www.ditac.unich.

it
gpanarelli@unich.it

BUILDING ECO-DISTRICTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN:

SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE
International conference
Athens, 17/18 April 2008

Med-Eco-Quartiers
Euro-Mediterranean network Charter

Gianmichele Panarelli
Scientific Coordinator of the Network
University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy)
DITAC (Dipartimento di Tecnologie per l’Ambiente Costruito)
GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Sustainable Mediterranean town planning where policies center on the town quarter

Mediterranean regions, weakened by climate change and growth of human activities, urgently
need controlled town planning measures to be able to meet tough future environmental,
social and economic challenges.

Mediterranean cities have been the cradles of many civilizations over the millennia. Architecture
and town planning, faced with new challenges, maintain an essential role: make tomorrow’s city
generate and reflect the art of living together in a sustainable way around the
Mediterranean basin.

Land use must be conceived in an integrated manner: urban, farming and forestry sectors must
be conceived as living together and being able to interact.

The scale of town quarters is an important factor, both for reflection and for action: town
quarters, organically integrated in the urban fabric, are the urban unit that is closest to the life of
citizens. They are, at the same time, the site of family, social and economic life.
Aalborg charter
of European Cities & Towns Towards Sustainability
May 1994

Plan Bleu
Methodological sheets of the 34 priority indicators for the
Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development Follow-up
May 2006

Lisbon Declaration
on “Networks for sustainable spatial development of the
European continent: Bridges over Europe”
October 2006

Leipzig Charter
on Sustainable European Cities
May 2007

The urban dimension in the cohesion policy

for the period 2007-2013 (European Commission)
September 2007
AFNOR (Association française de normalisation)
Grille Med ecourbanisme

NEOPOLIS
Grille éco constructibilité

Municipality of Faenza
(Ten) Best practices to synthetically measure
the sustainability of a new Med Eco-Quartier
Aalborg charter
of European Cities & Towns Towards Sustainability
May 1994
• Part I: Consensus Declaration: European Cities & Towns Towards Sustainability
• Part II: The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign
• Part III: Engaging in Local Agenda 21 Processes: Local Action Plans Towards Sustainability

Plan Bleu
Methodological sheets of the 34 priority indicators for the
Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development Follow-up
May 2006
• Improving integrated water resource and demand management
• Managing energy demand and mitigating the effects of climate change
• Ensuring sustainable mobility through appropriate transport management
• Promote sustainable tourism
• Promoting sustainable agricultural and rural development
• Promoting sustainable urban development
• Promoting sustainable management of the sea and the costal areas and take urgent action
to put an end to the degradation of coastal zones
• Strengthen solidarity, commitment and financing for a sustainable development at regional,
national and local levels
• Strengthen human capital and actors’ involvement: research, training, education,
awareness-raising and participation

Lisbon Declaration
on “Networks for sustainable spatial development of the
European continent: Bridges over Europe”
October 2006
• The growing importance of networks
• Identifying priorities for cooperation and networking
• Contribution of networks to sustainable spatial development
Leipzig Charter
on Sustainable European Cities
May 2007
• Creating and ensuring high-quality public spaces
• Modernizing infrastructure networks and improving energy efficiency
• Proactive innovation and educational policies
• Pursuing strategies for upgrading the physical environment
• Strengthening the local economy and local labour market policy
• Proactive education and training policies for children and young people
• Promotion of efficient and affordable urban transport

The urban dimension in the cohesion policy

for the period 2007-2013 (European Commission)
September 2007
• Improving the attractiveness of Member State, regions and cities by improving
accessibility, ensuring adequate quality and level of services, and preserving the
environment
• Encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and the growth of the knowledge
economy by promoting research and innovation capacities, including new information
and communication technologies
• Creating more and better jobs by attracting more people into employment or
entrepreneurial activity, improving adaptability of workers and enterprises and
increasing investments in human capital
AFNOR (Association française de normalisation)
Grille Med ecourbanisme
NEOPOLIS
Grille éco constructibilité
Municipality of Faenza
(Ten) Best practices to synthetically measure
the sustainability of a new Med Eco-Quartier

OBIETTIVO: NUOVI QUARTIERI

A. ridurre i consumi, aumentare

l'efficienza energetica e le fonti
rinnovabili

B. ridurre i consumi d'acqua e riutilizzare

le acque grigie e piovane

C. accorpamento del verde di quartiere

con funzioni ecologiche e ricreative

D. dare identità ai nuovi quartieri (far

sorgere negli abitanti il senso di
appartenenza ad un luogo) attraverso
la realizzazione di piazze

