PLACEMAKING SUMMARY

A system of NBS, such as greenways or large urban parks, can sustain

healthy urban environments, mitigate the effects of intense
urbanization, and be used in novel ways to address issues such as water
management, climate change, and health and well-being. In this
paper, we aim to show how urban design attempts and processes
influence the outcomes of NBS in the urban environment and, by
understanding the entire design process, how urban ecosystems can
provide more services. To accomplish this, we examine NBS as a
component of place-specific, designed urban spaces to demonstrate
how urban communities benefit, including how human and non-human
values are considered during urban design processes, or how the
design influences NBS outcomes.

Since the early 2010s, the importance of nature-based solutions for

addressing environmental concerns has been on the cutting edge of
urban regeneration processes. An ex-post study was conducted on the
design and execution process of a model NBS project, the Biblioteca
degli Alberi park in Milan. The case study highlights how urban design
may foster the multifunctional potential of urban ecosystems.

The research approach used in this paper builds on various bodies of

literature to employ a framework appropriate for fully examining the
urban design of nature-based places. Examining the outcomes of
urban design through a place-based lens can provide insight into how
human-centered qualities are conceptualized and delivered, as well as
communicate the intangible and experiential qualities that contribute
to the creation of thriving places and successful designs. Finally, the
results are compared to the various process stages that comprise the
entire urban design process. Placemaking is an inherently
people-centered approach to city planning, design, and management
that emphasizes the relationships between individuals, communities,
and urban spaces.

While urban design operates at various spatial scales, complexities, and

varieties, urban spaces are inextricably linked to larger urban design
schemes, development plans, and policy approaches, as well as
mechanisms of long-term urban adaptation and change. Thus,
concentrating on a single urban space can aid in revealing the subtle
effects of larger urban processes. The UDP framework is used as a
starting point in this paper to assess the "processes" and "outcomes" of
an NBS design project, demonstrating how urban design can help
improve interlinkages between human and non-human elements of the
urban ecosystem.
To derive lessons on the contributions of urban design within the
broader NBS planning context, a qualitative single-case study
approach is used in a revelatory manner, based on the analysis of
primary and secondary data. The investigation takes a layered
approach, as seen in other studies of urban greening. They provided
additional contacts who, through snowball sampling, led us to
individuals with expert knowledge and important positions with whom
we could purposefully speak to obtain primary data on the park's
design and the area's development process. Secondary data was
gathered through a desk study of policy and strategy documents,
obtained online, or obtained from interviewees.

Policy documents with binding value relating to Milan's territorial

governance and goals to achieve urban green transformation and
resilience through urban planning and design were collected and
examined. An interpretive stance was taken during data collection to
ensure that additional insights emerge in keeping with the exploratory
nature of the case study. To ensure data triangulation, all interview
content was recorded and later transcribed as the primary source of
evidence for the case, then combined with the researchers'
observations, notes, and field diary, as well as strategic and policy
documents, plans, and additional materials. After combining the
various qualitative findings, the data were coded, organized in tables,
and analyzed using the UDP framework elements, first in a descriptive
manner to identify how the place was formed in depth.

Second, data were analyzed to assess the process using placemaking

and nature-based characteristics.

The heavy industrialization of the 1950s made Milan the "capital

miracle," despite posing significant environmental challenges for the
city and its surroundings. By the 1990s, the transition from an industrial to
a service-based economy had left large areas abandoned and
deteriorating, leaving the city with an enormous amount of industrial
waste and unused railroad tracks spanning 600 hectares. Furthermore,
the city suffers from traffic and noise pollution, climate challenges such
as heat waves in the summer and acute flooding in the winter, and air
quality problems that reached an extreme level in 2008, making the city
the second most smoggy city in Europe, a situation that has not
changed much by 2016. Since the 1950s, when several failed
development plans attempted to create a business district in and
around Isola, the area has piqued the interest of both public and
private real estate developers.

