urban metabolism for resource-efficient cities · urban metabolism for resource-efficient cities:...

URBAN METABOLISM FORRESOURCE-EFFICIENT CITIES:

F R O M T H E O R Y T O I M P L E M E N T A T I O N

Acknowledgements:

Lead authors: Josephine Kaviti Musango, Paul Currie and Blake RobinsonThe authors acknowledge assistance from Nhlanhla MayDesign and layout: Sunflood

This study was the outcome of a collaboration between the Sustainability Institute (www.sustainabilityinstitute.net) and UN Environment (www.unep.org) under the framework of the Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (www.resourceeffi-cientcities.org). It is based on research conducted by Josephine Musango and Sasha Mentz Lagrange, and reviewed by UN Environment under the leadership of Arab Hoballah and Soraya Smaoun in 2014. The research reviewed urban metabolic flow analysis methodologies, and was used to develop a 'toolkit' to help cities to understand their resource flows. A copy of this research can be found at www.resourceefficientcities.org.

The full report should be referenced as follows:Musango, J.K., Currie, P. & Robinson, B. (2017) Urban metabolism for resource efficient cities: from theory to implementation. Paris: UN Environment.

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Page 1 Urban Metabolism For Resource-efficient Cities: From Theory To Implementation

Executive SummaryThis report was commissioned as part of the Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC), launched in June 2012 by UN Environment to capitalise on the potential of cities to lead a global shift toward resource efficiency. The report reviewed urban resource assessment tools that can guide a city-level resource efficiency transition, using urban metabolism assessment as the guiding framework.

Cities consume the largest amount of global resources, and generate enormous waste outputs that impact their local and global hinterlands. However, they also offer opportunities for improving the resource efficiency and reducing the environmental impacts of society. Urban environments and their activities are managed at sub-national level, mainly, municipal or city level. Effective action taken at municipal levels can potentially improve resource efficiencies and achieve other sustainable development goals at the same time.

The urban metabolism concept has inspired ideas about designing sustainable cities and has furthered quantitative approaches to urban resource flows assessment. The concept refers to the “collection of complex socio-technical and socio-ecological processes by which flows of materials, energy, people, and information shape the city, service the needs of its populace, and impact the surrounding hinterland” (Currie and Musango, 2016). Cities have been characterised by linear processes where resources and wastes enter and leave the city boundaries respectively. The challenge is to transition from a linear perspective to a networked and cyclical perspective, in which wastes become new inputs, reducing dependence on the hinterland for resources. This implies that urban metabolism assessment is a relevant concept for spatial planning and urban development in order to support a resource efficiency transition.

Various methods have been offered to quantify resource flows: accounting approaches; input-output analysis; ecological footprint analysis; life cycle analysis and simulation methods. However, no consensus exists about which of these assessment methods are best used to analyse the sustainability of these complex systems. Further, the practical implementation of the concept of urban metabolism in spatial planning and policy development has been limited, due in part to a lack of standardisation of methods and minimal guidelines for how to shape a sustainable urban metabolism. Different scales of analysis and different stakeholders are rarely integrated.

Faced with this challenge, this report offers some recommendations for translating the urban metabolism concept from theory, making sense of the data and outputs from the assessments, to making practical interventions to change resource consumption behaviour and waste generation. These were based on insights from the literature and include:

• The need to undertake a basic urban metabolism assessment for all cities, which will ensure comparison for all cities, in both developed and developing countries

• Moving from top-down to bottom-up approaches in order to capture data unavailable in conventional databases

• Linking spatial and temporal issues in urban metabolism assessments

• Switching between the different scales of analysis, for both urban metabolism assessment and spatial planning

• Promoting a transdisciplinary approach, in which co-design takes place with society, and not for society, and to ensure assessment is not a once-off event.

• Promoting system dynamics modelling to examine the complex, dynamic interrelationships that exist in physical and social processes of the urban metabolism and their implication for urban planning and design interventions.


The concept of urban metabolism has furthered quantitative approaches to urban resource flows assessment and inspired ideas about designing sustainable cities (Agudelo-Vera et al., 2012, Castán Broto et al., 2012, Zhang, 2013), which in turn, allows for the identification of leverage points for resource-efficiency interventions. The concept has been applied across various disciplines to theorise and assess cities’ sustainability in relation to resource consumption and waste generation. The idea that urban environments operate as metabolic systems has resulted in the rethinking of how environmental, social and economic factors interact to shape urban phenomena.

Existing urban metabolism studies show an overlap in the interests of scholars across different disciplines: urban ecology, industrial ecology, political ecology, political geography and ecological economics. A common concern across these studies and disciplines is the relationship between social and natural systems, cities and their hinterlands, sustainability of resource consumption and social justice in densely populated urban areas (New-man, 1999, Engel-Yan et al., 2003, Codoban and Kennedy, 2008, Kennedy et al., 2010). Very often, such studies have interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ambitions, and the scholars work to push their disciplinary boundar-ies (e.g. Golubiewski, 2012).

1. IntroductionCities are growing at an unprecedented rate. More than 54 percent of the global population live in cities (UN-DE-SA, 2014). This is expected to intensify resource requirements (cities are already significant consumers of mate-rials and energy), environmental impacts which extend beyond city boundaries to their hinterlands, and social inequality of urban inhabitants. The question is how to address the urban sustainability challenges relating to population pressures, resource limitations and social inequality in the context of rapid urbanisation?

If implemented correctly, resource-efficiency initiatives may increase competitiveness, secure growth and jobs, enable innovation, reduce resource requirements and allow improved access to resources (Commission, 2015). Resource efficiency has traditionally focused on production and consumption (Weterings et al., 2013). However, cities provide opportunities to manage and implement resource-efficient initiatives on a wider scale through integrated urban planning. Local governments are responsible for the provision of diverse public services to residents and economic activities (e.g. industry, commerce) that influence resource use and waste generation. The challenge they face is to integrate the various aspects of the urban system, illustrated in Figure 1.

