From smart to lean : how to design for better cities, happier citizens and save the world

How is it possible to design more “sustainable”, “resilient” and “smart” cities in an era of zero resources, violent social conflicts and unprecedented environ- mental issues? In the last centuries, our planet has become more and more urbanized and that’s why «the battle for a more sustainable future will be won or lost in cities» (World Urban Campaign). New and complex urban challenges are already deeply changing the role of plan- ners and policy makers: they are not anymore just city’s “developers”, but they are now asked to be “designers/managers” of an iterating process of revision and optimization of the human habitat. This book introduces a new approach for sustainable urban policies’ design by investigating in a cross-disciplinary way the complex system of relations among human beings, cities and natural resources. This approach is borrowed from the manufacturing field, but was also applied successfully in business manage- ment and business and technological innovation: the “lean” thinking. By envisioning cities as service providers, sustainable development concepts are tightly connected with the lean thinking methodology because both seek the capability to find solutions that provide real value to citizens and avoid any waste. To build a clear and steady connection between sustainable urban design and lean methodology, this book describes from the inside the main features of “top- down” design tools and the distinctive elements of “bottom-up” processes: by applying specific urban “smart” solutions, “From Smart to Lean” takes a step back to depict “new” responsibilities and define new urban design and manage- ment processes. From S.E.A.P. to Minimum Viable Product, from E.S.Co. to Serious games, the result of the research is the first brief conceptualization of the lean approach for urban policies’ design. Goal Goal of this work is to offer to urban designers all over the world concep- tual tools easy to understand and ready to apply to face the complex local chal- lenges and achieve the ambitious global goals envisioned by the United Nations (Sustainable Development Goals 2015 and New Urban Agenda 2016). In a nutshell: how to save the world, together.

Come è possibile progettare città più “sostenibili”, “resilienti” e “smart” in un’era di scarsità di risorse, profondi conflitti sociali ed epocali emergenze ambientali? Le nuove e complesse sfide urbane stanno profondamente cambiando il ruolo di progettisti e pianificatori, sempre più “designer/manager” di un costante processo di revisione di tutto ciò che concerne l’habitat umano. Indagando in modo cross-disciplinare il complesso sistema di relazioni fra uomo, città e risorse naturali, si presenta un nuovo approccio a progetto e attuazione delle politiche urbane per la sostenibilità ambientale e sociale. Un approccio manageriale mutuato dall’ambito della gestione di imprese e l’innovazione tecnologica: il metodo “lean” (leggero). Il testo studia dall’interno le caratteristiche principali degli strumenti di azione “dall’alto” e gli elementi distintivi dei processi “dal basso”, per offrire ai progettisti urbani strumenti concettuali semplici per affrontare le complesse sfide locali e raggiungere gli ambiziosi obiettivi globali individuati dalle Nazioni Unite.