Infrastructure ecology: an evolving paradigm for sustainable urban development

Abstract

Increasing urbanization places cities at the forefront of achieving global sustainability. For cities to become more sustainable, however, the infrastructure on which they rely must also become more productive, efficient and resilient. Unfortunately the current paradigm of urban infrastructure development is fragmented in approach lacking a systems perspective. Urban infrastructure systems are analogous to ecological systems because they are interconnected, complex and adaptive components that exchange material, information and energy among themselves and to and from the environment, and exhibit characteristic scaling properties that can be expressed by Zipf's Law. Analyzing them together as a whole, as one would do for an ecological system, provides a better understanding about their dynamics and interactions, and enables system-level optimization. The adoption of this "infrastructure ecology" approach will result in urban (re)development that requires lower investment of financial and natural resources to build and maintain, is more sustainable (e.g. uses less materials and energy and generates less waste) and resilient, and enables a greater and more equitable opportunities for the creation of wealth and comfort. The 12 guiding principles of infrastructure ecology will provide a set of goals for urban planners, engineers and other decision-makers in an urban system for urban (re)development. Highlights• Infrastructure ecology, a novel paradigm for urban infrastructure development is presented.• Urban infrastructure systems function analogous to natural ecological systems.• Interdependence between infrastructure sectors are identified and assessed.• Infrastructural symbiosis reorganizes the flows within for system-level optimization.• 12 guiding principles of infrastructure ecology are presented for decision makers.

Exploring Greenhouse Gas‐Mitigation Strategies in Chinese Eco‐Industrial Parks by Targeting Energy Infrastructure Stocks

“…Ramaswami and colleagues () analyzed the GHG emissions from urban infrastructure and discussed key mitigation measures. Moreover, infrastructural ecology has been proposed by Xu and colleagues () and Pandit and colleagues () as a paradigm to encourage sustainable urban infrastructure systems. Put simply, energy infrastructure will play a key role in mitigating carbon pollution both locally and globally.…”

Managing energy infrastructure to decarbonize industrial parks in China

“…4. The client units with a capacity of ≤ 30 MW, (30,60] MW, and (120, 200] MW contributed the majority in almost all scenarios, e.g., 91% of the total GHG mitigation potentials, 81% of the total freshwater savings, 89% of the total SO 2 reductions, and 86% of the total NO x reductions in the integrated scenario. M3 had the most substantial GHG mitigation potential due to the efficiency improvements from extraction-condensing or purecondensing technologies to back-pressure technology.…”

“…Shareable energy infrastructure is universally used in industrial parks and generally has a long service lifetime [27][28][29] ; thus, the GHG emissions from industrial parks are locked in. Efficient, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure is a crucial pathway to greening industrilization 30 . The energy infrastructure in an industrial park is defined as shareable utilities that are located within the park and provide energy for the park, e.g., heat and electricity 31 .…”

An Overview of Sewage Treatment Rates in Chinese Cities

“…This could greatly affect the overall sewage treatment rate of a specific urban area. Urban areas with more stringent standards tended to have a higher GDP, resulting in more municipal funding to improve sewage treatment capabilities and availability [9].…”