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Technology/labour

Energy and resources

Local, regional,global government∙ Environmental and climate change impacts∙ Depletion of natural resources

Urban technicalsystem∙ Building∙ Transport∙ Energy∙ Water and sewage

Society∙ Lifestyle∙ Governance∙ Economy∙ Innovation

Urban metabolism Urban metabolism

Waste and emissions

Urban life standard

Urban planningand design

Value/vision

Consequences Representation

Figure 1: Components of the urban system. Source: Adapted from Bai & Schandl (2011)

Urban Metabolism For Resource-efficient Cities: From Theory To Implementation

While the theoretical potential of the urban metabolism concept to support urban planning and design for resource efficiency is supported in scientific literature (e.g. Kennedy et al., 2011, Pincetl et al., 2012, Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016), its practical implementation is so far limited (Voskamp et al., In Press). This raises questions about the value of the concept of urban metabolism in understanding urban processes to support resource-efficiency interventions; and how it can transition from theory to practical implementation when quantitative assessments are considered. To explore these questions, this report begins by critically reviewing the concept of urban metabolism in the context of resource-efficient cities. Further, it reviews approaches to urban metabolism assessment and their application in urban contexts. Finally, based on critical literature analysis, the report provides perspectives for transitioning from theory to practical implementation.

2. The concept of urban metabolism2.1 Definition

The concept of urban metabolism has re-emerged after being overlooked for many years (Barles, 2010). Interest-ingly, there is no consensus in the literature on the foundations of the concept. For instance, Kennedy et al. (2011) highlight Abel Wolman (1965) as the founder of the concept, when he examined the process of supplying material, energy and food to a hypothetical city, as well as its respective output products. Lin et al. (2012) argue that Burgess (1925), a sociologist, first utilised the term with no formal definition to analogise urban growth to the anabolic and catabolic processes. Barles (2010) suggests the concept was not formulated for the urban context in the 19th century, but used by chemists who were concerned with wastewater and fertilizer use in agriculture production. Others trace the term to Marx in 1883 when he described the exchange of materials and energy between society and environment (Pincetl et al., 2012, Zhang, 2013). Recently, Lederer and Kral (2015) have evidenced Theodor Weyl, a German chemist and medical doctor, as the founder of current urban metabo-lism studies. His 1894 publication, ‘Essays on the metabolism of Berlin,’ investigated nutrient flows discharged from Berlin, comparing them to nutrient consumption through food intake.

The urban metabolism can be understood as the process by which a city attains resources from its local environ-mental hinterland or through trade, consumes them for the production of economic outputs and social services

(which are ideally, but not actually, equitably distributed), and releases the wastes into the environment. Kennedy et al. (2007) define the urban metabolism as the ‘sum of the technical and socio–economic process-es that occur within the cities, resulting in growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste’. Although other studies provide the concept definition (e.g. Wolman, 1965, Graedel, 1999, Baccini and Brunner, 2012), Kennedy and colleagues’ definition is the most cited in the litera-ture. Their definition explicitly encompasses essential components of an urban system but with a specific bias towards industrial ecology, which focuses on quantification, and excludes the emergent urban activities made possible through resource exchange. Recognising it as wider than industrial ecology, the urban metabolism can be understood as the “collection of complex sociotechnical and socio-ecological processes by which flows of materials, energy, people, and information shape the city, service the needs of its populace, and impact the surrounding hinter-land” (Currie and Musango, 2016). Ferrao and Fernandez present these

processes in an urban metabolism assessment framework (Figure 2), which connects resources, urban bio-so-cial processes, and the urban activities of providing housing, goods and services, and transporting people and goods.

The discrepancies in the apparent foundations of the concept of urban metabolism indicate that a single disciplinary enquiry is not sufficient. This is evidenced by calls to integrate the concept so as to better understand the socio-technical and socio-ecological process of urban systems. This demands transdisciplinary actions (Lin et al., 2012), in which researchers move between disciplines but also engage directly with stakeholders. More

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Urban metabolism can be understood as the “collection of complex sociotechnical and socio-ecological processes by which flows of materials, energy, people, and information shape the city, service the needs of its populace, and impact the surrounding hinterland.”


so, the formal definitions should not only integrate flows of natural, industrial and urban materials and energy, but also flows of people and information (Currie and Musango, 2016). Finally, the urban metabolism is hugely shaped by political context, which influences the political commitment to translate knowledge into practical implementation. Guibrunet et al. (2016) suggest that the urban metabolism concept offers an important perspective for drawing out the political realities of a city.

Castán Broto (2012) highlights six themes that emerged within interdisciplinary boundaries in relation to the urban metabolism: “(i) the city as an ecosystem; (ii) material and energy flows within the city; (iii) economic–ma-terial relations within the city; (iv) economic drivers of rural–urban relationships; (v) reproduction of urban inequality; and (vi) attempts to re-signify the city through new visions of socio-ecological relationships”.

2.2 Motivating the use of urban metabolism assessment

Barles (2010) provides two perspectives for urban metabolism studies. The first is applied research and decision support, which examines: (i) urban biogeochemistry processes; (ii) implications of the material and energy needs of cities on other spaces and the entire biosphere; (iii) biogeochemical and social operations interactions. The second is a tool to address sustainable development challenges and the requirements to achieve dematerialisa-tion1, decarbonisation2 and the closing of material loops. These studies entail constructing indicators, identifying sustainability targets and developing decision support tools for strategies to dematerialise or decarbonise. This report concentrates on the second perspective, with the specific aim to shift from theory to implementation of resource efficiency plans and designs.

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inputs

passive

active

biogeochemical context

socio-environmentalinterface

socioeconomic context

flora +fauna

municipalextraction

municipalsink

environmental dispersion(heat, materials, air + water)

cycles

imports

passiveexports

exportedmun.waste

water

air

solar rad.

carbon

UA3Goods & Services

UA2B. Env. & Infrastc

UA1Transportation

regionalhidden flows

municipalhidden flows

phos

water

nitrogen

water

materials

biomass

energy

urban economy outputs

active

water

air

heat

regionalhidden flows

water

materials

biomass

energy

passive

Figure 2: Urban metabolism framework. Source: Ferrao & Fernandez (2013:40)

1 The consumption of fewer materials2 The consumption of less carbon


The increasingly widespread use of urban metabolism assessments is driven by a need to radically decrease the resources required to enable economic growth and a good quality of life. This need is motivated by the UN Environment Report, Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth (UNEP, 2011) which calls for a decoupling of economic production from resource consumption as well as from environmental degradation. It presents a number of scenarios for a safe level of global resource consumption, most notably a scenario in which countries of the global North reduce consumption while countries of the global South increase consump-tion (which is required as many of these populations lack access to basic resources), converging at a global level of 70 billion tons of materials consumed in 2050. This amounts to about 8 tons per person, which is about a third of the United States’ consumption, half of typical current European consumption, and double the average African country’s consumption. As cities are the concentrators of resource consumption, it is imperative that they lead the shift towards this goal of 8 tons per capita, through resource-efficiency measures. It is important to be aware of the misconception that many cities of the global South appear to be resource efficient already, as this is largely due to unmet demands that have serious negative consequences for the poor. In these contexts, it is important to promote improved access to resources in a resource-efficient manner so that the benefits can be shared by more people.

