In 2009, after declaring a state of emergency for the Central Archaeological Area of Rome following the adverse weather conditions of November and December 2008, the Government Commissioner and the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) assigned the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering (IGAG) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) to evaluate the geohazard level affecting the Central Archaeological Area of Rome (i.e., Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and Colosseum). Research activities started up in February 2009 and were concluded in February 2011, with the valued contribution of the Archaeological Superintendence.

This paper aims to study ethnic micro-segregation in Rome, namely, high residential concentrations of ethnic groups at the micro-area level within neighbourhoods with low concentrations of these groups, with a focus on specific situations of spatial inequality often overlooked in the debate. The Italian capital is one of the five most populous cities in the European Union and a multi-ethnic metropolis with relatively low levels of segregation. It is an urban context that has been little studied, partly due to the lack of reliable and granular data. This work is based on unpublished individual data from the 2020 population register, disaggregated into 155 neighbourhoods and 13,656 census tracts with average populations of about 18,000 and 200 residents, respectively. The five minority groups considered, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Filipinos, Romanians, and migrants from developed economy countries (DECs), add up to 55% of the total foreign residents and show different settlement patterns. The concept of micro-segregated area (MSA) is central to the scope of the analysis. An MSA is a census tract that shows a strong over-representation of a specific ethnic group despite being located within a neighbourhood where that group is under-represented. MSAs can be considered 'interstitial' micro-areas embedded in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. Descriptive analysis based on location quotient (LQ) mapping and bivariate logistic models is developed to highlight (a) differences in the settlement patterns of minority ethnic groups; (b) differences in the micro-segregation of minority ethnic groups in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, settlement location, and socioeconomic status; and (c) the particular characteristics of minority ethnic groups underlying these differences. The findings indicate that differences in settlement patterns can be related to the interplay between real estate constraints and labour market specialisation. National specificities in micro-segregation are mainly linked to length of stay, but the models of the Asian groups do not offer any empirical support for the spatial assimilation hypothesis, unlike those of Romanians and DECs citizens. Further development of this research will aim to explore segregation patterns and motivations to move to MSAs using a mixed method approach.

A skull of Hippopotamus recovered from the area of Tor di Quinto, within the urban area of Rome (central Italy) is here redescribed. Despite being one of the most complete specimens of hippopotamuses of the European Pleistocene, the Tor di Quinto skull did not attract much research interest, due to long-standing uncertainties on its provenance. This work begun in 2021, when the skull was restored, within a large renovation project on the vertebrate exposed at the Earth Science University Museum of Sapienza University of Rome. Original sediments were found inside the cranial and mandible cavities during the restoration work, which were sampled for petrographic analyses. By combining a review of the old paleontological, archeological and geological literature published during the 19th and 20th century on the Rome basin and the correlation of these new sedimentological and petrographic information with the lithostratigraphic and synthemic units of the national geological cartography, we clarify that the Hippopotamus skull was most likely to have been collected from a quarry called Cava Montanari, from a formation dated between 560 and 460 ka. Morphological and biometric analyses clearly support an attribution of the Cava Montanari specimen to the extant species Hippopotamus amphibius. The reassessment of the stratigraphic and geological data on Cava Montanari implies that the studied specimen is the earliest confirmed occurrence of Hippopotamus amphibius in the European fossil record.

Quaternary geology, through the study of the shallow rock-sediment record, is fundamental to understand the recent dynamics of our planet and its relations with human evolution and the development of civilizations. Quaternary deposits are functional for human settlements, due to their easy digging, and commonly act as foundation soils and as a substrate for anthropogenic soils, which are often of archaeological interest. The city of Rome, with its original settlement sited in the Central Archaeological Area (CAA) and comprising the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and Colosseum, represents a noteworthy case to study the relations between the geological substrate and the overlaying anthropogenic soils, historical monuments and modern-age buildings. The interest of this area is well demonstrated by numerous geo-archaeological excavations, geognostic drillings, outcrops, and by a complex history of land-use transformation. However, disclosing this large amount of information and disseminating the scientific observations deriving from these data to a wider audience is not particularly easy. Thus, we produced a 3D plastic-relief model of CAA made of polystyrene and stucco at 1:1.000 scale, representing a 1 km2 wide topographic surface with monuments above, and showing the geologic substrate along selected cross sections up to the 100 m depth. The lithostratigraphic subsoil structure is reproduced in detail with well-differentiated: anthropogenic soils, up to 20 m thick; middle Pleistocene-Holocene fluvial formations and pyroclastic units filling paleo-valleys and interfluves; the Pliocene clayey marine bedrock. The 3D reconstruction is useful to visualize the conditioning that external morphology and buried morpho-stratigraphic structure exert on natural risk factors. In fact, it is interesting to observe how amplification effects of seismic waves, flood phenomena and slope instability have influenced and will influence the settlement choices of CAA, the subsequent transformations, and the potential consequences of both seismic risk and future climate extremes in the city of Rome. In addition, the model also offers reconstructions of historical palaeontological excavations near the Colosseum, aimed at teaching geo-palaeontological heritage

