Valutare costi e benefici ambientali e sociali dei parchi urbani. Un caso studio a Roma

Environmental risks, such as the failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation, are rising up the list of worldwide concerns. It is crucial that landscape architects, together with other professionals from related disciplines, contribute green infrastructure designs that leverage appropriate nature-based solutions in order to mitigate negative impacts and strengthen urban ecosystem resilience. The results of analyzing main ecosystem services of twelve urban parks in Rome are here presented. The environmental benefits of the vegetal species, and their effectiveness in pollution mitigation and microclimate regulation, are specifically investigated. Evidence is provided also with respect to the main environmental, social and economic costs related to the lack of “evidence-based” landscape design, i.e. the emission of allergens and other “disservices” having direct negative impacts on both the quality of life and health of the population, and the Natural Capital.