Buildings and proximity open spaces for energy transition. A testing on Renewable Energy Communities in Rome

The transition to a sustainable urban energy system is one of the conditions for mitigation and achieving a zero-emission economy. Cities and their inhabitants represent an important potential to reduce energy consumption and climate-changing emissions, due in part to their diversity, dimensional variety and urban pattern. However, energy transition studies have focused insufficient attention on the issues related to space, place and scale, and how these can shape different energy systems. Through pilot cases in Rome, the article addresses subject of Renewable Energy Communities in the urban context, presenting the first results of research that, with the aim of testing, in proximity spaces, solutions for mitigation and adaptation to the climate change effects, investigates how the organization of urban built-up districts and environmental and social resources can influence the decentralized energy system and vice versa.