Between research and teaching: green infrastructure for dense urban areas

The debate about climate change – aside of the question whether it is caused by human or natural factors – must become central for architects. The city of Genoa (where the author’s institution, the University of Genoa, is located) has seen two floods in the last five years cause serious damage as streams, mostly channelled in tunnels, crossed the urban tissue. In this context, interesting opportunities arise to work with students to rede-sign of urban spaces in order to integrate green infrastructure strategies and reduce runoff. This work is partic-ularly interesting because it addresses several fields, including the future of depopulating cities, urban struc-tures’ resilience, and the relationship between buildings and open spaces, among others. This paper shows some results of teaching activities on the integration of green infrastructure in cities, considering areas affect-ed by minor floods due to rainfall causing rainwater sewers overflow