Investigating the spatial distribution of energy poverty. An application to the city of Bologna

Sofia Manaresi; Angela Santangelo

doi:10.6093/1970-9870/10344

Sofia Manaresi Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4862-0554
Angela Santangelo Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6488-3872

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/10344

Keywords: Energy poverty, Vulnerability index, Urban planning, Spatial distribution, Urban regeneration

Abstract

Nowadays energy accessibility and affordability are global concerns. Energy poverty and its effects on households have been increasingly discussed in the public debate, as well as addressed by energy and social policies. Nevertheless, measures to tackle energy poverty at urban scale remain fragmented, and they are far to be fully embedded into urban planning tools.

This paper explores a new methodological approach to investigate vulnerability related to energy poverty. It is based on the identification of three main thematic areas of vulnerability (i.e., socioeconomic, energy, climate). For each of these components, a synthetic vulnerability sub-index has been developed, which has allowed the identification of an overall energy poverty vulnerability index, able to detect different levels of energy poverty vulnerability at urban scale.

This approach, combined with a thorough urban analysis, has been applied to the city of Bologna and it has allowed the identification of urban regeneration strategies for each investigated urban area, targeted to the energy poverty-related vulnerabilities detected.

The results are intended to provide evidence on how to improve the urban planning tools, to support policy makers to better address energy poverty in cities.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Sofia Manaresi, Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Graduated in Building Engineering and Architecture from Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. Her Master thesis was the basis for this work, which focused on the issue of energy poverty and a new methodological approach to study it's related vulnerability, applied to the city of Bologna. After graduation she collaborated with Fondazione ITL, Emilia-Romagna Region, University of Bologna and University of Parma for updating the status of implementation of settlement provisions, as well as for validating the information for developing a data analysis tool related to freight transport in support of Emilia-Romagna planning decisions.

Angela Santangelo, Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

She is a building engineer graduated at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, under the One Cycle Degree Programme Building Engineering-Architecture, with a master thesis in urban planning. She holds a PhD in Architecture from the Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, where she has been investigating the energy retrofit of the public housing stock towards urban regeneration. Since 2020 she is assistant professor at the Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna. She has been involved in several EU funded projects both as part of the coordination group (e.g., Horizon Europe RURACTIVE, H2020 RURITAGE, H2020 EnlightenMe, Interreg Europe Match-up, Interreg Adrion ADRISEISMIC), and as project partner and work package leader (among others: H2020 Shelter, Horizon Europe RescueME). Her research interests are in the field of energy poverty, energy transition and the integration of provisions within urban planning tools; housing policies and public housing; resilience and disaster risk reduction through urban planning; rural regeneration through cultural heritage valorization.

References

Aranda, J., Zabalza, I., Conserva, A., & Millán, G. (2017). Analysis of energy efficiency measures and retrofitting solutions for social housing buildings in Spain as a way to mitigate energy poverty. Sustainability, 9 (10), 1869. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su9101869

Bardazzi, R., Bortolotti, L., Pazienza, M.G. & Ungaro, P. (2020). Il confronto europeo sulle misure di PE. In: Faiella, I., Lavecchia, L., Miniaci, R., & Valbonesi, P. (Eds.) La povertà energetica in Italia. Secondo rapporto dell’Osservatorio Italiano sulla Povertà Energetica (OIPE). Retrieved from: https://oipeosservatorio.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/rapporto2020_v2.pdf (Accessed: April 15th, 2024).

Bouzarovski, S., & Tirado Herrero, S. (2017). The energy divide: Integrating energy transitions, regional inequalities and poverty trends in the European Union. European Urban and Regional Studies, 24 (1), 69–86. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0969776415596449

Carpentieri, G., Zucaro, F., Guida, C. (2023). Urban Energy Consumption in the City of Naples (Italy): A Geographically Weighted Regression Approach. In: BJ., He, J., Jupesta, G., Pignatta (Eds.) Resilient Horizons: Building Sustainable Environments for Climate Adaptation and Health. CCES 2022. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Switzerland: Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46109-5_8

Castaño-Rosa, R., & Okushima, S. (2021). Prevalence of energy poverty in Japan: A comprehensive analysis of energy poverty vulnerabilities. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111006

Chen, X., Lin, Q., & Zhou, D. (2013). Optimistic Knowledge Gradient Policy for Optimal Budget Allocation in Crowdsourcing. Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, 28(3), 64-72.

Comune di Bologna. (2021a). Piano Urbanistico Generale. Retrieved from: http://dru.iperbole.bologna.it/piano-urbanistico-generale. (Accessed: February 20th, 2023).

