(Updated June 2023)

Full Professor in the scientific disciplinary sector ICAR / 22 Valuation and Appraisal at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architecture Engineering of the University of Cagliari.

Coordinator (from 1 October 2019) of the Doctorate in Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Cagliari.

Director of the Interdepartmental Center G-LAB

Director of the second level Master course in Entrepreneurial Design for Innovation in Construction (2020/21).

 

BRIEF ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH PROFILE

Already during his university studies, he carries out research (within the Stratema laboratory of the IUAV University of Venice) and publishes on issues concerning territorial planning and analysis, evaluation for urban planning and territorial policies, participation, forecasting methods, scenario building and simulation, with particular attention to the possible links of these issues with information and communication technologies.

The research activity mainly concerned methods, models, techniques and tools - both qualitative and quantitative - of evaluation and decision support for complex projects, plans and territorial policies. These activities have progressively been oriented towards models of evaluation and decision support, especially in relation to normative approaches to planning and public policy analysis.

The research path involved both a reflection and theoretical elaboration and the development and applications of methods, techniques and tools. The theoretical reflections have been systematized in several scientific articles and two books, one on the idea of ??"antifragile planning" (“Verso una pianificazione antifragile”, 2016, with Arnaldo Cecchini) and the other on the use of the construction of future scenarios (2012) .

Another area of research activity concerns the topic of urban rent, especially in relation to the processes of its formation, the methods of estimation and evaluation, and the tools and policies for capturing surplus value in the plans and projects of territorial transformations. On this topic, he promoted the organization of two conferences (2013 in Alghero, and 2018 in Cagliari) within the Italian Society of Appraisal and Evaluation (SIEV), and edited the publication of a volume ("The urban scandal 50 years later ”, 2017) and two special issues, soon to be published, in the journals Valori “e Valutazioni” and Archivio degli Studi Urbani.

On the applications front, he has elaborated and developed models and techniques for evaluation for quantitative decision support based on multi-criteria analysis, decision networks, probabilistic causal models and genetic algorithms.

This activity has resulted in the formulation of various evaluation models that have seen an applicative use in the evaluation and construction of some strategic plans, both in didactic contexts and in the processes of elaboration of strategic plans of some cities.

A further line of research activity involved the development and processing of methods and models for the analysis and simulation of urban dynamics using models based on cellular automata and multi-agents. This area of ??activity involved some theoretical contributions, the development of generalized tools for the creation of models, as well as the development of specific model applications, in particular relating to urban and real estate dynamics and to the dynamics and policies for tourism. In all these cases, the research activity was aimed at providing effective and reusable decision support systems.

The evaluation and simulation models developed have also seen applications in the field of sustainability, in particular, in the context of two European projects. The first (“Bridge” Project, Seventh EU Framework Program) concerned the modeling of urban metabolism in view of the construction of a decision support system for territorial planning. The second European project (Project "Ideas", Horizon2020 program), centered on the research and experimental development of innovative systems for the production, accumulation and integrated management of energy in buildings, saw the use of hedonic models and techniques of choice modeling aimed at assessing the economic and financial feasibility, the potential for adoption, and the willingness to pay by the final consumer.

In addition to the research lines described, the activity has at times been oriented towards methods and tools for public communication and participation with particular attention to the techniques of detection and construction of preference systems and concept maps, and the use of interactive tools, advanced visualization and video games, for communication and promotion of cultural, architectural and territorial heritage.

In the last ten years, a line of research of particular interest has been the study and development of models for assessing urban qualities and capabilities, also in relation to walkability, in which he has designed and developed tools for automatic assessment with the use of machine learning methods. This line of research, together with the use of machine learning with deep learning techniques applied to real estate appraisals and mass appraisal with the use of big geo-data are, among others, the current object of interest and research.

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From 1 January 2005 to 1 October 2015 he was a university researcher in the scientific disciplinary sector ICAR / 22 Estimo at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning of the University of Sassari.

