Città circolare e Transizione energetica, tra tutela e valorizzazione dei centri storici

The circular economy strategies applied to cities and territories, in addition to reducing and/or eliminating waste and emissions, may support the protection and enhancement of real estate assets, also due to the combined effect of the digital and energy transition. These strategies are intended to respond to the rapid changes in urbanization, up to the metropolitan scale, which are protagonists and responsible for the consumption of resources, including energy, as well as the growing production of waste. The application of the circular economy paradigm in cities and territories (circular city) proves to be a great opportunity to face the challenges that climate change presents. In the complex strategies of protection, conservation and enhancement, the international energy crisis requires combining the protection of historic urban landscape with the innovation introduced by the concept of Renewable energy communities (CERs), with significant environmental, economic, or social benefits for local communities. Within this framework, this article intends to investigate the adaptability of the historical centers’ planning tools in terms of innovation, with reference to the CERs, to develop a comparative evaluation methodological approach applied to a set of selected case studies