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The study of urban metabolism and its applications to urban planning and design
- Title
- The study of urban metabolism and its applications to urban planning and design
- Author(s)
- Christopher Kennedy
- Stephanie Pincetl
- Paul Bunje
- Year
- 2011
- Type
- Journal Article
- Source
-
Environmental Pollution, Volume 159, Pages 1965--1973
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.10.022
- Abstract
- Following formative work in the 1970s, disappearance in the 1980s, and reemergence in the 1990s,
a chronological review shows that the past decade has witnessed increasing interest in the study of
urban metabolism. The review finds that there are two related, non-conflicting, schools of urban
metabolism: one following Odum describes metabolism in terms of energy equivalents; while the second
more broadly expresses a city’s flows of water, materials and nutrients in terms of mass fluxes. Four
example applications of urban metabolism studies are discussed: urban sustainability indicators; inputs
to urban greenhouse gas emissions calculation; mathematical models of urban metabolism for policy
analysis; and as a basis for sustainable urban design. Future directions include fuller integration of social,
health and economic indicators into the urban metabolism framework, while tackling the great
sustainability challenge of reconstructing cities.
- More Information
-
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.10.022
- Data Visualizations
-
Representation of a sustainable metabolism for the Toronto Port Lands
-
The urban metabolism of the Toronto Port Lands
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Metabolism of Cities 