Rome has the world's longest historical record of felt earthquakes, with more than 100 events during the last 2600 years. However, no destructive earthquake has been reported in the sources, and all of the greatest damage suffered in the past has been attributed to far-field events. While this fact suggests that a moderate seismotectonic regime characterizes the Roman area, no study has provided a comprehensive explanation for the lack of strong earthquakes in the region. Through the analysis of the focal mechanism and the morphostructural setting of the epicentral area of a "typical" moderate earthquake (M-1 = 3.3) that recently occurred in the northern urban area of Rome, we demonstrate that this event reactivated a buried segment of an ancient fault generated under both a different and a stronger tectonic regime than that which is presently active. We also show that the evident structural control over the drainage network in this area reflects an extreme degree of fragmentation of a set of buried faults generated under two competing stress fields throughout the Pleistocene. Small faults and a present-day weaker tectonic regime with respect to that acting during the Pleistocene might explain the lack of strong seismicity in the long historical record, suggesting that a large earthquake is not likely to occur.

This paper offers an analysis of the supply of Airbnb accommodation in Rome, one of the main tourist destinations in the world, the third-largest city in Europe, by the number of Airbnb listings. The aim is to focus on the recent spatial trend of Airbnb listings, including the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight the main housing and socioeconomic characteristics of the neighbourhoods associated with a strong presence of Airbnb listings. The study is developed with quantitative methods and spatial regression (spatial lag and spatial error using OLS as a benchmark), based on data collected from the Inside Airbnb and Tomslee websites. In the period 2014-2019, the listing trend in Rome has been increasing in absolute numbers. After the start of the pandemic, the trend became negative, and the decline of Airbnb offerings is more substantial for shared accommodation. Airbnb supply is related to the distance from the city centre, the average income of the area, empty apartments, singles and the share of foreign residents coming from high-income countries. A signal of spatial diffusion of Airbnb listings emerges in the coastal area, even if they are increasingly concentrated in the historic centre, where there is a monoculture of short-term renting.

The recent archaeological discoveries made in the north-western quadrant of Rome, within the ambit of so-called "emergency archaeology", make it possible to put knowledge into practice in a subject area which stimulates intense academic debate: the territory between Veii and Rome, in the period between the Archaism and the final conquest of the Etruscan city. The data available until now that have been employed in the reconstruction of settlement dynamics come almost exclusively from funerary contexts. The archaeological evidences - pertaining to residential structures - are rare and sporadic, although gradually increasing. The case illustrated here of the excavation in the Lucchina area (Via Trionfale, Ottavia) represents a rare opportunity to examine a "border" culture in depth through information provided by investigations - still under way - into a complex of Etruscan-Veian dwellings: houses with a tripartite layout of which there remain the bases in tufa blocks and collapsed tiles. In the necropolis, on the other hand, a tomb is being investigated of the Veian type "a vestibolo" or "a tramite", with access steps and three loculi (two for cremations and one for inhumation) which have yielded a rich funerary equipment. A Veian community, then, providing evidence of the phenomenon of "internal colonisation" of the suburb of the city so close to the border with Rome.