2.3 The city: from organism to ecosystem

An urban metabolism perspective on cities also differs based on the central metaphor utilised: ‘organism’ or ‘ecosystem’. As organisms, cities are seen to share attributes with organisms in their distribution resources through networks: cities are likened to a human body (Golubiewski, 2012). For instance, similar to blood vessels or the vascular networks which distribute energy and materials to cells in an organism, city networks of infrastructure (e.g. power lines or roads) distribute energy, materials and people throughout an urban area. The perspective of cities as ecosystems only became common in the second half of the 20th century (UNU-IAS Urban Ecosystems Management Group., 2003).

Odum (1971; 1973) proposed that materials and energy in societies can be analysed in the same manner as for organisms and ecosystems. While the approach for cities as organisms is not entirely new, the notion that tools from biology can be used to study cities is increasingly relevant for ecologists studying the metabolism of cities (Decker et al., 2000; 2007), the ecological footprints of cities and regions (Luck et al., 2001), and the ecological impacts of human societies (Vitousek et al, 1997; Wackernagel et al., 2002; Bettencourt et al., 2007). Over the years, the conceptualisation of a city has however taken various paths, which can be categorised as an urban ecology approach, flows approach, or biosocial approach (Table 1).

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It is important to promote improved access to resources in a resource-efficient manner.

Table 1: Trajectories in conceptualizing a city

Category Description

Urban ecology approach This largely remains within the realm of biology. The urban ecologists have regarded cities as unique types of natural ecosystem and such studies have applications to urban planning (e.g. Hough, 1990). Human activities are also separated from humans in this approach and the focus is mainly on the concepts, processes, disturbances, structures and functioning of the urban ecological systems.

Flows approach Attempts to incorporate human activities into the understanding of the urban metabolism or dynamics in the sense of flows approach. The cities are analysed in terms of inputs and outputs of resources, materials, and energy (e.g. Wolman, 1965, Boyden and Celecia, 1981).

Biosocial approach This entails the application of ecological metaphors by the sociologists to understand for instance, the role of competition and cooperation as a mechanism of change and progress in the urban management.


An ecosystem perspective is appealing as it widens the scope of inquiry to include relationships between actors and between other system elements, and is embraced by managers and the general public (Likens, 1992, Golley, 1993). While there are still disparities between ecologists and other disciplines on whether a city constitutes an ecosystem, the potential utility of the concept when applied to urban systems is its potential utilisation within the realm of systems thinking (Grimm et al., 1999, Golubiewski, 2012).

The organism metaphor represents the current configuration of city metabolisms, which is mostly linear. Cities depend on their hinterlands for the majority of materials (biomass, water, construction materials and energy requirements (Bai, 2007), which are utilised inefficiently (Agudelo-Vera et al., 2012). The waste resulting from consumption is disposed of in solid, liquid or gaseous forms. Cities are thus vulnerable due to their resource dependency in their current linear metabolisms, which impose stresses on local resource supplies and negative-ly impact the natural environment during resource extraction and waste disposal.

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Figure 3: Linear metabolism city versus circular metabolism city

a) Linear metabolism,unsustainable, inefficient,organism perspective

Emissions to soil, water and air; people, information

Energy, water, materials, people, information

b) Circular metabolism,sustainable, efficient,ecosystem perspective City socio-political and

socio-ecological dynamics

∙ Resource harvesting locally∙ Reuse, recycle waste materials,

gases and liquids

Emissions to soil, water and air; people, information

Energy, water, materials, people, information


On the contrary, an ecosystem metaphor of cities represents resource efficiency and closed loops in which all outputs are potential inputs, thus offering a stronger prospect for achieving urban sustainability. A circular metabolism resembles a natural ecosystem with efficient consumption, recycling and reuse of resource flows (Doughty and Hammond, 2004). This reduces dependence on the hinterland and other cities. Cities have typically designed their infrastructures following linear metabolisms (e.g. resource-consumption-waste). In light of planetary resource constraints, the long-term viability and sustainability of cities is reliant on shifting from linear metabolisms to circular metabolisms.

Based on the concept of urban metabolism, proposals of moving from theory to practical implementation of a more circular metabolism are discussed in Section 5. These aim at closing the loops, exploring ways to decrease demand for resources and providing alternative, efficient ways to meet resource needs. If a metaphor is to be utilised, scientists must be very precise about the terms used so as not to undermine or confuse the metaphors from biology and ecology as demonstrated in Table 2. As discussed in Section 3, these attributes shape how methods of urban metabolism assessment are employed, specifically in relation to context, flows, movement, space and scope.

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Table 2: Differences between the conceptualisation of urban systemsas ‘organisms’ and ‘ecosystems’

Organism perspective Ecosystem perspective

Scientific foundation Biology Ecosystem ecology

Disciplinary focus Life processes Abiotic / biotic interactions

Orientation Inward Internal processes, external linkages

Metabolism meaning Food/waste Energy processing, production / respiration (carbon balance)

Metabolic units Volume Energy or carbon (or other materials)

Movement Input-output Feedbacks

Flows Throughput Structure-function linkages

System regulation Homeostasis Homeorhesis

Stability Resistance Resilience

Time Climax succession Disturbance dynamics

Structure Morphostatic Multiple stable states

Space Uniformity Fine scale spatial heterogeneity (patch dynamics and gradients)

Agency Single actor Social, biological and physical entities

Consumption Heterotrophy Internal transformations and teleconnections

Scope Black box Sub-systems

Environmental context of city Separate but connected, Integrated social-biological-physical system hinterland

An ecosystem metaphor of cities represents resource efficiency and closed loops in which all outputs are potential inputs.

