Sport-City Planning. A Proposal for an Index to Support Decision-Making Practice: Principles and Strategies

Currently more than half of the world population - between formal and informal urban settlements - has been affected by the health crisis. In cities there are great difficulties in facing the new challenges that are intertwined between urban-environmental and economic aspects. Cities were among the first and most affected areas hit by the epidemic, however they have always been places of maximum creativity and innovation, deriving precisely from the aggregation processes of social and economic networks. These same networks actually favored the spread of the health crisis. In recent months, many scenarios have been advanced for a renewed urban development, to favor the reduction of contacts, including the idea of ‘villages’ and the “city of 15 min”. In this framework, some questions arise: what are the multi-sectoral policies that can make cities more inclusive, sustainable, reducing vulnerability and health risks? What individual commitment can cities make into a model of health promotion? These questions guided the authors in evaluating the role of the Sport-city in the research of the post-pandemic city through qualitative/quantitative indicators in the main Italian provinces and metropolitan cities, between health and well-being and environment, proposing a specific index (UPA - Urban Physical Activity Index) to support Sport-city planning initiatives aimed at the health-well-being of communities through urban design.