The impact of the aerosol optical properties on the ultraviolet index (UVI) in the urban area of Rome is investigated in this study. In particular, the influence of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA), estimated at the wavelength of 340 nm, and of the Angstrom exponent, calculated in the range 340-500 nm, over a period of 11 years (2010-2020) in the months from March to September are analyzed. The UVI is monitored by a Brewer spectrophotometer, whereas measurements of the direct Sun and diffuse sky irradiances are performed by a co-located PREDE-POM sun-sky radiometer of the ESR/SKYNET network; the aerosol optical properties are obtained by the Skyrad MRIv2 retrieval. A novel method, based on physical principles and easily adaptable to other contexts, is developed to extrapolate the aerosol properties to the UV range during periods when only visible to near-infrared measurements are available. The retrievals from the sun-sky radiometer are consistent with the chemical characterization of urban PM10 (particulate matter 10 mm or less in diameter) samples collected during an intensive field campaign held in summer 2011 at the same site (URBan Sustainability Related to Observed and Monitored Aerosol - URBS ROMA). The PM macro components identified during the campaign are grouped in order to evaluate the contribution of the main macro sources (soil, sea, secondary inorganic, organics, and traffic) whose relative role is indeed expected to strongly affect the aerosol absorption capability. The surface forcing efficiency, calculated as the change in the UV index for a unit AOD variation, shows that AOD is the primary parameter affecting the surface irradiance under clear-sky conditions in Rome. SSA and the Angstrom exponent are also identified as secondary influencing factors, i.e., the surface forcing efficiency is found to be greater for smaller zenith angles and for larger and more absorbent particles in the UV range (such as, e.g., mineral dust).

The Roman territory and its surroundings represent one of most important areas for the study of the European Middle Pleistocene mammal paleocommunities. Since the 19th century, thousands of vertebrate fossils have been recovered from a considerable number of localities of the Roman Campaign (Campagna Romana) or within the city. Unfortunately, the majority of historical deposits, especially those located within the urban area of Rome, was destroyed or buried beneath anthropogenetic modifications. Most of the mammal remains recovered during the last centuries is housed in the "Museo Universitario di Scienze della Terra", Sapienza University of Rome (MUST; including the former Museum of Paleontology), and several other findings are scattered in many museums and institutions. By integrating the revision of these collections with a thoughtful examination of historical information (e.g., literature, maps, and original labels associated with the fossil specimens) it is often possible to refine their chronological placement. This approach is crucial for reconstructing the evolution of mammal faunas and their response to the climatic changes occurred during the last 800 ka.

Beginning in the 1970s, the urban core of the Rome Metropolitan Area (RMA) experienced four decades of intense depopulation and urban diffusion, which caused a considerable social impact. On the basis of an original dataset on residential mobility within the city of Rome, this paper aims to show that the RMA is currently experiencing a new stage of reurbanisation resulting from the bursting of the housing bubble after the 2008 crisis. Unlike other European contexts, the RMA repopulation is lacking forms of "urban resurgence" and is taking place in one of the most difficult periods of the city's recent history. Paradoxically, the trend of private real estate market succeeded to stop urban sprawl where for a long time public decision-maker had failed. This created an opportunity to finally govern the process and steadily halt the urban diffusion, implementing targeted residential densification measures aimed at stabilising the demographic recovery of the urban core and preventing a return to urban sprawl.

This study presents the results of a research project financed by the Lazio Regional Government. The research focused on defining an integrated model of recent alluvial deposits in the Tiber River. To achieve this objective, geological boreholes were made to monitor the aquifer and in situ and laboratory tests were carried out. The data obtained were used to detail stratigraphic aspects and improve the comprehension of water circulation beneath the recent alluvial deposits of the Tiber River in the urban area of Rome, between the Ponte Milvio bridge and the Tiber Island. The stratigraphic intervals recognised in the boreholes were parameterised based on their litho-technical characteristics. The new data acquired, and integrated with existing data in the database of Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the Italian National Research Council, made it possible to produce a three-dimensional model of the lithologies in the study area. The model of the subsoil, simplified for applied reasons, was described in hydrostratigraphic terms: three different lithotypes were subjected to piezometric levels monitoring. Finally, the research generated a numerical hydrological model in a steady state. In general, this study demonstrates how a numerical hydrogeological model calibrated by piezometric monitoring data can support the construction of a geological model, discarding or confirming certain hypotheses and suggesting other means of reconstructing sedimentary bodies.

