Lessons Learnt from an Urban Community: the "Concerto AL Piano" experience

The European project Concerto AL Piano is aimed at demonstrating the economic and social benefits in investing in energy saving and renewable energy in urban regeneration. The project includes a mix of interventions: the renovation of existing social housing, the construction of new eco-buildings and the provision of a cogeneration district heating, integrated in the urban environment. The sustainability goals of Concerto AL Piano can be summarised as follows: - high reduction of fossil fuel consumption in existing renovated buildings; - integration of renewable energies at the urban village scale; - district heating and co-generation as a network for the urban village; - local team to promote the information campaign on the energy conservation scheme; - municipal energy management and retrofit programme. The completion of urban voids, with the creation of the New Eco-Village, improves the perception and the endowment of the district that would be otherwise incomplete. This paper focuses on the main achievements and lessons learnt from this demonstration project at the urban scale to promote a smart urban community. The lessons are categorised under a series of "P" which can be seen as key ingredients for the success of a smart and sustainable strategy. The P of Project / Planning / Process / Partnership / Promotion / Product / Performance / Prolongation are the keywords of this dissertation on lessons learnt from converting an urban district into a Smart Urban Community