Spatial Modeling & Urban Sustainability (SpatialModUS)

Cities are the most evident representation of the spatial unevenness of economic, social and environmental dynamics. The spatial concentration of people and productions factors is responsible for the high impact that urban areas exhibit on the environment and climate but is also the engine of societal transformation toward a more sustainable economic development. The SpatialModUS project acknowledges the spatial heterogeneity underlying the ongoing economic, environmental and energetic transition and aims at deepening the analysis of spatial aspects involved in such transition. It does so leveraging on the increasing availability of remote-sensed high-resolution data and working on downscaled statistical models to understand how demography, urbanisation, economic development and climatic change interact to shape the societal transformation. Growing on the experience of previous Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei projects such as Re-Cities, EcoValue and CitAge, the SpatialModUS project does not limit itself to the analysis of high-resolution data but aims at developing empirical research on a variety of topics connected to the sustainable urban transformation, including the transition to a low-carbon circular economy, the environmental impact of urban development and the economic analysis of urban ecosystems.