In this work we analyzed the three-dimensional seismic site response of the Central Archaeological Area of Rome, which includes the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and Coliseum area. The study area is characterized by complex site conditions (stratigraphy, dynamic properties, surficial and buried morphology, etc). Detailed three-dimensional large-scale model was built in order to evaluate site response using dynamic numerical modelling approach. The explicit finite-difference code FLAC3D (ITASCA Consulting group Inc., 2017) was used for numerical simulations. The area of Rome is affected by earthquakes from different seismogenic districts: (1) the central Apennine mountain chain, located about 90-130km east of Rome (M = 6.7-7.0); (2) the Colli Albani volcanic area located 20km to the south of the city (M=5.5); and (3) the Rome area itself characterized by rare, shallow, low-magnitude events (M < 5). Both artificial and natural accelerograms were then simulated to be compatible with the reference spectra associated to the three earthquake scenarios. This study highlights the role of local geological and geotechnical conditions producing amplification of seismic ground motion. The analyses show maximum amplification factors, defined in terms of Housner Intensity ratio for three periods range (0.1-0.5; 0.5-1.0 and 1.0-2.0), as high as 2.2-2.4 over the period range of 0.1-1.0 s. Such values can be significantly relevant for the monumental and archaeological heritage of this area, as many are highly vulnerable due to their great age. Physical phenomena controlling site response are discussed on the basis of buried and surficial morphology and lithostratigraphic conditions. Finally, microzonation maps are produced in order to ascertain the seismic hazard of the examined area and, consequently, to assess possible parameters for seismic retrofitting of the monuments.

Lockdown restrictions were implemented in Italy from 10 March 2020 to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study aims to evaluate air pollution changes, with focus on nitrogen dioxide (NO2), before and during the lockdown in Rome and in the surroundings. Significant NO2 declines were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic with reductions of - 50%, - 34%, and - 20% at urban traffic, urban background, and rural background stations, respectively. Tropospheric NO2 vertical column density (VCD) from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) was used to evaluate the spatial-temporal variations of the NO2 before and during the lockdown for the entire area where the surface stations are located. The evaluation is concerned with the pixels including one or more air quality stations to explore the capability of the unprecedented high spatial resolution to monitor urban and rural sites from space with relation to the surface measurements. Good agreement between surface concentration and TROPOMI VCD was obtained in Rome (R = 0.64 in 2019, R = 0.77 in 2020) and in rural sites (R = 0.71 in 2019). Inversely, a slight correlation (R = 0.20) was observed in rural areas during the lockdown due to very low levels of NO2. Finally, the TROPOMI VCD showed a sharp decline in NO2, larger in urban (- 43%) than in rural sites (- 17%) as retrieved with the concurrent surface measurements averaging all the traffic and urban background (- 44%) and all the rural background stations (- 20%). These results suggest air pollution improvement in Rome gained from implementing lockdown restrictions.

In the last decade, many cities have experimented with small-scale initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of life of residents; these initiatives have somehow fostered a reconceptualization of the term, as well as practice, of urban regeneration. In this context, the role of civic networks in bringing forward experiments in the production of alternative imaginaries and place-making has gained a major role, in particular in marginal neighbourhoods. By focusing on a case study in the eastern periphery of Rome, the paper explores the case of citizen-led neighbourhood branding, highlighting open issues and ambiguities in claiming a 'right to the brand'.

A research project aimed at the study of the archaeological context of the Basilica Julia in the Roman Forum (Rome, Italy) and the transformation phases of the building involved the use of different techniques of geophysical prospecting. In particular, Ground-penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) surveys were carried out in order to record the buried structures of the Basilica and the previous buildings laying in the southern part of the Forum. These geophysical methods have been chosen in order to guarantee a good compromise between resolution (GPR in the shallow subsurface) and depth of investigation (ERT in the deeper subsurface), with the aim of investigating up to a depth of about 10 m in a very conductive subsoil. In particular, GPR surveys were conducted in the five aisles of the monument, while ERT measurements were performed with nonstandard acquisition mode in order to include the entire perimeter of the building. These techniques allowed us to acquire new data on the structures buried in the sectors of the monumental complex that have never been excavated and on the paleosoil till a depth of about 10 m from the surface. Interesting data were acquired on the Basilica Julia itself, built during the late Republican period (54-46 BC) and rebuilt at the beginning of the first century AD, such as the technical features of the caementicium and travertine foundations, their relationship with the Cloaca Maxima and the traces of a design change occurred during the construction in the central aisle of the building; other buried remains of the previous Basilica Sempronia, constructed in 169 BC in the same area, were identified. Moreover, the investigations documented the paleosoil in the area between the Forum and the Velabrum to the south, between 7.5-8.5 and 5.5 m a.s.l. These data confirmed the general geological setting of the area, obtained from previous coring, but significantly specified the geomorphology of this border sector of the Roman Forum, which slopes down towards the south and the west.

