Balancing Preservation and Progress: A Digital Platform for Decarbonizing Heritage City Centers

The decarbonization of UNESCO-protected historic centers is an increasingly important issue, with both environmental and cultural implications. These spaces, often characterized by historic buildings and delicate infrastructures, must find a balance between preservation needs and the necessity to adopt modern solutions for carbon emission reduction. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the challenges related to decarbonization in historic centers, exploring the solutions proposed in the literature, including low-emission technologies and energy efficiency strategies that respect conservation constraints. The paper also introduces an innovative digital platform designed to assist urban planners in developing sustainable action plans, which has been developed within the Interreg Project "ZEB4ZEN". This platform, based on digital twins, offers advanced tools for urban modeling, scenario simulation, and real-time visualization, allowing for accurate evaluation of decarbonization options. In addition to facilitating cooperation among stakeholders, the platform supports the management of urban data and the integration of environmental metrics, enabling decision-makers to identify optimal strategies. Through the analysis of real case studies, this paper demonstrates how the platform can guide decision-making processes towards more sustainable urban planning, while respecting historical traditions.