PhD in territorial planning and public policies of the territory of the IUAV University of Venice in 2006.

Research fellow (2004-2006) on new technologies and participation in territorial governance.

Holder of the research grant (in 2004) at Corila (Consortium for the Management of the Coordination Center of Research Activities concerning the Venice Lagoon System) for the realization of a simulation, evaluation and decision support model for the Lagoon of Venice.

Graduated in 2001 from the IUAV University of Venice, Degree Course in Territorial, Urban and Environmental Planning with 110/110 cum laude; title of the degree thesis: “Elements for a genealogy of territorial government”.

From 1995 to 2002 he was a member of the Stratema simulation laboratory of the then Department of Economic and Social Analysis of the Territory (DAEST) of the IUAV University of Venice.

Co-founder (in 2003) of the inter-university Laboratory of Analysis and Models for Planning (LAMP).

Co-founder (2021) of the G-LAB interdepartmental laboratory at the University of Cagliari.

 

MAIN INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS

- MOST - National Center for Sustainable Mobility - Spoke 9 Urban Mobility, 2023-

- Project Horizon 2020 "IDEAS" (grant ID 815271) "Novel building Integration Designs for increased Efficiencies in Advanced climatically tunable renewable energy Systems", 2019, currently in progress

- Scientific director of the PAC-PAC top-down cluster project ("Gamification and interactive storytelling for the promotion of environmental and cultural heritage"), funded by Sardegna Ricerche 2018-2020, currently underway

- Scientific director and coordinator of the research project "Healthy Cities and Smart Territories", funded by the Foundation of Sardinia and the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architecture Engineering (University of Cagliari): start of activities 2017; concluded in October 2019

- Head of the research unit of the project “Mining archeology and cultural landscapes. Sustainable strategies for local tourism development ", call for fundamental or basic research projects for the implementation of interventions in the field of research for the" Sulcis Plan ", Autonomous Region of Sardinia, start of activities 2018; duration 12 months

- Project "Assessment of urban and territorial quality of life for urban, territorial and environmental planning and policies" - Funding for fundamental or basic oriented research year 2010 - Autonomous Region of Sardinia (LR 7/2007); start of business: 2012; duration 24 months;

- Project "Methodologies and indicators for the assessment of fire risk in the areas of Urban-Rural Interface in the Mediterranean environment" - Funding of fundamental or basic oriented research for 2008 - Autonomous Region of Sardinia (LR 7/2007); start of business: 2011; duration: 24 months;

- Project "Development, functional verification and fine-tuning of an integrated system for the quantification of net CO2 exchanges and for the evaluation of mitigation strategies at urban and territorial level" - Funding of fundamental or basic oriented research for 2010 - Autonomous Region of Sardinia (LR 7/2007); start of business: 2012; duration: 36 months;

- BRIDGE project (seventh EU framework program) - "Sustainable urban planning decision support accounting for urban metabolism"; start of business: 2008; duration: 24 months;

- REGISTA Project - "Reality Emulating and Geographical Information System for Territorial Analysis" - PON for local entrepreneurial development - 2nd Call for PIA Innovation, project A15 / 1185 / P 41218-13; start of business: 2008; duration: 24 months;

- Project LC3 - "Public-private research laboratory on the theme of Communication of Cultural Knowledge" - MIUR call DD 14/03/2005 prot. n. 602 / Ric / 2005; start of activity: 2007, duration: 36 months

- CAST project - "Cellular Automata Simulator of Territorial dynamics", co-financed by P.O.R. Sicily 2000/2006 n. 3.14 "Promotion and support of the regional system for research and innovation"; start of business: 2006; duration: 24 months

- Project "e-democracy with the strategic plan", leader of the Municipality of Pesaro, CNIPA funding; start of business: 2006; duration: 24 months

 

TEACHING ACTIVITY

The current and recent university teaching activity was carried out mainly at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architecture Engineering / Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, of the University of Cagliari.