Source: Golubiewski (2012)


3. Approaches for assessing urban metabolismIn the last two decades, there has been a resurgence in the output of urban metabolism studies and an increase in the number of methods by which researchers have attempted to understand the metabolism of urban systems. A number of thorough reviews of these methods have been produced (e.g. Kennedy et al., 2011, Zhang, 2013, Zhang et al., 2015, Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016, Mostafavi et al., 2014), which document a shift from methods which seek simply to account for material or energy flows in cities and city-regions, to methods which attempt to provide indicators for metabolic changes and environmental impacts of their metabolisms.

In addition to ecological concerns, multiple methods have emerged to extend urban metabolism investigations beyond questions of resource flow accounting, to questions of equitable access to resources, as well as of how urban systems shape, and are shaped by, these resource flows. This section provides a brief exploration of common urban metabolism assessment methods, here categorised into accounting approaches, input/output analysis, ecological footprint, life cycle analysis, simulation methods and hybrid methods. Considerations which affect the choice of method, derived from the review of 112 urban metabolism studies by Beloin-Saint Pierre et al. (2016), are then discussed with specific reference to the need to standardise methods as well as increase their relevance to policy-makers and decision-makers.

3.1 Accounting approaches

Accounting approaches make use of the thermodynamic laws of the conservation of mass and conservation of energy (Mostafavi et al., 2014), in which inputs and outputs of the city system are deemed as equivalent, result-ing in aggregate assessments of resource flows as they enter and leave the city, and overlooking the internal processes of the city.

Material flow analysis (MFA) quantifies resource flows by physical weight or volume. It can be conducted at multi-ple scales and considers a range of metabolic flows offering a wide range of detail (Barles, 2010). The most well-established and broadly used approach is economy- wide material flow analysis (EW-MFA), likely because the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat., 2001) has produced a standardised methodology, predominantly for use at national level but more recently adapted for use at city-level (Barles, 2009). Econo-my-wide material flow analysis attempts to systematically measure the overall magnitude of metabolic flows for a given period within defined administrative boundaries. It regards an economy as a ‘black box’ (Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016), accounting for inputs by domestic resource extraction and physical imports, changes to physical stock within the economy, and outputs through export, waste disposal and emissions, which balance these accounts. Comparing resource inputs and outputs demonstrates some simple characteristics of cities (Fernández, 2014). Young cities tend to have larger inputs than outputs, as they are growing and need resources to build stocks (e.g. buildings and infrastructures); over time, this accumulation of built stocks contrib-utes to waste flows, as it breaks down. As cities mature, the inputs and outputs become more similar in magni-tude and reuse and recycling initiatives have more impact on the city’s metabolic intensity (Bai, 2007, Kennedy et al., 2011).

Economy-wide material flow analysis can provide a basis for material flow management and dematerialisation strategies on a regional or city-scale (Barles, 2009) and can contribute to the definition of public environmental policies. While economy-wide material flow analysis may depict flows for each sector, the simplification of resource flows into inputs and outputs omits a number of interactions that take place in the city, obscuring potential intervention levers (Hammer et al., 2003). Econo-my-wide material flow analysis also tends to depict large material

flows and may under-represent smaller materials flows, despite their potentially high environmental impacts (Hammer et al. 2003). To address this, substance flow analysis (SFA) can be utilised to track the pathways of a specific substance or group of substances from origin to destination, identifying where they accumulate (Baccini and Brunner, 2012). The most widely researched substances, still mostly at a national level, include steel,

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Material flow analysis can provide a basis for material flow management and dematerialisation strategies on a regional or city-scale, and can contribute to the definition of public environmental policies.


copper, zinc, cadmium, chromium, phosphorous, or a combination of nitrogen and phosphorous (Yuan et al., 2011). As information generated from the substance flow analysis is quite detailed, it can be used to provide a targeted management strategy for substance flows. Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al (2016) show that most (38%) of their reviewed studies made use of flow analysis methods such as material flow analysis and substance flow analysis.

One of the earliest accounting approaches was introduced by Odum (1996) in the 1970s to measure energy flows. Odum developed a system of accounting using energy equivalents or emergy (embodied energy), favouring solar energy as an equivalence unit. Another energy balance method is that of exergy, which “represents the amount of useful work that can be performed by the energy in a system” (Zhang, 2013). The benefit of using an equivalence measure is the ability to combine material or energy flows of different unit measurements for an integrative analysis, thus enabling comparison of the relative importance of different flows. It also allows inclu-sion of renewable resources (e.g. solar energy), and both direct and indirect flows (Huang and Chen, 2009). However, this approach faces difficulties in finding appropriate conversion rates for each flow, and the method has no unified way to account for wastes (Zhang, 2013).

The need to decarbonise economies has increased the need to analyse carbon-related metabolic processes to account for the impact of urban metabolisms on global climate change (Zhang, 2013). Energy and carbon flow analyses explicitly recognise carbon flows in materials such as fuels, food or emissions at input, extraction or output stages. Conducting energy, carbon or emergy accounting transcends the limitations of approaches such as economy-wide material flow analysis, input-output analysis or ecological footprint analysis, which generally do not take carbon and energy into account (Kennedy et al., 2012). Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al (2016) show that 23 percent of their reviewed studies made use of energy assessments.

3.2 Input-output analysis

Input-output analysis was originally developed to carry out empirical analyses of commodity flows between the various producing and consuming sectors of a national economy (Leontief, 1936, Miller and Blair, 1985, Duchin and Lange, 1998). Economic models based on input-output analysis trace resources and products by purchases, revealing how industries interact to produce gross domestic product. Despite providing similar information to economy-wide material flow analy-sis, input-output analysis fills some gaps by opening the ‘black box’ to show the internal flows (Daniels, 2008) and how resources interact with urban activities. Applied to a city environment, input-output analysis presents a detailed distinction between the actors of the urban system, necessary for simulating the functions of an urban metabolism (Zhang, 2013). These

actors are compartmentalised, mostly into sectors, and metabolic flows between these compartments are clear-ly represented in the form of physical input-output tables. Input-output analysis thus evaluates the material flows between sectors in an economy by tracking product and sector-specific resource flows as well as productivity (Giljum and Hubacek, 2009). Seven percent of the papers reviewed by Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) made use of input-output analysis.

