Urban Metabolism

Abstract

Urban metabolism (UM) is fundamentally an accounting framework whose goal is to quantify the inflows, outflows, and accumulation of resources (such as materials and energy) in a city. The main goal of this chapter is to offer an introduction to UM. First, a brief history of UM is provided. Three different methods to perform an UM are then introduced: the first method takes a bottom-up approach by collecting/estimating individual flows; the second method takes a top-down approach by using nation-wide input–output data; and the third method takes a hybrid approach. Subsequently, to illustrate the process of applying UM, a practical case study is offered using the city-state of Singapore as an exemplar. Finally, current and future opportunities and challenges of UM are discussed. Overall, by the early twenty-first century, the development and application of UM have been relatively slow, but this might change as more and better data sources become available and as the world strives to become more sustainable and resilient.

Three research priorities for just and sustainable urban systems: Now is the time to refocus

“…Achieving urban circularity requires rethinking urban living and its governance, rethinking product ownership (e.g., the sharing economy), and the redesigning of products, services, or even entire infrastructure systems (Ramaswami, 2020;Ramaswami et al, 2016). The analytical approaches used in urban infrastructure analysis include material and energy flow analysis, urban metabolism, and LCA (Boyer & Ramaswami, 2020;Chester et al, 2014;Derrible et al, 2021;Hillman & Ramaswami, 2010;Kennedy et al, 2010Kennedy et al, , 2014Kennedy et al, , 2015. These approaches are also commonly used in CE analyses (Walzberg et al, 2021).…”

Method to Develop Potential Business Cases of Plastic Recycling from Urban Areas: A Case Study on Nonhousehold End-Use Plastic Film Waste in Belgium

“…36,37 This makes urban areas crucial to improve the material utilization efficiency of a region(s) and become a source of concentrated secondary resources that can be recycled into valuable materials. 38,39 Extra costs and environmental footprint arise from the conservation of raw materials in urban areas, for example, caused by selective waste collection and recycling. 40,41 Studies from Boskovic et al 42 and Marques et al 43 indicate that costs associated with selective collection can account for up to half of the costs of the recycling system.…”

“…In the context of nonhousehold end-use plastic, urban areas are important because of high business densities. , This makes urban areas crucial to improve the material utilization efficiency of a region(s) and become a source of concentrated secondary resources that can be recycled into valuable materials. , Extra costs and environmental footprint arise from the conservation of raw materials in urban areas, for example, caused by selective waste collection and recycling. , Studies from Boskovic et al and Marques et al indicate that costs associated with selective collection can account for up to half of the costs of the recycling system. Thus, properly estimating collection costs is crucial in assessing the business case development of nonhousehold end-use plastic waste recycling.…”

Interrelationships between electricity, gas, and water consumption in large‐scale buildings

“…In this context, understanding patterns of building energy and water consumption is critical to be able to characterize the urban metabolism of cities (Yeow and Cheah, 2019;Perrotti & Stremke, 2018) and to prepare them to meet future demand in energy and resources (Chini & Stillwell, 2019). In particular, the literature on the energy-water nexus (Newell, Goldstein, & Foster, 2019) and on urban metabolism (Derrible, Cheah, Arora, & Yeow, 2021) tends to look at both energy and water, for example, to report the amount of energy consumed by water distribution systems (Chini & Stillwell, 2019).…”