The municipality of Venaria has decided to focus on two neighborhood areas, very different from each other. “Venaria Reale city Centre” is the first neighborhood area selected, which is located in the historical city centre, while the second neighborhood selected is a peripheral area, named “Michelangelo square area” recently built, having a completely different construction type from the previous one.
The reason behind the selection lies in the interest of the municipality in assessing the climate risk in a crucial portion of the city centre and, at the same time, to assess the climate risk in a portion of the territory more recently built, developing a climate service which can be replicated also in the surrounding areas.
“Venaria Reale city Centre” neighborhood is a crucial part of Venaria city centre, in particular it includes Andrea Mensa Street, one of the ancient streets in Venaria and the one that leads to the Royal Palace of Venaria, a masterpiece of the baroque architecture in Piedmont. The area covered is about 6 km2 and the neighborhood consists of mixed-use buildings, such as residentials, public schools, the headquarters of the Municipality of Venaria, some commercial buildings, offices, one cinema and also the railway station with a dedicated parking area. Residents are not so numerous because in the area there are lots of workers, students, tourists and service users.
The area has big need to be adapted to climate change effects since it is located nearby the Ceronda river and, in the past, it has suffered some crucial heavy precipitation events. Furthermore, this part of the historical city suffers from heatwaves and extreme temperatures during summertime, having very few green zones available.
The Municipality of Venaria Reale is currently engaged in the review of the General Urban Plan of the city and has the will to elaborate its SECAP (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan). The pilot action foresees the analysis of the climate risks in the neighborhood, in particular for the extreme heat and heavy precipitations risks, with the aim of introducing the assessment results within the urban planning documents. Through a decision-making process, the optimal measures to increase the level of adaptation and resiliency of the “Venaria Reale city Centre” neighborhood will be identified and implemented.