Designing Urban Streetscapes in the Climate Crisis

The climate crisis exposes the inadequacy of modern urban paradigms grounded in the separation between nature and built form. In response, this paper reframes streetscapes as architectural and urban spaces where ecological performance and spatial composition are conceived as mutually constitutive. Rather than treating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as isolated techno-performative devices, the research interprets them as design components capable of shaping section, threshold, and relational depth within the street. Building on two European-funded research projects, the ClimaScapes research—which unfolds into the Climate-Adaptive Nature-Based Urban Regeneration (CANBUR) Framework—through the different phases of Research about Design, Research by Design and Research for Design, thus develops the design-driven Operational Methodology. The paper, repositioning streetscapes as strategic fields for urban and architectural design, presents (i) the tools developed within it and (ii) its application inside a neighborhood of Matera (Italy). The findings demonstrate that integrating NBS within coherent spatial configurations enables a shift from environmental optimization toward architectural composition, offering a transferable yet context-sensitive methodology for climate-adaptive regeneration in Euro-Mediterranean and comparable urban contexts. This approach suggests streetscapes evolve into resilient, climate-adaptive urban commons, reinforcing community ties, ecological sustainability, and the broader goal of future-proof cities.

in Sustainability2026, 18(7), 3544;https://doi.org/10.3390/su18073544