Smart Cities

Chapter 3Multi-Scale Computing for a Sustainable Built Environment

Massimiliano Manfren

Department of Industrial Engineering (DIN), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

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Introduction

Modeling and Computing for Sustainability Transitions

Multi-Scale Modeling and Computing for the Built Environment

Research in Modeling and Computing for the Built Environment

Objectives

• • Introduce readers to the concept of multi-level perspective modeling in sustainability transitions planning.
• • Introduce readers to technological and social learning dimensions in sustainability transitions.
• • Introduce readers to the issue of long-term sustainability thinking for the built environment.
• • Describe the most relevant characteristics and attributes of modeling techniques and data schemes for built environment performance modeling.
• • Describe ongoing research on multi-scale computing for the built environment.
• • Indicate possible paths of development for empirical data analysis methods to support sustainability transitions.

3.1 Introduction

The need to promote sustainable human settlements and to mitigate the spatial, demographic, social, economic, and environmental impacts, determined by the rapid global urbanization trend, is creating a concentration of research and development efforts in the built environment area. At the global scale, we can trace a path of awareness increase on sustainability matters, starting from the Brundtland Report “Our Common Future” [1] in 1987, passing ...