Reports of global declines in animal populations are now numerous and also include snakes, a group of animals now widely regarded as bio-indicators. A prerequisite for any conservation management plan to protect or restore snake populations requires a data base that provides insight into population composition and changes. However, snakes are well known to be particularly difficult to quantitatively sample due to their secretive and elusive nature, and hence accumulating an adequate database for analysis requires long-term field studies that involve intensive searches. Populations of four snake species, Zamensis longissimus, Natrix helvetica, Vipera aspis and Hierophis viridiflavus living in two suburban areas of Rome with different extents of habitat alteration (deforestation), Vejo, a less altered site, and Tor Bella Monaca, a high altered site, have been monitored, but with interruptions since 1995. The results indicated that H. viridiflavus was the commonest species at both sites. Male bias was found in all four species but especially in Z. longissimus and V. aspis with detection of juveniles greatest in H. viridiflavus and N. helvetica. Snout to vent lengths (SVL) of H. viridiflavus and Z. longissimus, which were present at both sites, were greater at the less degraded habitat of the two study localities. Community metrics indicated that the degraded habitat had lower species richness, evenness, Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, but a higher dominance index. Recapture frequencies of snakes recaptured either once or multiple times were in general greater at Vejo. The highest population densities were found in H. viridiflavus, followed by V. aspis and N. helvetica, which were similar. However, long term trends in densities show declines in V. aspis and N. helvetica between 1995 and 2019. Population densities were in good agreement with density estimates found in previous studies of snakes in more natural habitats.

In the last years, statistically based models (such as Logistic Regression) have been frequently used for evaluating the probability of landslide occurrence over large areas. In the case of Rome, over the years, more than 348 landslides have been recorded throughout the city. For this reason, in this study, we implemented and evaluated three main validation criteria of logistic regression to assess the rainfallinduced landslide susceptibility in a specific area of the city of Rome. Through the evaluation of the predictive performances, the best model has been identified and the results were also compared with those obtained in similar case studies.

Sulla topografia antica e l'archeologia della zona alle pendici dell'Aventino minore in Roma, in particolare per quanto riguarda i ritrovamenti avvenuti alla fine degli anni '30 del XX secolo durante la costruzione del Ministero dell'Africa Italiana, ora sede della FAO (Food and Agricolture Organization), e successivamente durante gli scavi per la costruzione della metropolitana di Roma linea B.

Urban expansion takes massive proportions in recent years, and population is expected to reach 60% by 2030. The combined effect of global climate change and rapid urbanization makes the residents of urban areas more vulnerable to a range of urban environmental problems, including high air pollution levels, inability to manage energy consumption, overburdened thermal bioclimate and heat-related deaths. These problems are strongly connected with the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, that is considered to be one of the most representative and well-documented manifestation of climate modifications due to urbanization. The 3-year long EU LIFE ASTI project (Implementation of a forecAsting System for urban heaT Island effect for the development of urban adaptation strategies) started at the end of 2018 to design, implement, and validate a forecasting system combined with a heat health warning tool for the short-term prediction of the UHI, especially during heat wave events, in two Mediterranean cities - Thessaloniki and Rome. The expected results will also be used to further investigate the UHI climate change impact over the two cities, as well as to perform sensitivity studies for quantifying, assessing and promoting mitigation plans to reduce UHI risks.

The annual and diurnal behavior of the temperature differences in urban areas is important to predict the possible impacts of the future land-use development on climate change and air pollution in heavily populated areas. The behavior of the temperature as well as wind spatio-temporal differences in turn is strongly interconnected with the turbulent and radiative fluxes variability. A 3-year dataset from three automated micrometeorological stations run by the Regional Agency for Environment Protection of Lazio and located in and around the city of Rome is used. The distribution of the urban heat island intensity for the whole period of measurements peaks at 1 °C, but higher values are frequently registered especially referring to differences with the coastal site also due to the sea-breeze cooling effects. The city is generally drier and characterized by winds of lower intensity reaching their maximum 1 h later with the respect to the sub-urban/coastal sites during the afternoon. The micrometeorological data are also analyzed to estimate some key parameter characteristic of the terrain, which represents the main forcing in the numerical models for UHI estimates, such as the albedo, aerodynamics and atmospheric turbulence parameters.