- Holder (from the 2015/16) of the "Real-estate valuation and economic appraisal" course (5 CFU) at the Bachelor of Science in Architecture, 2nd year

- Holder (from the 2015/16 ) of the module "Evaluation of plans and projects" (5 CFU), as part of the Integrated Course of "Urban Planning and Economic and Social Evaluation", at the Master's Degree Course in Architecture, 2nd year

- At the Doctoral Course in Civil Engineering and Architecture, he holds the course "Introduction to statistical analysis with package R", and is in charge of the "Il Canone" seminar cycle

- In 2019 he organized and taught at the inter-doctoral Colloquium "The City of Desire: A Colloquium on Mimetic Hypothesis and the Production of Space, with Paul Dumouchel", at the University of Cagliari

- Organization of the free credit course / workshop "Spaces, practices and actions for the antifragile city: explorations of the Santa Teresa di Pirri district", with visiting professor Zaida Muxi from 29 May to 27 June 2017 (90 hours)

- He was visiting professor at the Université Paris-Dauphine (2017) and at the Universitat Rovira i Virgil, Tarragona (2016)

Prior to the transfer to the University of Cagliari, the university teaching activity was carried out at the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning (formerly the Faculty of Architecture) of the University of Sassari.

 

 

TEACHING AND ORGANIZATION ASSIGNMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF MASTERS AND TRAINING COURSES

He has taught at numerous training courses and lectured at university masters, including:

- teaching contract within the ITACA project (POR Sardegna 2000-2006) "Adaptation of the competences of the Public Administration", Year 2007

- activities of verification of learning, evaluation and monitoring, as part of the training course for "Expert in Cultural Content on the Net (ECCR)" envisaged by the project LC3 (Public-private research laboratory on the theme of Communication of Cultural Knowledge - call MIUR DD 14/03/2005 prot. N. 602 / Ric / 2005). Year 2007.

- teacher at the "ATENA" course (POR Sardinia year 2000/2006 - Measure 3.6) addressed to secondary school teachers. Year 2008

- lecturer at the specialization course in "Interaction design for the production and management of digital cultural content" - INDEX project (INteraction DEsign eXperience) - EDUGOV Consortium (lead partner) University of Sassari, Faculty of Architecture - Special Chamber of Commerce of Cagliari - Domus Academy. Year 2008

- lecturer at the Master in "Planning and policies for the city, the Environment and the Landscape - Advanced methods and tools for sustainable planning" (organized by the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning and the Harbin Polytechnic - Harbin Institute of Technology, China) , AA 2012/13

- lecturer at the Master "Waterscape. Designing settlements for sustainable coastal territories" (co-organized by the Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of Sassari and the Faculté d'Aménagement, d'Architecture, d'Art and Design of the Université Laval of Québec), AA 2013/14

- lecturer at the Master "Sustainable and Affordable Housing" (co-organized by the Department of Architecture, Design and Urbanism of the University of Sassari, the Facultade de Arquitectura of the Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, the Universidade Presbyteriana Meckenzie), AA.AA. 2013/14 and 2014/15

- lecturer in the Valore PA course (II level B) ("Project guidelines for an integrated landscape regeneration intervention on the Sardinian coasts", organized by LUM Business School & Consulting Bari, A.A. 2018/19

- lecturer at the Master in "Landscape Architecture", organized by DICAAR, University of Cagliari, A.A. 2019/20

- lecturer at the Master "ReUHREF - Recovery of Urban Heritage and Real Estate Finance", organized by the Roma Tre University and the Tor Vergata University, A.A. 2019/20 and 2020/21

- lecturer in the Master " Entrepreneurial Design for Innovation in Construction", organized by DICCAR, University of Cagliari, 2020/21

MAIN OFFICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL TASKS

- Currently coordinator of the PhD in Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Cagliari

- Currently Director of the II level Master in " Entrepreneurial Design for Innovation in Construction"

Among the most significant institutional and organizational assignments and tasks, was:

- coordinator of the DICAAR "Research and Communication" Commission, with the organization of two DICAAR Research Conferences, in 2017.