3.3 Ecological footprint analysis

Ecological footprint analysis was developed as a sustainability indicator of a human economy, at any scale, based on the carrying capacity of the earth (Rees and Wackernagel, 1996). Ecological footprint analysis converts a population’s resource consumption into a single indicator of how much land area is needed to sustain that population indefinitely. Unsustainable populations are deemed to be those with an ecological footprint that exceeds the actual land available to them. Ecological footprint analysis thus combines socio-economic development demands with ecosystem carrying capac-ity into a simple framework that informs researchers and practitioners whether a given metabolism is over-consumptive or operating within its means.

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Input-output analysis evaluates the material flows between sectors in an economy by tracking product and sector-specific resource flows.

Ecological footprint analysis converts a population’s resource consumption into a single indicator of how much land area is needed to sustain that population indefinitely.


However, ecological footprint analysis is criticised as an oversimplification of measuring resource sustainability, for example by losing the specific reason for un-sustainability in an aggregate measure (land) or by suggesting only a single land use (Moffatt, 2000, Opschoor, 2000). The ecological footprint indicator has mainly been used as a public awareness tool to communicate patterns of over-consumption of a population or individual (Brunner, 2001). Despite this, 10 percent of Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al (2016) reviewed papers made use of ecological footprint analysis.

3.4 Life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) offers a “cradle-to-grave” analysis of material flows embedded within products and services to identify their wider impact (Ferrao and Nhambiu, 2009). It evaluates all stages of a product or service ‘life cycle,’ from the extraction of raw materials, through the creation of products and services, to their disposal into the environment (Hendrickson et al., 2006). In this way, life cycle assessment recognises that industries are dependent, directly or indirectly, on one another. Life cycle assessment is mainly suitable for estimating indirect flows associated with raw materials and products with a low level of processing. This is because performing life cycle assessment can be resource and time intensive. Significant material input data at each stage of production are required to calcu-late indirect flows for semi-manufactured and finished products. Any environmen-

tal impact demonstrated by life cycle assessment is presented as a relative measure between products and services (Pincetl, 2012, Goldstein et al., 2013). This means that the assessment of an urban system’s sustain-ability is limited without studies of other times or systems with which to compare. Despite such difficulties, life cycle assessment is an invaluable tool when comparing the environmental impacts of various products and processes, for example for choosing between various technology intervention options. Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) suggest it is the most useful for making policy decisions, yet only four percent of their reviewed studies make use of life cycle assessment.

3.5 Simulation methods

A sustainable urban transition is made difficult by the inherent complexity of cities: the interrelations between variables are difficult to unravel, and the perceptions of causes, and effects may be misunderstood (Parrot, 2010, Pickett et al., 2001), with consequences for policy making and planning. The urban metabolism is a complex system that emerges from the internal processes of socio-economic and socio-ecological systems.

Analysing the metabolism therefore requires an understanding of the whole system. While such tools are not included in most reviews of urban metabolism assessment, this report stresses the importance of using simulation methods, particularly system dynamics, to support policy scenario analysis and planning. There are three main simulation methods: system dynamics, agent-based model-ling; and discrete event (Dooley, 2005). This report focuses on the first two as they are the most relevant for urban metabolism assessment.

System dynamics modelling is an inter- and transdisciplinary method for under-standing the behaviour of systems over time in order to address long-term policy problems (Forrester, 1971, Forrester, 1961, Barlas, 2002, Barlas and Yasarcan, 2006, Sterman, 2000). System dynamics recognises that the structure of any system has non-linear, interlinked causal relationships between its components (Sterman, 2000). It identifies the interactions and feedback that emerge between elements, whilst taking into account how exogenous variables affect the system.

System dynamics models are context specific and require engagement with relevant stakeholders to ensure relevant real-world behaviour is captured. The main shortcoming of system dynamics is that decision rules used to build the model are not obtained from empirical data, but from subjective perceptions of the modeller or stake-holders. However, this is beneficial as it allows for the capturing of real-world behaviour which determines the flow and direction of resources. Further, system dynamics combines qualitative and quantitative analysis and is based on relationship structures, allowing models to be used effectively even in data-scarce environments.

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System dynamics combines qualitative and quantitative analysis and is based on relationship structures, allowing models to be used effectively even in data-scarce environments.

Life cycle assessment is an invaluable tool when comparing the environmental impacts of various products and processes.


Agent-based models examine interactions between entities and with the environment in order to capture dynam-ic behaviour patterns, adaptation and learning behaviours. Agent-based models offer the means to present

interactions of agents at micro scale, as compared to the meso and macro scales best suited to system dynamics modelling. The application of agent-based models to metabolic flow analysis enables the transcendence of limitations associated with input-output approaches which do not account for the complexity of agent behaviour and processes of change, especially at an individual level (Zhang 2013). For cities, which are heterogeneous and subject to a wide variety of outcomes through agents’ decision-making, tracing these behavioural dynamics

is key. Agent-based models can represent the incentives or constraints that determine agents’ willingness to cooperate into a joint intended outcome and can do so at multiple scales, making the approach well adapted to the city context. However, due to its exclusive focus on agents, the agent-based models include only partial stages of a material flow cycle, specifically where agents interact with materials.

3.6 Hybrid methods

While standardisation of traditional methods is necessary, the extension of the urban metabolism metaphor into multiple fields implies new lines of inquiry that cannot be fully addressed by traditional methods. The urban metabolism methods discussed above tend to focus directly on resources, with ecological footprint analysis, life cycle analysis and input-output analy-sis including some environmental effects of resource consumption or flow. There have been many studies which have extended these methods to include indicators of social welfare or reshaped the scope of inquiry to provide more detailed environmental or sustainability indicators. Further-more, studies have sought to link resource flows with the human activities that they enable, thus improving knowledge of which interactions can be targeted for resource-efficiency improvements or improvements to urban functions or quality of life. Thus the use of hybrid approaches has burgeoned. A few examples of such methods include:

• Dakhia and Berezowska-Azzag’s (2010) urban institutional and ecological footprint which assesses institu-tions, laws, instruments, standards, programmes, and public participation related to metabolic flows along with an ecological footprint analysis.

• Kampeng et al. (2009) combine an input-output analysis with system dynamics to appraise the economic and ecological evolution of Macao, thus enabling decision makers to examine how the material flows in Macao would evolve over time – on the basis of exogenous influences – and its impact on the future devel-opment path of the special administrative region.

• Liang and Zhang (2011) combine a physical input–output model and scenario analysis of Suzhou, China, to predict the urban impacts of recycling four categories of solid waste: (i) scrap tires; (ii) food waste from restaurants; (iii) fly ash from solid waste incineration; and (iv) sludge from wastewater treatment.

