Foreword by Franco Mancuso - An Introductory Note: Emphasis on some Sustainable Tools of the Constantly Changing Relationships in the Young Ecopolis by Dimitra Babalis - Part one:The Current Issues: Chapter 1: Masterplanning for Sustainable Communities by Dimitra Babalis - Chapter 2: Sustainable Urban Development and the Fourth Typology by Kees Doevendans - Chapter 3: The Contribution of the Design Principles in Shaping more Sustainable Urban Spaces by Teresa Marat-Mendes - Chapter 4: Contextual Planning:The Role of Park Elements in the Urban Fabric by Han Lörzing - Part two: The Design Concept: Chapter 5: Higher Neighborhood Density as a Sustainability Issue: Avoiding Further Environmental Failures in Mass Housing by Philip Geoghegan - Chapter 6: Design Principles for a Sustainable Urban and Architectural Design by Helen Maistrou - Chapter 7: Touching the Spirit of Sustainable Design. An Approach Towards the Analysis of Sustainable Design Concepts by Geert-jan van den Brand - Part three: The Emerging Scenarios: Chapter 8: Sustainable Energy Planning of Urban Areas: Thermodynamics Indicators by Carla Balocco - Chapter 9: Improving Air Movement in Mediterranean Cities by Evangelos Evangelinos - Chapter 10: The Thermal Role of Materials in Mediterranean Cities by Flora-Maria Bougiatioti - Chapter 11: Bioclimatic Design of Water Elements in Mediterranean Cities by Aineias Oikonomou - Part four: The Opportunities and Questions: Chapter 12: A Process for Sustainable Urban Planning and Design. Lesson Learned from Transforming the Places of Production by Danilo Palazzo - Chapter 13: Sustainable Public Spaces from the Past. The Hydraulic System of Park Güell by Albert Cuchí, Claudio da Silva, Isaac López Caballero - Chapter 14: Learning Cities. Building Sustainable Educational Networks by Dimitris Thomopoulos - Part fifth: Training on Design/Process/Project-Idea: Design Approaches to the Regeneration of S. Lorenzo a Greve, in Florence: Group 1 The Framework - The Grid as a Strategy to Pursuit Sustainable Planning - Group 2 The Reinvention - Sustainable Intervention and the Core Road - Group 3 The Process - Sustainable Urban Design Framework - Group 4 The Project Idea -Multi-Functional City Field A Sustainable Urban Regeneration in San Lorenzo a Greve - Contributors It is more than two decades since issues of sustainability and sustainable development have become part of our common expression of good intentions. Even if the debate cover a range of subjects and scenarios to be faced related to urban, environmental, social and economic problems, we are still searching how possible questions might be better understood and solved. How can such a complex problem be faced rapidly and extensively developed? This first volume within the Cities, Design&Sustainabiliy Series is a compilation outlining the growth of a particular line of research work undertaken within Socrates/Erasmus-Intensive Programme at the University of Florence, Faculty of Engineering. The book moves through theories, research and practice and try to explain that an ecological view of the city is now an essential component for alternative planning and design. It especially attempts to understand some innovative issues that can explore and refresh in a comprehensive way discussions on some complex subjects. Ecopolis: Sustainable Planning and Design Principles addresses the key issues of the development, regeneration and improvement in urban environment. It also draws on the contemporary matters of sustainability in urban and architectural design, environmental awareness, of energy conservation at every scale of the urban environment. This book presents that a better future, achieving sustainability through urban and architecture design, must be our key for the future cities, focusing on the role of planners, architects and urban designers and proposing more sustainable solutions for physical development and regeneration. Dimitra Babalis is Senior Lecturer in Town Planning and Urban Design at the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Florence, and an Architect-Engineer. She is currently the Socrates Faculty of Engineering Coordinator for the Course of Building Engineering Sciences at the Faculty of Engineering and the Coordinator and Chair of the Socrates/Erasmus Intensive Programme: EcoPolis: Sustainable Planning and Design Principles. She is involved in research projects on eco-sustainable planning and urban design, urban regeneration and development and is author of a number of scientific publications on national and international reviews and proceedings books, of chapters in books and the editor of the books: Bioclimatic Design & Urban Regeneration for Sustainable Development (2003) and Ecological Design for an Effective Urban Regeneration (2004).