- member (2011) of the Statutory Commission of the University of Sassari

- member of the Academic Senate of the University of Sassari

- responsible for the innovation and development of telematic and technological services of the Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning - DADU, University of Sassari

- responsible for the external evaluation of the Department (DADU)

- responsible for the development of the Department's telematic platforms (including website, ABCD system, AAALavoro, Arete)

- coordinator and has carried out design activities of the Degree Course in Architecture Sciences in distance learning mode (mixed online and in person)

- contact person for the Presidency for the Degree Course in Architecture Sciences in distance learning mode, DADU, University of Sassari

OTHER ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES

- Member (since its foundation in 2005) of the Italian Society of Appraisal and Evaluation (SIEV).

- Member of the Scientific-Editorial Committee of the magazine Valori e Evaluations.

- Member of the Scientific Committee of the "Urban and Regional Studies" series, published by FrancoAngeli.

- Founder of the interdepartmental laboratory G-LAB, University of Cagliari

- He was co-founder (in 2003) of the Laboratory of Analysis and Models for Planning (LAMP)

- From 1995 to 2002 he was a member of the STRATEMA Simulation Laboratory of the then Department of Economic and Social Analysis of the Territory (DAEST) of the IUAV University of Venice.

He has been a member of numerous scientific and organizing committees of conferences, including:

- co-chair of the International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications 2020 (ICCSA2020), Cagliari

- since 2009 he is a member of the Program Committee of International Workshop on "Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics", GEOG-AN-MOD 09, within the International Conference on Computational Science and its Applications (ICCSA)

- Member of the scientific committee of the INPUT conference (International Conference on Innovation in Urban and Regional Planning, formerly the National Conference in Informatics and Urban and Territorial Planning)

- member of the Organizing Committee of INPUT2005, Alghero

- member of the organizing committee of the ISAGA 2001 conference, Bari

- member of the Organizing Committee of INPUT '99 in Venice

- member of the organizing committee of CUPUM '99 in Venice (annual conference of the CUPUM Computers and Urban Planning and Urban Management association)

PRODUCTS, SOFTWARE AND ONLINE TOOLS

Evaluation methods and techniques, scenario building, urban simulation:

- Development of Future-X (1996), a simulation game on the construction of future scenarios based on a cross-impact analysis model developed by the Institute for the Future in Santa Fe in 1968

- Design and implementation of The Time Machine software (1997), a generalized software for the construction, analysis and evaluation of scenarios based on cross-impact analysis

- Design and development of the telematic versions of the Delphi Method (the latest version for the Internet was developed in 1999)

- Creation (with A. Cecchini, P. Rizzi and GA Trunfio), analysis and design (with GATrunfio) of the CAGE (Cellular Automata General Environment) software (2002-2003) - a generalized environment for management and simulation based on cellular automata

- Conception (with A. Cecchini) and realization (with G.A. Trunfio) (2003-2004) of the software La Macchina del Tempo II, a re-edition of the software La Macchina del Tempo

- Design (with Arnaldo Cecchini and Clara Pusceddu) and development (with Roberto Degl'Innocenti) (2008) of the ASA (Actors-Strategies-Actions) evaluation software, a tool for the evaluation of strategic plans

- 2008 - 2011 design (with Giuseppe A. Trunfio) of simulation systems based on CAST, DIRECT, MAGI cellular automata

- design (with Giuseppe A. Trunfio) (2011) of ASA2, a software for evaluating and selecting projects with interdependencies in continuous time

- design (with Giuseppe A. Trunfio and Arnaldo Cecchini) of Walkability Explorer - a software for evaluating urban capacities based on walkability

Territorial, urban and environmental planning and analysis; rating; local economic and social development; public participation:

- Design and development of NewWave (1995) (with Arnaldo Cecchini and Paola Rizzi), a simulation game on the possible futures of Venice.