• Giampietro et al. (2009) have generated an indicator they define as the bio-economic pressure of a given system, which not only factors in disaggregated measurements of energy and material flows, but also quantifies human activity (as hours) expended on resource transformation and transaction, and household activities, making it possible to analyse not only formal economic activities, but household and informal activities. The application of metabolism assessment to city-level necessarily makes use of novel approaches to extend traditional methods.

3.7 Considerations when choosing urban metabolism methods

The methods described in Sections 3.1 to 3.6 can be utilised at multiple scales, and face the challenge of delineating boundaries, particularly as sustainability issues extend from local to global in impact. To be useful for sustainability analysis, Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) assert that extending temporal scope is

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Agent-based models offer the means to present interactions of agents at micro scale.

The extension of the urban metabolism metaphor into multiple fields implies new lines of inquiry that cannot be fully addressed by traditional methods.

The manner in which the city system is conceptualised has direct implications on what policy or planning recommendations can be produced from these assessments.


necessary, as static examinations are not useful for detecting improvements or declines in urban metabolic sustainability. The manner in which the city system is conceptualised has direct implications on what policy or planning recommendations can be produced from these assessments. In this way, Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) distinguish between black box models, in which internal aspects of the city are ignored, grey-box models, which show internal environmental effects of resource flows in cities, and network models, which connect resources with human activities, allowing for direct identification of policy levers. Accounting methods and ecological footprint analysis make use of black box models, while input-output analysis and life cycle analysis are grey-box models, and simulation methods – which are not represented in Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) – are network or transparent models, as they capture the internal processes and dynamics. Finally, the indicators and target audience of the study must be identified. These considerations are summarised by Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. (2016) in Figure 4 as a decision tool for identifying the appropriate urban metabolism assessment method.

Figure 4: Map of methodological choices used to address different goals of UM studies.Notes: CF – carbon footprint; EF – ecological footprint; EFA – energy flow analysis; ENA – environmental network analysis;

I/O – input-output analysis; LCA – life cycle analysis; MFA – material flow analysis; SFA – substance flow analysis.

Source: Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al (2016)

Temporal scope

2. Is it for evaluating the sustainability or direct environmental effects of the UM?

3a) Consideration of global supply chains?City limits

Global Regional (e.g. city+hinterlands)

4a) Consideration of the link between components?Black box

Network Gray-box

Life-cycle perspective Per arbitrary period of time

Arbitrary period (e.g. 2015) Time series (e.g. 2010 to 2020)

Sustainability Direct

Inputs/Outputs Environment

System Inner workings

Yes No

Yes No

Yes No

6. Who is the targeted audience for the qualitative results for the evaluation?

Environmental specialists Decision makers

CF, EF, EE-I/O, LCAMethods:

SFA, MFA, EFA; Emergy, Exergy, P-I/O, ENAMethods:

EE-I/O, LCASFA, MFA, EFA; Emergy, Exergy, CF, EF, P-I/O, ENA

Multiple indicatorsSingle issue (where a material flow can be an indicator)Methods:Methods:

Rating Development

3. Is it an assessment of input/outputs or environmental effects? (i.e. elementary flows or impacts)

Geographical scope

4. Is it an evaluation of the system or its inner workings?

System modeling approaches

5. Is the study focusing on one type of environmental sustainability indicators?

Type of results (indicators and targeted audience)

1. Is it an evaluation of the UM for a rating or for the analysis of its development?


Many authors call for the standardisation of urban metabolism assessment methods (Kennedy et al., 2011, Zhang et al., 2015, Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016, Hoornweg et al., 2012), so as to allow better data sharing and analysis between researchers, as well as allowing relative comparisons of different urban systems or the same urban system over time. Low capitalisation of urban metabolism assessment tools by decision makers has also been directly connected with the lack of a common language between approaches to urban metabolism assess-ment (Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al. 2016). This report does not focus on efforts to standardise the methods discussed, but proposes a framework with which decision makers can begin urban metabolism assessments in their cities (each with different contexts and levels of research capacity).

4. Application of urban metabolism assessment at city-level

This report has catalogued 165 peer-reviewed studies of urban metabolism assessment applied to a specific city context or used for comparing multiple cities. They are listed in Appendix A by location, date and method of analy-sis. Metabolic assessment studies have typically been conducted at national or regional level, where material flow data, or trade proxies, are more available. Figure 5 shows the sharp increase in metabolic studies applied to city-level since 2000, with 26 appli-cations in 2016. Figure 5 also shows the shift in methods utilised to under-stand the urban metabolism. Accounting methods remain predominant, though it should be noted that many urban metabolism assessment case studies do not display rigorous methodological adherence to the methods described in Section 3. Instead, due perhaps to differences in data availabil-ity or desired research outputs, many studies present a basic accounting of energy, material, or waste production or consumption – these are described as accounting methods along with more structured methods such as econo-my-wide material flow analysis, emergy analysis, etc. What is notable over the years is the occurrence of more simulation methods and studies that hybridise methods, suggesting increased attempts to investigate inner functions of the city, and to produce applied outputs.

Figure 5: Number of urban metabolism assessment studies over time, showingthe increasing diversity of approaches utilised.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Num

ber o

f Stu

dies

Year Published

19741975

19761978

19831993

19941995

19961997

19981999

20002001

20022003

20042005

20062007

20082009

20102011

20122013

20142015

2016

Simulation Process: LCA IOA Hybrid Footprint Analysis Accounting

Metabolic assessment studies have typically been conducted at national or regional level, where material flow data, or trade proxies, are more available.


Most studies have been undertaken in cities of the global North, where funding and research capacities are concentrated (Simon and Leck, 2014). In fact, of the 165 studies sourced for this report, 94 are from cities in the global North. The value of these studies is evidenced by useful contributions to resource efficiency or substitu-tion (Browne et al., 2009) determinants of resource consumption (Barles, 2009, Weisz and Steinberger, 2010), lessons for urban resilience (Bristow and Kennedy, 2013), and direct mitigation of environmental impacts. However, many lessons from these studies are not directly transferrable to cities of the global South, which perhaps are not able to, or should not, follow normative planning and urbanisation pathways (Watson, 2009) as they are undergoing rapid growth in an era of resource constraints (Parnell and Pieterse, 2014) and global agree-ments to achieve sustainability targets.