E. perseguire la gerarchia dei percorsi

e tenere le auto ai limiti delle aree

F. perseguire la compattazione
volumetrica e la contiguità edilizia

G. quartieri con integrazioni funzionali

per favorire il rapporto tra abitanti e
spazio pubblico
Med-Eco-Quartiers Charter
1- GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Sustainable Mediterranean town planning where
policies center on the town quarter
Mediterranean regions, weakened by climate change and
growth of human activities, urgently need controlled
town planning measures to be able to meet tough
future environmental, social and economic challenges.
Mediterranean cities have been the cradles of many
civilizations over the millennia. Architecture and town
planning, faced with new challenges, maintain an
essential role: make tomorrow’s city generate and
reflect the art of living together in a sustainable
way around the Mediterranean basin.
Land use must be conceived in an integrated manner:
urban, farming and forestry sectors must be conceived
as living together and being able to interact.
The scale of town quarters is an important factor, both
for reflection and for action: town quarters, organically
integrated in the urban fabric, are the urban unit that is
closest to the life of citizens. They are, at the same time,
the site of family, social and economic life.
18 April 2006
2 – OPERATING PRINCIPLES
Know better to act better
- Compile and compare different and possibly
alternative scenarios considering criteria such as public
utility, cultural costs1, social and environmental costs2 and
economic feasibility.
- Define a global urban project and manage this
project in an integrated and evolving manner.
Governed town development
- Propose a long term vision, established in
agreement with the population and with all stakeholders.
- Enact a governing system and an effective, adaptable
and transparent programming system.
The sustainable city
- Maintain city density levels to avoid consuming land
and infrastructures; conceive city forms suited to the
needs of city residents; attend to green areas and access
to Nature, indispensible for the quality of city life.
1 In particular compile town maps that consider the historic
stratification and cultural dimensions of the town landscape;
2 Act to evaluate the impact of every scenario on preservation of
natural and cultural heritages, energy economics and consumption of
different types of land.
- Combine know-how and traditional and local
materials with innovative technologies.
- Identify, protect and enhance the cultural and natural
heritage, giving it a due role in the changing urban
landscape.
- Modify models for producing and using building
materials and products in order to reduce consumption
and pollution.
- Emphasize the quality and the identity of the site and
attend to residents’ needs to belong.
- Aim, starting from the home and going up to the city,
towards the utmost energy independence with
constant controlled reduction of the ecological footprint3.
- Conceive cities in a way that reduces forced
movements, favoring “soft” movements and use of public
transportation.
- Preserve and manage natural resources in the best
possible manner (water, air, land).
- Attend to the rarity of water resources, from the very
start of architectural and town design, enacting a policy
of water recuperation, saving and reclamation.
- Manage waste in an attempt to reduce volumes and
exploit waste to the utmost.
- Make sure that city expansion takes place where land
is at the same time suited for building construction and
least fertile for farm production.
- Protect farmlands from pollution to create healthy
agriculture.
- Always consider the whole panorama of
environmental factors (climate, acoustics, health,
management of natural and human-originated risks).
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint
The town quarter, the heart of the city
- Work towards multi-functional town quarters,
combining lodgings, work activities, recreational areas
and services, rather than specialized quarters as has
been the trend during the last century, the century of the
automobile.
- Program their demographic, economic and social
growth in an integrated and evolutionary way in order
to achieve this.
- Promote social mixes in town quarters and revitalize
abandoned quarters to prevent phenomena of social or
community segregation (ghettos).
Mediterranean eco-quarters: a regional approach
- Enact the approaches, methods and tools that can
be transferred to and used by all stakeholders in the
Mediterranean region.
- Adapt or develop criteria that are able to permit
governance and evaluation of town planning programs
and the corresponding sustainable building practices.
- Create pilot demonstration and educational
projects to help divulge this approach in the region.
- Emphasize and develop local expertise, concentrating
on training and developing the expertise of public and
private subjects.
- Develop and structure exchanges of experience and
strategic alliances between public and private
stakeholders at the service of sustainable Mediterranean
cities, in particular in the permanent Med-EcoQuarters
framework.
- Invite Mediterranean Basin Nations to enact real
sustainable town planning development strategies based
on these principles.
 Gianmichele Panarelli
Scientific Coordinator of the Network

University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy)

DITAC (Dipartimento di Tecnologie per l’Ambiente Costruito)
Collaboration: Elisa D’Urso

Med-Eco-Quartiers
References Euro-Mediterranean network Charter

Aalborg Charter
ec.europa.eu/environment/urban/pdf/aalborg_charter.pdf AFNOR
www.afnor.org
Plan Bleu
www.planbleu.org/methodologie/indicateursSmdd.html NEOPOLIS
www.neopolis.fr
Lisbon Declaration
www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/Source/Policies/CEMAT/14CEMAT_14_EN.pdf
Municipality of Faenza
Leipzig Charter www.comune.faenza.ra.it/
www.energie-cites.eu/IMG/pdf/leipzig_charter.pdf

The urban dimension in the cohesion policy

ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/guides/urban/index_en.htm

A S S S S
A B I I I I
U N N N N
L G G
G G
T D A A A A
E H P P P P
A O O O O
A B R R R R
I E E E E Buena Vista district
Portosenso Masdar City Buena Vista district Buena Vista district Buena Vista district
Jean Nouvel Foster & Partners Giuseppe Marinoni Giuseppe Marinoni Giuseppe Marinoni Giuseppe Marinoni

V V D D
F A S
A E E
I L I
L N N
R E D
E
E N
N H H N
N C
C A A E
Z I
I A A Y
E A
A G G
ATA Hotel Sociòpolis Sociòpolis The Grand Embrace The Grand Embrace White Bay
Ateliers Jean Nouvel Vincente Guallart Vincente Guallart Emilio Ambasz Emilio Ambasz Rafael Pizarro

BUILDING ECO-DISTRICTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE

International conference
Athens, 17/18 April 2008