- Design and development (1995-2000) (with Paola Rizzi) of several urban simulation prototypes based on the model developed in NewWave, applied on other territorial and urban realities (Udine, Bologna, Gorizia)

- Realization of the Future-Gorizia (1996) (with Paola Rizzi and Moreno Zago of the Institute of International Sociology of Gorizia), a simulation based on the Future-X (see above "Methods and techniques of evaluation, construction of scenarios, urban simulation" ) on the future of the twin border cities Gorizia (Italy) - Nova Gorica (Slovenia) which focuses on the cross-border relations of the two cities

- Realization of MIMESI (a co-production STRATEMA Laboratory (IUAV - Venice), Forum Cooperation and Technologies (Milan) and METID Center (Politecnico di Milano), a simulation game on the Milanese metropolitan area, commissioned by the Province of Milan among the best European multimedia products in the EuroPrix '99 competition sponsored by the European Commission and ranked second in the category "Improving Democracy with Multimedia"

- Design and implementation of the AB Model (1999), a transport evaluation and analysis software based on agent-based models, commissioned by ACTV (Venice public transport company); The model was used and cited in A. Alagia, C. Chiusaroli (2000) Who moves is lost, Federtrasporti, Rome

- Design (with A. Cecchini) and implementation of the GioCoMo software (2002), a web-based game tool to support public participation whose results are made directly usable in evaluation procedures based on multi-criteria analysis

- Design (with A. Cecchini) and implementation (with G.A. Trunfio) of the software Magia (2003), a web-based tool for the collective construction of concept maps

Designed and developed numerous web based software including:

- Design and development of the SimLab solution software, a server-side software for the design and development of questionnaires and Delphi on-line

- Design (with Antonella Beltrami, Arnaldo Cecchini, Mauro Calderan and Ciro Palermo) and development of the Skills Balance software, a software for the evaluation of professional skills based on the "Skills Balance" model (2000)

- Design and development of numerous websites

- Design and management of the development of a multi-user 3D platform for business consulting in Sardinia (2002-03)

- Design of web-based systems for the management of evaluation and accreditation processes (2002-03)

Educational products and other products:

- Developed various didactic software, also based on the Web, for territorial simulation, evaluation and analysis

- Conception (with Domenico Patassini) and development of an archive and classification tool for evaluation techniques and tools

- Ideation and development of Small Artificial Worlds (1995) (with Arnaldo Cecchini and Paola Rizzi), an educational software on the application of cellular automata in territorial analysis

- Contribution to the creation of the CD-Rom with games and simulations for environmental education (1999), commissioned by the Italian-Russian Association

- Conception and realization (with P. Belucci, D. Ersetig, A. Mancuso and M. Saleri) of the IUAV.OR software (1999/2000), a CD-Rom with paths, games and information for orientation on the Institute University of Architecture of Venice (distributed to all pre-enrolled students at the IUAV University of Venice for the  2000/2001)

- Design (with Davide Spano) of the PAC-PAC platform, an authoring environment for interactive storytelling and point-and-click video games (2019-2020)

- Design and implementation of the Urbagram online game, a multi-user web app for the creation of urban scenarios in Cagliari (2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

- was (2002-2003) responsible for the "Virtual Reality" Area at SCIGROUP S.p.A. - (2004)

- collaborated with CORILA (Consortium for the Management of the Coordination Center of Research Activities relating to the Venice Lagoon System) in the creation of a simulation, evaluation and decision support model for the Venice Lagoon based on cellular automata

- Member of the CIDEC (Centro de Investigación y Documentación sobre problemas de la Economía, el Empleo y las Cualificaciones Profesionales) of San Sebastian (Spain) - Member of the Federación de Conocimiento of San Sebastian (Spain)