Water utility efficiency assessment in Italy by accounting for service quality: An empirical investigation

In Italy's water industry, publicly owned utilities (PWCs) coexist with public-private partnerships (PPPWCs), that could contribute expertise for operations, funds, and relationships. This paper examines the effect of ownership structures on efficiency by comparing Veneto (with almost all PWCs) and Tuscany (with almost all PPPWCs). This comparison is highly debated, with possible economic, social, environmental, and political implications. A Data Envelopment Analysis approach, that uses both quantitative and qualitative variables to represent the lack of service quality, was adopted. Results suggest that PWCs perform slightly better when quality issues are excluded, while PPPWCs perform better when considering both variable types.     

Integrating information on river networks, catchments and major forest types: towards the characterisation and analysis of European landscapes

Recent developments in European environmental policies ask for European-wide and harmonised information on the state of our environment as well as on pressures and impacts thereon. The fulfilment of this requirement demands for a holistic analysis of the landscape and the interactions between its various components, including the development of suitable data for the whole area of interest. Forests and water bodies are important entities in this context. In this paper we, therefore, report on the development of European-wide databases for forests, river networks and catchments. Examples of how such data can be combined for analysing specific landscape characteristics such as the percentage of rivers running through forested areas or the distribution of forest categories according to relief characteristics are given for the whole of Italy as well as for three selected catchments.     

The Architectural Detail and the Fear of Commitment

Mark Burry holds a unique position in architecture, straddling the worlds of practice and academia as Senior Architect to the Temple Sagrada Família in Barcelona and as Professor at RMIT in Melbourne, where he is Founding Director of the RMIT Design Research Institute. In his Counterpoint to this issue of AD, he puts the spotlight back on construction, asking whether the detail could be in danger of falling victim to an inadvertent and ‘massive separation of design from making’. As he states: ‘to detail effectively is to understand not only what the building “is”, but how it will be made’.     

Integrated Agro-Economic Approach to Deficit Irrigation on Lettuce Crops in Sicily (Italy)

The effect of four different irrigation levels on the marketable yield and economic return of summer-growth lettuce was evaluated during 2005 and 2006 in Eastern Sicily, Italy. The viability of deficit irrigation was evaluated by estimating optimum applied water levels. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was estimated by combining pan evaporation measures and the Penman–Monteith approach (ET0-PM). The highest marketable yield of lettuce was recorded for plots receiving 100% ET0-PM. For deficit irrigated plots, reductions in crop production were ascribed to a decrease in lettuce weight. Crop coefficients equal to 1 determined maximum crop production values. Crop water use efficiency was maximum at a 100% ET0-PM level of water applied, corresponding to yield of 0.3?t?ha?1?mm?1. Irrigation water use efficiency reached its maximum at a 40% ET0-PM level, with values of 0.54 and 0.44?t?ha?1?mm?1 during 2005 and 2006, respectively. Water applied and marketable yield of lettuce showed a significant quadratic relationship. Cost functions had a quadratic form during 2005 and a linear form during 2006. In the land-limiting condition the optimal economic levels fit the agronomic ones well. In the water-limiting condition, ranges of water deficit of 15–44% and 74–94% were as profitable as full irrigation, thus contributing to appreciable water savings.     

意大利建筑遗产保护课程及其教学模式在我国的适应性研究

意大利的建筑遗产保护教育有着优良传统,特别是在建筑遗产病害甄别和具体保护措施方面,有许多值得中国建筑院系学习的地方。以意大利米兰理工大学建筑遗产保护工坊(Architectural Preservation Studio)课程为例,详细介绍了该门课程的教学目标、组织形式、课程安排、教学内容等,将该教学模式凝练后应用于中国矿业大学建筑历史与遗产保护课程教学改革,通过徐州徐海道署照壁的具体教学案例,论证意大利建筑遗产保护课程体系在中国建筑学专业中的适应性情况,旨在为同类院校的相关专业课程设置提供一些思路。     

合力模式下的意大利乡村建成遗产保护及更新——以皮埃蒙特大区为例

本研究的目的是廓清意大利乡村建成遗产保护与更新的路径,认为其自下而上与自上而下结合的合力模式可为我国相关实践提供借鉴.论文简析了合力模式的形成及构成要素:GAL主导的自下而上的保护及更新与政府主导的自上而下的管控体系;梳理了保护体系演变;以皮埃蒙特大区导则编制为例,结合翔实的民居更新案例,探析地方层面乡村建成遗产的保护及更新手段.     

Education,practice and professionalism: a comparative history of the development of urban and regional planning in Italy and Australia

This paper outlines the historical relationship between planning legislation, planning practice and planning education in Italy and Australia by identifying the positive and negative roles of institutional influences and the emergence of professional planning communities. The key findings revolve around the gap between plan preparation and plan implementation, and the role of institutions and professional communities in resisting political interference and maintaining a technocratic imperative within planning systems. While the exertion of professional power can be seen to achieve positive planning and development outcomes, it is often at the expense of the democratic traditions that have come to characterize postmodern planning systems.     

意大利遗址公园规划设计探究——以罗马图拉真考古遗址公园为例

遗址公园作为遗址保护、展示教育与考古研究的有效途径，在世界范围内得以广泛推广与发展。意大利在文化遗产保护领域走在世界前列，其完备的法律保护制度、成熟的遗产保护理念和文物保护技术都有一定的借鉴意义。以罗马图拉真遗址公园为例，通过对其历史沿革的梳理，从遗址的空间结构和历史时序性上解读遗址时空特性，探讨其在坚持遗址原真性的基础上，如何从遗址保护理念、规划设计策略和实施技术路径3个层面对遗址进行保护与阐释，旨在解析意大利在遗址公园规划设计中的理念与方法，探讨其对于遗址公园建设实践的价值。     

The Italian Architectural Press

The proliferation of architectural media in Italy is prodigious. Valentina Croci describes the history behind the plethora of printed magazines, outlining the background and approach of the most prestigious titles. What does the future hold for such a large number of specialist publications? Are they to be eclipsed by the numerous new electronic newsletters and websites? Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geography,market potential and industrialization in Italy 1871–2001

This paper deals with industrialization in Italy between 1871 and 2001, and is based on data on the labour force per province (NUTS 3) from population censuses. Particular attention is devoted to long‐term trends and North–South disparities. After the analysis of the geographic spread of industry and its changes, we test the role of access to markets on the distribution of the labour force in manufacturing. The results show that access to markets played a main role in Italian industrialization and in the evolution of inequalities among Northern and Southern regions.