The course aims to introduce students to the theoretical and methodological foundations of scientific evaluation which are necessary for the architect as the coordinator of the decision-making process of the architectural project and urban plan. The course also aims to provide some basic critical knowledge on the operation and use of the most common evaluation techniques in the field of architectural design and urban planning.
Students regularly attending the course are provided with power point presentations of the lessons in electronic format as well as with specific bibliographic suggestions during the lessons.
Non-attending students must agree with the teacher a bibliography specifically tailored according to their own interests in the field of architectural design and urban planning evaluation.
Decision-making & Rationality:
Armesh, H. (2010, April). Decision making. In Proceedings of the 12th International Business Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia (pp. 11-21).
Baron, J. (2004). Normative Models of Judgment and Decision Making. In D. J. Koehler & N. Harvey (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making, pp. (Pre-publication version pp. 19-36).
Akerlof, G. A. (1970). The Market for" Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488-500.
Bennet Bennet, A., & Bennet, D. (2008). The Decision-Making Process for Complex Situations in a Complex Environment, First chapter in Burstein, F. and Holsapple, CW (Eds), Handbook on Decision Support Systems.
Leoveanu, A. C. (2013). Rationalist model in public decision making. Journal of Public Administration, Finance and Law,(4), 43-54.
Jones, B. D. (1999). Bounded rationality. Annual review of political science, 2(1), 297-321.
Uncertainty:
Walker, W. E., Harremoës, P., Rotmans, J., van der Sluijs, J. P., van Asselt, M. B., Janssen, P., & Krayer von Krauss, M. P. (2003). Defining uncertainty: a conceptual basis for uncertainty management in model-based decision support. Integrated assessment, 4(1), 5-17.
Dequech, D. (2011). Uncertainty: a typology and refinements of existing concepts. Journal of economic issues, 45(3), 621-640. [
Abbott, J. (2005). Understanding and managing the unknown: The nature of uncertainty in planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 24(3), 237-251.
Evaluation:
Tarsilla, M. (2009). Theorists’ Theories of Evaluation: A Conversation with Jennifer Greene. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 6(13), 209-219.
Hanberger, A. (2011). The real functions of evaluation and response systems. Evaluation, 17(4), 327-349.
Stufflebeam, D. L. (2001) Evaluation Models, New Directions For Evaluation, no. 89, Spring Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 7-98
Stufflebeam, D. L., & Shinkfield, A. J. (2007). Evaluation theory, models, and applications. Shinkfield. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
European Commission, Development D.G. (2006) Indicative Guidelines on Evaluation Methods: Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators
European Commission, Budgets D. G. (2004). Evaluating EU Activities - a Practical Guide for the Commission Services.
Scriven, M. (2007). The logic of evaluation. In H.V. Hansen, et. al. (Eds), Dissensus and the Search for Common Ground, CD-ROM (pp. 1-16). Windsor, ON: OSSA.
Giorgi, L., & Tandon, A. (2000). The Theory and Practice of Evaluation ICCR (Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences) Working Papers.
Bentivegna, V. (2015) About Design, Evaluations And Evaluators. Valori e Valutazioni, 15, 1-12.
SWOT analysis:
Chang, H. H., & Huang, W. C. (2006). Application of a quantification SWOT analytical method. Mathematical and computer modelling, 43(1), 158-169.
Logical framework approach & Project Cycle Management:
European Commission, Development D.G. (2004) Project Cycle Management
Norad (1999) Logical Framework Approach: handbook for objectives-oriented planning
Evaluation of public and private efficiency:
Belli, P., Anderson, J., Barnum, H., Dixon, J., & Tan, J. P. (1998). Handbook on economic analysis of investment operations. The World Bank, Washington, DC.
Milis, K., Snoeck, M., & Haesen, R. (2009). Evaluation of the applicability of investment appraisal techniques for assessing the business value of IS services.
Pagiola, S. (1996). Economic analysis of investments in cultural heritage: Insights from environmental economics. World Bank, Washington, DC.
Evaluation of Architectural Heritage:
Benhamou, F. (2003). Heritage. In Towse, R. (ed). A Handbook of Cultural Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003, (No. HCE; 32), p. 255-262.
Mason, R. (2002). Assessing values in conservation planning: methodological issues and choices. Assessing the values of cultural heritage, 5-30.
