Research

The research area promotes critical, creative, and collaborative research focused on innovative and transformative solutions in the field of sustainable urban regeneration. The aim is to develop and disseminate knowledge, methods, and best practices to face complex urban challenges. The research activities are based on cross-disciplinary approaches with the aim to produce collaborative and world-leading research products.

Urban regeneration for climate neutrality and resilience: assessment of innovative instruments. SUR Lab's annual research for 2025 will explore innovative financial, economic, regulatory, and planning instruments to support urban regeneration processes aimed at achieving climate neutrality and strengthening urban resilience. As cities account for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions and are increasingly exposed to climate-related risks, they play a central role in delivering transformative solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Urban regeneration offers a powerful lever to advance these goals, but implementing large-scale sustainable transformations requires significant financial resources. The research will focus on identifying and assessing alternative and innovative financing mechanisms capable of mobilising private capital and supporting long-term investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient urban infrastructure. The study will map, categorise, and evaluate existing and emerging instruments through a combination of literature review and international case study analysis. Instruments will be assessed based on key criteria such as thematic focus (mitigation/adaptation), cost-effectiveness, stakeholder involvement, risk allocation, investment sustainability, social equity, and replicability. Particular attention will be paid to distinguishing instruments explicitly designed for climate-related objectives from those that, while not climate-specific, can be redirected to support decarbonization and adaptation outcomes. The ultimate objective is to provide cities with a practical and adaptable framework to guide the design and implementation of urban regeneration strategies that are both climate-neutral and resilient, supported by innovative, inclusive, and scalable instruments.

Each year we investigate a different crucial and strategic topic for sustainable urban regeneration.

FIRST YEAR
The COVID-19 pandemic is profoundly changing the perception of living and working spaces. There is a need for rethinking and reshaping urban spaces and services to face the new challenge. The research aimed to study the evolution of shared living and working models (co-living, shared housing services, co-working, smart working, etc.) and the opportunities offered by new technologies. The position paper developed by the SUR Lab research team is available here. 

SECOND YEAR
Investments oriented to ESG criteria (Environmental, Social and Governance) are increasing in all sectors, including real estate. The EU has developed a taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities. Within this disruptive time the research aimed to investigate financing instruments, looking at the ESG criteria, financial rating systems, EU taxonomy, and evaluation instruments (including GRESB) to assess the performance of investments related to sustainable urban regeneration. The position paper developed by the SUR Lab research team is available here. 

THIRD YEAR
Green spaces in cities play a key role in quality of life and urban sustainability, as they generate several ecosystem services such as improvement in air quality, mitigation of urban heat island effects, provision of recreational opportunities, aesthetic value enhancement, and others. To improve the fruition of urban green spaces, management models should adopt an integrated approach, going beyond issues like maintenance and safety. New management models could foresee the creation of multi-functional and recreational green spaces, suitable for different stakeholders. Several governance, business and financing models can be adopted to support an integrated management of green spaces: these range from fully-public models, to public-private collaborations, to fully-private models. Different types of entities can be set up to manage and animate urban green areas with an integrated approach. This annual position paper of SUR lab will explore different business and management models for urban public green spaces, also considering their relation with urban regeneration projects. The position paper developed by the SUR Lab research team is available here. 

FORTH YEAR
Social value assessment in urban regeneration projects. Urban regeneration interventions aim to convert deteriorated and depressed urban areas into inclusive and sustainable places with higher quality of life, and improved environmental and social conditions. This year the SUR Lab's annual research will focus on how to assess the social value generated by urban regeneration projects, through the reduction of negative externalities (e.g. local pollution and GHG emission reduction) and the creation of positive externalities (e.g. improvement of living conditions, access to services). With increasing demand from institutions to assess social value, this study aims to clarify what social value means in urban regeneration, identify tools and methods to measure it and evaluate how effectively they capture its different aspects. By the end of this research, we’ll provide clear recommendations to help stakeholders maximize the positive impact of urban regeneration projects, ensuring they contribute meaningfully to sustainable and inclusive urban development. The position paper developed by the SUR Lab research team is available here.