The Eco-Neighbourhoods: Cases to Learn in the Transition Toward Urban Sustainability

Abstract

The Eco-neighbourhoods as spatially based experiences for learning the implications of urban design transition towards sustainability is the core point of the paper and considers the short retrospective of the 1990s when searching for sustainable development became a multi-targets win-win situation in the framework of the well-known United Nations reports: socially inclusive, economically viable, natural resource-conserving and dealing with climate change responsibilities. The contribution is based on research and teaching activity where eco-neighbourhoods, chosen as cases for learning, share the common characteristics of having a recognizable unifying character due to a unitary design and having been built to represent a recognizable spatial cluster of beneficial innovations for sustainability and quality of life. To support the discourse, four characteristics – participated land use and balanced densities, mobility, open space and nature, energy and water - were adopted as evaluation criteria. Finally, some ideas for a perspective vision of eco-neighbourhoods are outlined for achieving the 2030 Agenda goals.