Comune di Bologna (2021b). Piano d’Azione per l’Energia Sostenibile e il Clima (PAESC) del Comune di Bologna. Retrieved from: https://www.comune.bologna.it/myportal/C_A944/api/content/download?id=632adc5472e6b400994ee4cc (Accessed: February 20th, 2023).

Comune di Bologna. (2022). I numeri di Bologna Metropolitana. Retrieved from: http://inumeridibolognametropolitana.it/ studi-e-ricerche/andamento-meteorologico-stagionale-bologna (Accessed: February 20th, 2023).

de Meester, T., Marique, A.F., de Herde, A., Reiter, S. (2013). Impacts of occupant behaviours on residential heating consumption for detached houses in a temperate climate in the northern part of Europe. Energy and Buildings, 57, 313–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2012.11.005

European Commission. (2023). Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/2407 of 20 October 2023 on energy poverty. Retrieved from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202302407 (Accessed: April 15th, 2024).

Faiella, I. & L. Lavecchia (2015), La Povertà Energetica in Italia. Politica economica, 31(1), 27-76. https://www.rivisteweb.it /doi/10.1429/80536.

Faiella, I., Lavecchia, L., Miniaci, R., & Valbonesi, P. (Eds.) (2019). La povertà energetica in Italia. Primo Rapporto dell’Osservatorio Italiano sulla Povertà Energetica (OIPE). Retrieved from: https://oipeosservatorio.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/rapporto_2019_IT.pdf (Accessed: April 15th, 2024).

Gaglione, F., & Ania, A. E. D. (2022). Accelerating sustainable urban transition through European action, optimization models and support tool in the energy planning. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 15(2), 325-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/9240

Gargiulo, C. & Russo, L. (2017). Cities and Energy Consumption: A Critical Review. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 10, 259–278. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/5182

Huang, E., Zhang, S., Lee, L. H., Chew, E. P., & Chen, C. H. (2016). Improving analytic hierarchy process expert allocation using optimal computing budget allocation. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, 46 (8), 1140–1147. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSMC.2015.2478754

Llera-Sastresa, E., Scarpellini, S., Rivera-Torres, P., Aranda, J., Zabalza-Bribián, I., & Aranda-Usón, A. (2017). Energy vulnerability composite index in social housing, from a household energy poverty perspective. Sustainability, 9 (5), 691. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9050691

Papa, R., Gargiulo, C., & Zucaro, F. (2014). Urban Systems and Energy Consumptions: A Critical Approach. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 783-792. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/2552

Perera, A. T. D., Javanroodi, K., & Nik, V. M. (2021). Climate resilient interconnected infrastructure: Co-optimization of energy systems and urban morphology. Applied Energy, 285, 116430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116430

Pittini, A., Dijol, J., Turnbull, D., Whelan, M. (2019). The State of Housing in the EU 2019. Brussels: Belgium.

Santangelo, A., & Tondelli, S. (2017). Occupant behaviour and building renovation of the social housing stock: Current and future challenges. Energy and Buildings, 145, 276–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.04.019

Siksnelyte-Butkiene, I., Streimikiene, D., Lekavicius, V., & Balezentis, T. (2021). Energy poverty indicators: A systematic literature review and comprehensive analysis of integrity. Sustainable Cities and Society, 67. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.scs.2021.102756

Steemers, K. & Yun, G.Y. (2009). Household energy consumption: a study of the role of occupants. Building Research & Information, 37, 625–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210903186661

Sy, S.A. & Mokaddem, L. (2022). Energy poverty in developing countries: A review of the concept and its measurements. Energy Resources and Social Science, 89, 102562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102562

Thomson, H., Bouzarovski, S. & Snell, C. (2017). Rethinking the measurement of energy poverty in Europe: A critical analysis of indicators and data. Indoor and Built Environment, 26 (7), 879–901. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X17699260

Tirado Herrero, S. (2017). Energy poverty indicators: A critical review of methods. Indoor and Built Environment, 26(7), 1018–1031. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X17718054

Vandyck, T., Della Valle, N., Temursho, U. & Weitzel, M. (2023). EU climate action through an energy poverty lens. Sci Report, 13, 6040. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32705-2

Vurro, G., Santamaria, V., Chiarantoni, C., & Fiorito, F. (2022). Climate Change Impact on Energy Poverty and Energy Efficiency in the Public Housing Building Stock of Bari, Italy. Climate, 10 (4). https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10040055

Wirth, H., & Pforr, K. (2022). The European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions after 15 Years. European Sociological Review, 38(5), 832–848. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcac024