1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Catania
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Riqualificazione Piazza Giuseppe Sciuti
Short description of the intervention
The regeneration of the square in Catania has been envisioned since 2016 and completed in 2017. Apart from the changing rules in the accessibility of the square, the central area was equipped with a large flowerbed and additional trees and plants of different geographical origins. The whole green area provides illumination infrastructure, benches and bins to collect trash. This is expected to improve the whole area, and to create a new place of social inclusion and meeting point. (Ref.1.)
Address

Piazza Giuseppe Sciuti
95131 Catania
Italy

Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2016
End date of the intervention
2017
Present stage of the intervention
Goals of the intervention
The goal of the intervention was to change the structure and layout of an area which is of important social and economic value for the city. The creation of green areas with trees and plants, in addition to parking zones and lighting, is expected to increase the social value of the area, by making it more attractive and improving the conditions of the livability of the area with additional green zones (Ref.1.)
Quantitative targets
unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
. m2 of green areas installed;
. the number of parking zones removed.
Implementation activities
The new Sciuti square, now equipped with cast iron seats and metal strips, has been restored all on one floor and paved with spiked lava stone slabs, hand-bush hammered and inlaid ashlars in pink Custonaci stone. The works were carried out by the Vullo di Favara company, which made use of the collaboration of the Pellicori brothers, skilled stonemasons and lava stone installers. The square has a large flowerbed in the center where, on a grass lawn, there are olive trees (European olea), rosary trees (melia azedarach), ornamental cherry trees with red leaves (prunus pissardi nigra), Oleanders (nerium oleander ), but also plants of agave, cicas, myrtle and other essences. At the edge of the pavements of the streets of Camine and Galvagna, bitter orange trees (citrus aurantium) have been inserted. The green areas - illuminated by warm light spotlights - are complete with an automatic irrigation system and in the square, illuminated by a system on black galvanized steel poles, waste bins and metal bollards have also been inserted. (Ref.3)
Type of NBS project
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Parks and urban forests
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Vegetation Type
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS
The project provided additional illumination infrastructure, benches and bins to collect trash.
Amenities offered by the NBS
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Governance
Governance arrangements
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The municipality of Catania takes care of the whole process, from the regulation to setting guidelines and implementing the procedure. Also, the funding comes from the municipality (Ref.2.)
Key actors - initiating organization
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
The intervention is influenced by the specific regulation plan "Progetto per la riqualificazione di alcune aree in prossimità della Piazza Carlo Alberto – Piazza Sciuti" (Plan for the regeneration of specific areas closeby Carlo Alberto square and Sciuti square), which establishes the modality of the intervention and the regulation it needs to conform (Ref.2.)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The intervention is influenced by the specific regulation plan "Progetto per la riqualificazione di alcune aree in prossimità della Piazza Carlo Alberto – Piazza Sciuti" (Plan for the regeneration of specific areas closeby Carlo Alberto square and Sciuti square), which establishes the modality of the intervention and the regulation it needs to conform (Ref.2.)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
In the policy planning guidance (Ref.2.) it is mentioned the amount of subsides granted for the intervention
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Financing
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
161.015,57 EUR
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
€ 1.237.000,00 (Ref.3)
Source(s) of funding
Type of fund(s) used
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Type of innovation
Please specify technological innovation
The innovation is considered a product
Please specify social innovation
The intervention is a cultural innovation, because the regeneration of the square gives to the sqaure a new visibility and improved the attractiveness and accessibility. This gives a new role of social inclusiveness to the place (Ref.2.)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The initiative is part of a series of interventions at urban level to renew some historical squares in the city (Carlo Alberto square and Stesicoro square), which have been regenerated in past years with similar criteria of Sciuti square (Ref.2.)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Description of environmental benefits
Unknown
Economic impacts
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Description of social and cultural benefits
According to Catania's municipality, the revamping of the square helped with making the historic centre more livable (Ref.3). No studies have been conducted to highlight the benefits of the NBS.
The intervention is expected to have positive impacts in terms of regeneration and land use because an historical square, which hosts several commercial activities as well, will be renewed. The green areas and the lighting will improve the physical conditions of the area, making it more liveable and accessible. (Ref. 1, 2, 3)
Type of reported impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of July 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Documents relevant to the intervention
Attachment Size
Ref.2. Regeneration of Sciuti square (594.54 KB) 594.54 KB
List of references
Ref.1. CataniaMobilita (2016). Al via la riqualificazione di piazza Giuseppe Sciuti: sarà ZTL. Available at http://catania.mobilita.org/2016/09/06/al-via-la-riqualificazione-di-piazza-giuseppe-sciuti-sara-ztl/ (Accessed 20-6-2020)
Ref.2. Comune di Catania (2015). PROCEDURA APERTA PER L’APPALTO DI ESECUZIONE DEI LAVORI “PROGETTO PER LA RIQUALIFICAZIONE DI ALCUNE AREE IN PROSSIMITÀ DELLA PIAZZA CARLO ALBERTO – PIAZZA SCIUTI”. Catania: pp. 1-15 Document Attached

Ref. 3 Cronaca Oggi Quatidiano (2017), Consegnata alla città piazza Giuseppe Sciuti e l’area circostante dopo la riqualificazione, Available at http://www.cronacaoggiquotidiano.it/2017/12/10/consegnata-alla-citta-piazza-giuseppe-sciuti-larea-circostante-la-riqualificazione/ (Accessed 18-7-2020)
Comments and notes