Throsby, D. (2002) Cultural Capital and Sustainability Concepts in the Economics of Cultural Heritage. Assessing the values of cultural heritage, 101-117.
Mourato, S., & Mazzanti, M. (2002). Economic valuation of cultural heritage: evidence and prospects. Assessing the values of cultural heritage, 51-76.
Howe K. & Ashcraft, C. (2005). Deliberative democratic evaluation: Successes and limitations of an evaluation of school choice. Teachers College Record, 107(10), 2274-2297
Democratic Evaluation and Multi-Criteria Analysis:
Floc'hlay B., Plottu E. (1998). Democratic evaluation from empowerment evaluation to public decision-making, Evaluation, n. 4.3, pp. 261-277.
Plottu B., Plottu E. (2009). Approaches to Participation in Evaluation Some Conditions for Implementation. Evaluation, n. 15(3), pp.343-359.
Hanberger A. (2006). Evaluation of and for Democracy. Evaluation, n. 12(1), pp. 17-37.
Berni, M. (2015). Democratic Evaluation of Architectural Heritage Restoration and Conservation Projects. FABBRICA DELLA CONOSCENZA, Contemporary problems of architecture and construction – Proceedings of 7th International conference, 669-672
Berni, M. (2015) Democratic evaluation of architectural heritage. Heritage and technology - mind knowledge Experience Le vie dei mercanti - XIII Forum internazionale di studi, 1765-1774.
UK Government (2009). Multi-criteria analysis: a manual.Department for Communities and Local Government.
Obiettivi Formativi
The course aims to provide the student with the basic logic of the evaluation process, forming a technician equipped with the theoretical knowledge and the technical skills required to understand, control and design an evaluation process supporting the decision-making process of complex projects and urban plans according to European, national and regional regulation.
Learning Objectives:
The course aims to equip the student with:
• theoretical and methodological knowledge on evaluation as a cognitive process for the expression of judgements of value on the available alternatives according to scientific procedures;
• technical and operational skills needed to carry out economic evaluations suited to the different stages of the architectural project and urban plan.
In particular, the course provides:
• the basic concepts of evaluation as a scientific discipline
• the characteristics of the decision-making process of the architectural project and urban plan
• the main, most common, economic evaluation techniques typically used in evaluating the project at different stages and at different scales (from the building to the city).
Prerequisiti
Fundamental concepts of Economics.
Metodi Didattici
The course consists of lectures which develop course issues including the principle of evaluation theory, the use of evaluation in the project’s (and plan’s) decision-making process and the presentation of the main, most common evaluation techniques used in the architect’s professional practice.
Modalità di verifica apprendimento
Exams are oral.
Students regularly attending the course have 2 possibilities:
• Oral exam on all the topics addressed in the course (the power point presentations of all the lectures are provided in digital form by the teacher)
• Students interested in deepening a specific topic can make a written report (theme and structure must be agreed in advance with the teacher) and present it orally, demonstrating a sufficient knowledge of course contents.
Students not attending the course must agree on a bibliography (tailored according to their specific interests in evaluation) with the teacher and take an oral examination on it.
Non-attending students are requested to study all the texts included in the bibliography agreed with the teacher.
Programma del corso
• The concept of evaluation and its definition as a scientific discipline;
• Relativity of evaluation;
• Reliability, correctness, and verifiability of evaluation;
• Relationship between decision making and evaluation;
• The decision-making process;
• Main models of decision-making processes with a special focus on rational models;
• Meaning of architectural design from the decision-making point of view: project as a production plan and as a decision-making tool;
• Collective and coordinated nature of the architectural project;
• Complexity of architectural project;
• The problem of uncertainty and forecasting in Architectural design decision making;
• Project and plan as decision-making tools;
• Key features of the project actors;
• The concept of coordination and different types of coordination: hierarchic and collaborative in public-private partnership;
• Main problems of collaborative coordination and possible solutions;
• Different kinds of coordination models in public-private partnership;
• Main roles of evaluation in project’s phases;
• Criteria for project success;
• Classifications of evaluations;
• Main evaluation tools (with a special focus on their pros and cons):
- SWOT Analysis
- Logical framework approach evaluating the project’s relevance, internal coherence, and sustainability
- Financial analysis to evaluate the project’s private efficiency
- Cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the project’s public efficiency
- Democratic evaluation and multi-criteria analysis.