The new area visually and culturally exemplifies Milan's vision of an

international, modern, and creative city, in keeping with the city's efforts
to establish a European smart city brand in which eco-visons guide the
city's development. Critical voices were raised against the modification
of the urban skyline, which changes Milan's identity and leads to the
city's "Manhattanization," giving the area a commercial appearance
and reflecting only the vision of private developers.

In 2004, the "Library of Trees" concept was the winning entry in the
«Porta Nuova Gardens International Design Competition» in the
Municipality of Milan's Integrated Intervention Program. The mixed-use
spatial structure facilitates channeling activity and interaction in the
park, and the park's appeal contributes to increased economic
spillover in the Porta Nuova area.

The botanical diversity of the park, with its flowery meadows5 and
aromatic plants, contributes to the creation of a city ecosystem that
encourages the presence of pollinating insects. Some of the plants are
planted to feed birds and other city animals. BAM has been recognized
as an NBS in NATURVATION's Urban Nature Atlas6 for its contribution to
urban regeneration, green space development, and the provision of
habitat for urban flora and fauna, thereby improving local biodiversity.
It quickly became a must-see tourist attraction, embodying a new city
image.

As life in public spaces has resurfaced, some activities are now

performed in limited numbers and contained spaces, denoted by
circles drawn on the ground to avoid large crowds. BAM has no gates
or fences, except in the urban gardens of COIMA's foundation, the
Fondazione Riccardo Catella. The park connects seamlessly to the
nearby public spaces, resulting in the city's largest pedestrian area, with
170,000 square meters of pedestrian space and 5 kilometers of bike
paths.

In 2019, the COIMA and the Municipality formed a public-private

partnership under which the Fondazione is responsible for the
management, safety, surveillance, maintenance, and operation of
cultural programs for ten years, with a focus on resident involvement.
According to the interviews, the role of the programming is to provide
sources for the financial sustainability of the park's care and
management, which is significant, 4 times higher than in "regular" parks.
COIMA intends to reduce green areas and increase park maintenance
funds with this extension.

In the case of BAM, this includes, among other things, COIMA's

sustainable construction and development, Fondazione's
community-building practices, and Inside-urban Outside's design and
landscaping strategy. A «design for nature-based solutions» approach
has emerged, making the process more deliberate, even if the concept
of NBS enters only later in the process because it provides a decision
arena where issues and concerns can be targeted to align the many
divergent interests of market and bureaucracy toward a transformation
to maintain urban sustainability.BAM gained broader recognition in
local and wider networks as a result of the coordinated approaches to
the development, promotion, and management of the place, creating
a distinct identity by leveraging the park's "nature-basedness." In the
case of BAM, associations with the park as a nature-based solution are
inextricably linked to city marketing and place branding strategies, but
they also work in the opposite direction, recognizing the importance of
designated places for NBS within major urban developments. A human
and socially centered approach is unquestionably important for
improving the urban fabric; however, for placemaking with NBS, the
design must cater to both the human and non-human natural
environment without undermining nature's role in meeting well-being
and liveability objectives. Its current management structure
demonstrates how the city's strategic planning reforms of the previous
decades have borne fruit, bringing spatial planning and economic
development strategies closer together.

References:
Boros, J. (2021). Urban Design and the Role of Placemaking in Mainstreaming
Nature-Based Solutions. Learning From the Biblioteca Degli Alberi Case Study
in Milan. Frontiers.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsc.2021.635610/full?fbclid=IwAR2
uCx8yw09Gd9Epdl7M-4xIuUbcXru-l_c-AHXLAN8wgowXATV5N3YDp-Y#:%7E:te
xt=Placemaking%20is%20an%20inherently%20people,spaces%20(Wyckoff%2C
%202014)

The concept of ecosystem services in adaptive urban planning and design: A

framework for supporting innovation. (2014, April 2). The Concept of
Ecosystem Services in Adaptive Urban Planning and Design: A Framework for
Supporting Innovation - ScienceDirect; www.sciencedirect.com.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204614000346