International Summer School
Walking Cities
Making Cities Walkable (Again)
Cagliari, 26 June-1 July 2023
Co-organised by Universities of Cagliari, Sassari and Milano-Bicocca, and
promoted by Centro Regionale di Programmazione, Autonomous Region of Sardinia
Aims and methods
The Summer school “Walking Cities” is dedicated to walking in cities and to cities that walk.
The interdisciplinary experience of the School offers a plurality of perspectives and analytical tools to help design policies, projects, and actions for making urban environments and services more conducive to everyday life based on walking and active mobility, and for better integrating them into urban mobility services and infrastructures of contemporary cities.
The Summer School is organised as a one-week residential intensive programme in Cagliari, from 26 June to 1 July.
The participation is primarily addressed to PhD students, but is also open to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, young researchers, professionals and public officers interested in the topics of the School.
Besides theoretical and methodological lectures and seminars, during the Summer School the students will be engaged to conduct a fieldwork activity on a case-study area in Cagliari, allowing them to experiment and deploy different tools and techniques for observing, interpreting, and representing urban space and social practices in relationship to walkability and mobility patterns, and will then outline proposals for policies and spatial interventions.
To arrive at outlining such proposals, the students will carry out the fieldwork under the supervision of teachers, learning and applying spatial research methods regarding analysis of walkability, mobility patterns and social practices of use of space, exploring the relationship between the quality of urban space (continuity, balance, safety, comfort, accessibility, interest and attractiveness) and inhabitants’ and city users’ perceptions, attitudes, and relations with that space.
The analyses will be carried out by students, organised in small groups, combining different methodologies and techniques, including direct observation, interviews and surveys, mapping and data analysis, photography, and video.
Following the fieldwork, the students will be engaged and coached by teachers to design integrated solutions, including interventions on urban space and possible innovative policies and services. aimed at improving the walkability of the study area.
Programme of activities
Monday, 26 June
14:30-15:00 Introduction
Institutional welcome address
Marco Naseddu (Centro Regionale di Programmazione, Regione Autonoma della Sardegna)
Presentation of the Summer School
Ivan Blečić & Italo Meloni (University of Cagliari), Matteo Colleoni (University Milano-Bicocca), Tanja Congiu (University of Sassari)
15:00-17:00 Lectures “Analytical approaches”
“What about walking in contemporary cities? An overview of methods for assessing the walkability of urban environments”
Olivier Klein (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research)
“Safety and visual perception for pedestrians in urban walkability”
Gianfranco Fancello (University of Cagliari)
“Mass assessments of walkability through Machine Learning”
Giuseppe Andrea Trunfio (University of Sassari)
“Virtual immersive reality to analyse the interaction between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles”
Elisabetta Cherchi (Newcastle University, UK)
Discussion
17:30-19:00 Lectures “Interpretative approaches”
“The approach of environmental psychology to urban mobility and walkability”
Ferdinando Fornara (University of Cagliari)
“Slow Motion. Walking with Narratives”
Lucia Quaquarelli and Adrien Frenay (University Paris-Nanterre)
“Walking the city slowly, as a curious flâneur”
Giampaolo Nuvolati (University MIlano-Bicocca)
19:30 Aperitivo di benvenuto
Tuesday, 27 June
9:00-12:00 Visit to the study area (Is Mirrionis neighbourhood)
Lunch break
14:00-15:30 Lectures “Actions, Projects, Policies”
“Strategies and measures to promote the use of the active mobility”
Italo Meloni (University of Cagliari)
“Integrated urban policies for sustainable mobility”
Matteo Colleoni (University of Milano-Bicocca)
“Policy Design for Antifragility”
Ivan Blečić (University of Cagliari), Arnaldo Cecchini (University of Sassari)
16:00-18:30 Methods for the Workshop
Methods for spatial analyses (measurements, indicators, analyses of networks and attractors)
Tanja Congiu, Simone Caiello, Valeria Saiu
Methods for social analyses (interviews, behaviours, perceptions, practices of use of space)
Ester Cois, Oriana Mosca, Emanuel Muroni, Eleonora Sottile
Group making and assignment of study areas and topics to groups
Wednesday, 28 June
Morning: methods development; review and validation by teaching staff
Afternoon: groupwork in classroom or fieldwork, self-organised
Thursday, 29 June
Groupwork in classroom or fieldwork, self-organised
Friday, 30 June
Groupwork in classroom or fieldwork, self-organised
Final Review session with teaching staff
Saturday, 1 July
Morning: Wrap-up and preparation of presentations
Afternoon: Presentation of outputs and results with panel discussion with local administrators.
Speakers presenting outputs, results and projects:
- Andres Arango
- Katia Botta
- Andrea Cappai
- Gian Pietro Carrogu
- Alessandro Sebastiano Carrus
- Claudia Cicerchia
- Giulia Conti
- Sara Della Santina
- Stéphanie Frau
- Giulia Giliberto
- Rita Jankowski
- Andrea Manunza
- Ludovica Masia
- Serena Massimo
- Chiara Mureddu
- Michele Pinna
- Vanessa Pinna
- Alessio Pino
- Simona Quaglia
- Anastasiya Ramusik
- Maria Carla Saliu
- Francesca Sanfilippo
- Gabriele Sorba
- Carmen Ulisse
- Marianna Venuti
- Daniel Mark Vitiello
Enrolment
The participation to the Summer School is free (no enrolment fees) and open to application to students at different levels (master’s, PhD, post-doc) and with different backgrounds, as long as they are interested in the themes of sustainable mobility and walkability of the cities.
The Summer School does not cover accommodation and living costs.
Number of participants: minimum 15, maximum 20.
(In case of number of applications exceeding 20, the academic board of the School will make selection based on submitted CVs.)
(Update 16/05/2023) The application for enrolment was closed on 15 May 2023 at midnight.
Credits recognition
The participants will receive an official certificate of attendance, to be used for credits recognition by their home institutions.
The formal duration of the Summer School is 42 hours (20 hours of lectures, 22 hours of laboratory/workshop activities).
Organisation
The Summer School is co-organised by Universities of Cagliari, Sassari and Milano-Bicocca,
and is promoted by Centro Regionale di Programmazione, Autonomous Region of Sardinia
Organising Committee
Ivan Blečić, Simone Caiello, Matteo Colleoni, Tanja Congiu, Italo Meloni, Emanuel Muroni, Eleonora Sottile
Contacts
Ivan Blečić ivanblecic@unica.it