Figure 6 shows the geographic locations of city-specific metabolism studies as well as the type of methods used, giving some basic insight into the depth of analysis available for each city. Studies that compare multiple cities (Saldivar-Sali, 2010, Kennedy et al., 2015, Kennedy et al., 2007, Hoornweg et al., 2012, Currie and Musango, 2016) are not included, despite being particularly useful

for demonstrating the relative sustainability of cities. Comparative investigations typically produce top-down, aggregate measures of resource consumption in cities, which are useful as baselines for further studies, but not necessarily useful for urban planning. The distribution of studies shows strong focus in Europe, North America and China, with more investigations desirable in South America, and the rapidly urbanising Africa and South Asia.

Figure 7 shows that 56 percent of studies focus on cities in the global North, while nine percent of studies compare multiple cities around the world. About 33 percent of studies examine contexts in the global South, the majority of which are Chinese cities (see Figure 7). New studies of urban resource flows from the global South are emerging (e.g. Conke and Ferreira, 2015, Attia and Khalil, 2015, Guibrunet et al., 2016), and it is typically from these that questions of the political ecolo-gy of the urban metabolism are brought to the fore. Such examinations necessarily have to account for discrepancies in resource access and consumption, typically between elite and marginalised populations. It is in these cities that informal systems of resource provision or acquisition, which complement or replace formal systems, are important socio-technical infrastructures to understand and learn from. While informal systems are vulnerable due to their exclusion from government policies or modernist urban

Figure 6: Map of urban metabolism case studies

Top-down, aggregate measures of resource consumption in cities are useful as baselines for further studies, but not necessarily useful for urban planning.

Informal systems are typically adaptable, decentralised and innovative, offering potential lessons for shaping the future of these cities’ infrastructures.

AFRICA

AUSTRALIA

ASIA

EUROPE

S. AMERICA

N. AMERICANumber of Studies

1 5 8+

Accounting Approaches

Footprinting Approaches

Hybrid Approaches

Input Output Approaches

Life Cycle Approaches

Stimulation Approaches

Multiple Approaches


planning regimes, they are typically adaptable, decentralised and innovative, offering potential lessons for shap-ing the future of these cities’ infrastructures.

The various methods of urban metabolism assessment provide different outputs for understanding the city. Aggregate accounting approaches, often not following strict adherence to a method, may provide insight into the drivers of a city’s metabolism, improving the ability to predict resource consumption levels. Accounting methods may also provide direct quantifications of resource consumption, with policy suggestions or targeted recommen-dations for reducing consumption or increasing access to specific resources. Simulation approaches may provide specific behavioural and technical recommendations. Life cycle analyses of infrastructure systems may offer comparisons of the relative environmental consequences of current or proposed resource-efficiency initia-tives. Some examples of resource flow, infrastructure or policy recommendations that have emerged from urban metabolism assessment approaches include:

• An economy-wide material flow analysis of Paris (Barles, 2009), conducted at multiple scales, shows higher consumption of food and goods in the city center and higher consumption of fossil fuels and construction materials in the sprawling suburban areas surrounding the city. Recommendations include creating new public policies surrounding waste management to reduce construction material imports, and strengthen-ing ties between urban and agricultural policies to make use of local fertilizers and increase local food production.

• An emergy study of Macao (Lei et al., 2016) identifies large energy and water inflows, noting that heat dissipation – due to waste incineration as the predominant solid waste management strategy – is the largest contributor to energy loss; Lei and colleagues recommend capturing and reusing this available heat energy, possibly for local electricity generation. They further recommend inclusion of waste reduction strategies to avoid poor environmental emissions from incineration. As water is the scarcest resource, reducing its inflows into the city through demand management initiatives is recommended.

• A substance flow analysis of copper inflows, stocks and outflows in Stockholm (Amneklev et al., 2016) traces the use of copper, and makes recommendations based on estimates that copper reserves will run out by 2400 and that copper emissions to the environment are problematic and increasing. Recommenda-tions include seeking substitution of copper in roofing and water-pipe systems, as well as consumer goods. However, substitution should not replace copper with a different environmentally poor material. A further recommendation includes improving copper recycling rates by going beyond end-of-life-cycle recycling to make use of urban mining or landfill processing.

• A system dynamics modelling process in Maui (Bassi et al., 2009) examined the implications of water policies for addressing increasing demand while not undermining cultural importance of the stream systems and water use. The policy options include setting flow standards to meet regulations, improving

Figure 7: The location of, and method utilised in, 165 urban metabolism case studies

Global North56%

Accounting (Materials)32%

Accounting(Energy or Carbon)

22%

Accounting(Substance)

12%

Footprint Analysis10%

Hybrid13%

IOA5%

Process: LCA2%

Simulation4%

Global South12%

China23%

Global Scope9%


water use efficiency over time and investing in a desalination plant. Each of these policies have direct and indirect implications for water and energy use as well as industry development, but the model’s usefulness remains as a tool with which the communities and policy makers can explore policy options and their implications together.

• A life cycle analysis of Beijing, Cape Town, Hong Kong, London and Toronto (Goldstein et al., 2013) shows the direct and embedded environmental stresses resulting from urban resource flows. These flows are connected to activities such as water extraction, building energy, transport, and food provision, which offer a wider understanding of the impact of these activities. The comparison between cities shows that flows in poorer cities are less attributable to private consumption, and more indicative of old infrastructure systems.

• A life cycle analysis of the waste system in Bogota (Vergara et al., 2016) explores which waste management strategies are more sustainable, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. What is notable is the inclusion of informal waste management systems in the analysis. It shows that waste treatment produces more emissions than collection and transportation, and recommends that policies focus on recycling and reuse, rather than on improving transportation efficiency. Landfill gas and aluminium reprocessing are the largest source of emissions, while the reuse of materials (textiles in particular) has significant potential to reduce emissions. Thus discouraging informal waste processing and reuse is not recommended. Finally, it is noted that Bogota’s proposed formal recycling plan would produce more emissions than the current informal recycling system.

