary issues and opportunities for the regeneration processes toward circular cities. This, the evaluation of an urban wastescape, as a multidimensional cultural landscape, consider environmental, social, economic and cultural dimensions. In this perspective, the urban landscape services can be the benchmarks for quantitative and qualitative analyses of the evaluation of the performances. In the circular city frame, policies and projects are oriented to the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and local actors. In this way, urban wastescape regeneration considers social equity and environmental justice in its fundamentals. In this path, the thesis explore both materials and methods of wastescape regeneration. In such urban policies, spatial decision-making support systems allow for managing multi-dimensional and multi-actor evaluation processes. The Geodesign method and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDAs) are tested in two case studies at different scales. The case studies present two different wastescape analyses at two different scales, considering some relevant physiological and morphological aspects. The first case study analyses the Naples urban metabolism of waste in the REPAiR project. Starting from the CE principle that considers waste as a resource for sustainable development, resource management is at the centre of the REPAiR project research. In the Naples case, the Activity-based Spatial Material Flow Analysis (AS-MFA) map the organic waste and construction and demolition waste streams on the territory. From this wastescape status quo, the Geodesign Decision Support Environment supports the co-creation of circular economy strategies. It is a collaborative decision-making process, from knowledge to negotiation phase. Without deepening the morphological aspects, the AS_MFA maps and the geodesign method represent the two innovative tools for urban wastescape regenerations in a collaborative decision-making process. On a smaller scale, two cases of modern marginal neighbourhoods in Naples and Amsterdam show the social and spatial issues of wastescape of wasted architectures and marginal communities. In these cases, the urban morphological conditions produced urban wastescape physiological conditions. Similar circumstances and different events lead to two regeneration processes compared at the end of the section. The most significant transformations happened through architecture, public policies and communities of place and communities of practice. The demolition and adaptive reuse of modern architectures changed some environmental perceptions that led to the rejection of the place. The intense bottom-up actions and community actions made urban social regeneration over the years. Rejection, exclusion, cultural stigma, and prejudice made the neighbourhood urban wastescapes. The three cases study explore values, approaches and tools for wastescape regeneration at two different scales. They are part of the same approach to circularity. The cases show that circular economy in urban areas come up against two main issues: legal and cultural. Environmental and economic issues stem from those. The available techniques and technologies in waste management can be improved, but many are already available and underused. Any waste in urban areas is currently a problem, creating blighted areas and disamenities. Together with actors and stakeholders, the thesis shows how communities of place and practices are the core of long term sustainable transformations. In this path, circularity is the economic approach, and collaborative decision-making processes can ensure transparency and the inclusion of actors, stakeholders and local groups to transition to the circular city.

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