Building the resilient city. Strategies and tools for the city masterplan

Urban risks and climate change mitigation and adaptation, are new challenges for enhancing the city resilience. City planning plays a fundamental role to cope with these challenges in new settlements design and urban renewal actions, taking into account the socio-ecological complexity of the city. Catchment hydrologic response is influenced by several factors including land use choices and policy tools. Understanding potential effects of urban development is the basis for the implementation of storm-water control planning actions, along with appropriate mitigation and compensatory measures at the catchment scale. This paper presents a land use planning experience conducted by the University of Catania (Lapta Lab). The focus is on the role of municipal land use planning, a key element of the resilient city. The settlement system of city of Avola, in Sicily, is illustrated as well as the natural characteristics of the site, relevant for the hydrologic response. The main steps of the planning process are described, in order to explain how urban resilience issues were practically addressed. The case presented stimulate several considerations about water sensitive urban planning and the opportunities for the inclusion of nature based solutions, such as sustainable urban drainage systems and regulating services, in land-use planning processes.