What future is there for cities in a world that is becoming increasingly urbanised and in which many shocks are coming together in a context of growing uncertainty? And many other questions arise. Wich is the vision of the city in the light of the challenges of climate change, or of the increasing disconnection between the city and nature networks? And how can the growing poverty in cities or the rising ageing of both city structures and the urban population be addressed? How can health and quality of life be integrated into strategic urban development choices? What is the role of digital technology? And, more specifically, which urban strategy should be adopted to improve the transformative capacity of cities? "Building resilience must be at the heart of the future of cities. This means to foster productive and inclusive urban economies and actions, to mitigate and to adapt to climate change, promote clean energy, protect ecosystems and integrate public health into urban development" (UN-Habitat).
This book is about the sustainable development of cities and their role in meeting the challenges facing humanity today. It addresses a wide array of important contemporary urban issues, from a regenerative, circular and smart perspective.
Cities need nature and also their history to be able to face tremendous challenges, adapting to new contexts, changing them, making memories of the adaptations and then learning from them.
The circular economy offers a model assumed by nature, that is grounded on a better metabolism which avoids waste and underuse of all forms of capital, from natural to man-made, to human, and to social. We therefore need a new design and planning for our cities.

Luigi Fusco Girard is Emeritus Professor of Economics and Environmental Evaluation at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy; Associate at CNR-IRISS, Naples, Italy; Scientific Coordinator of the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation project "Circular models Leveraging Investments in Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse".

Peter Nijkamp is Emeritus Professor in Regional and Urban Economics and in Economic Geography at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, and associated with The Open University of the Netherlands (OU), Heerlen (The Netherlands), and the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi (Romania). He has served as president of the governing board of the Netherlands Research Council (NWO). In 1996, he was awarded the Spinoza award. He is vicepresident of The Regional Science Academy (TRSA).

Francesca Nocca is Research Fellow in Environmental Economics and Evaluation at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. She has obtained postdoctoral research and a PhD with a specific curriculum in urban planning and evaluation. She has been a researcher of the International Research Laboratory on the Creative and Sustainable City.