Despite the examples of recommendations listed above, many authors (Kennedy et al., 2011, Hoornweg et al., 2012, Ferrão and Fernández, 2013) have remarked on the potential uses of urban metabolism research in urban planning. However, the degree to which urban metabolism assessment methods are utilised in city planning processes is limited, partly due to the results not being well translated or detailed enough for urban planners and decision makers (Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016), and due to metabolism studies overlooking or excluding the impact of urban policies on resources (Zhang et al., 2015). This represents the greatest gap in mainstreaming the applications of urban metabolism research, particularly for cities that are growing rapidly and have yet to build the infrastructures needed to support their populations and industries. This is a key opportunity to leapfrog the unsustainable infrastructure systems associated with cities of the global North, and instead embed sustainable infrastructures (Hajer, 2016). This should perhaps also be seen as a key opportunity to embed the concept of urban metabolism as a tool for guiding urban development in these areas. Direct engagement with regional and national authorities can produce integrated urban plans as general guides for local governments, while each city can shape assessment processes in cognisance of its own contexts as well as the availability of funds, data and research capacity. However, to consider these engagements, a number of inconsistencies related to the implementation of urban metabolism research must be addressed. A useful output of such a process would be a detailed implementation framework to support a wide variety of urban and environmental contexts.

This report does not aim to prescribe specific interventions, but instead demonstrates how cities can acquire urban metabolism data and ensure that it is used effectively. In fact, it critiques the borrowing of external solutions to context-specific problems and advocates that city practitioners determine their own solutions – which could certainly require the cross-border sharing of ideas – through transdisciplinary application of the urban metabolism concept and its various methods.

5. From theory to implementationWhile urban metabolism studies exist at city level (refer to Section 4), utilisation of their outputs for practical implementation in urban design and planning is limited. Few studies have attempted to move beyond analysis into re-designing sustainable or resource efficient cities (Attia et al., 2012). This section discusses the opportunities to move from theory to implementation based on insights from the literature.


5.1 Basic urban metabolism assessment for all cities

Kennedy (2014) developed a multi-layered indicator set for megacities, which is similarly applicable to all city types, in both the global North and South. This allows comparison between all city types. They suggest that the indicator sets should consist of four layers: (i) context; (ii) biophysical characteristics; (iii) urban metabolism parameters; and (iv) the role of utilities. These layers of indicators are captured in the latest ISO standard for measuring city performance (ISO, 2014), as part of a suite of indicators for economy, education, governance, safety and others. However, the standard focuses mostly on access to services, with quantities measured only for electricity, water and solid waste. Further, the standard does not measure a city’s ability to implement system-wide changes. Musango (Forthcoming) proposes the addition of a fifth layer, policy frameworks, to the Kennedy et al (2014) multi-layered indicator set. Policy frame-works explicitly and implicitly influence resource flows (Pincetl et al., 2012) and relate directly to a country or city’s ability to implement resource-efficiency interventions. Inclusion of a policy indicator would promote linking urban metabolism with relevant policies to provide relevant, practicable recommendations. The five layers for a basic urban metabolism assessment are described in Table 3.

This basic urban metabolism assessment is essential to: (i) provide scientific knowledge of resource use and resource requirements especially in data-scarce environments; (ii) provide initial indicators that facilitate engagement with the urban decision-makers; (iii) render urban metabolism data and information that is relevant for practical implementation. Standardisation of the data forms collect-ed in this assessment will allow comparability between cities, for benchmarking, comparison and progress reporting.

A basic urban metabolism assessment is important for providing the baseline understanding of urban contexts and potential levers, as well as identifying what further knowledge is needed. In this way, it should be the first step of a larger urban metabolism investigation, such as that suggested by Ferrao and Fernandez (2013). As time, funding and capacity permits, a city should undertake to assess: (i) an urban bulk mass balance, (ii) urban

Few studies have attempted to move beyond analysis into re-designing sustainable or resource efficient cities.

Adapted from Kennedy et al. (2014) and Musango et al. (Forthcoming)

Urban metabolism assessment is important for providing the baseline understanding of urban contexts and potential levers, as well as identifying what further knowledge is needed.

Table 3: Parameters for a basic urban metabolism

Layer Description

Layer 1: Context Examine context of the city: spatial boundaries; constituent cities; population; economy

Layer 2: Biophysical characteristics Examine the biophysical characteristics: land area; urbanized area; climate; building gross floor area

Layer 3: Urban energy metabolism Examine urban metabolism parameters: consumption ofparameters materials, water, food, energy – all types; electricity sources; and sectors related to energy consumption (water; waste water; food; transport; housing), waste generated from consumption

Layer 4: Role of utilities Number and ownership of distributors and suppliers of resources: water, energy (electricity; natural gas; access to basic services), food, waste

Layer 5: Policy frameworks Existing policies that shape the direction of resource flows


material flow analysis, (iii) product dynamics, (iv) material intensity of economic sectors, (v) environmental pressure of material consumption, (vi) spatial location of resource use and (vii) transportation dynamics (Ferrao & Fernandez, 2013). Such an approach moves from assessing the outputs of an urban metabolism to the direct functional causes, and the opportunities for shaping them.

5.2 From top-down to bottom-up approaches

Data used for urban metabolism assessment is typically derived from top-down or bottom-up approaches. In their review, Beloine-Saint-Pierre (2016) found that, 65 percent of studies used top-down data, especially where mate-rial flow analysis was the assessment method. These studies therefore offer limited insights into the formation of resource flows through urban regions and in relation to urban activities, as well as how both evolve over time. Data scarcity is often cited as a limiting factor to undertake an urban metabolism assessment at city level. Utilis-ing bottom-up approaches may minimise the data-scarcity challenges, though it is recognised as resource and time consuming. Data-scarce environments such as Africa, where limited urban metabolism studies exist, can benefit from bottom-up approaches: in particular, for examining the informal economy. The informal economy is not captured in most existing studies as the required data is unavailable in conventional databases. It was

observed that data is often available from a variety of platforms and individuals, but there is limited cross-sharing of this data (e.g. Hoekman and von Blottnitz, 2016, Currie and Musango, Forthcoming, Musango et al., Forthcoming). There is a need to deploy a suite of data collection methods which capture behaviour-related data (primary activities, prefer-ences, attitudes) in addition to resource flow data as these behaviours form a key part of the socio-technical urban system and have implications for shaping the urban metabolism. A basic urban metabolism assessment would consolidate such information to support linkages with spatial planning.

5.3 Spatial and temporal issues

The spatial perspective “has not yet received the attention it deserves” (Francke et al., 2016). Interventions to transform urban resource flows from a linear metabolism to a circular metabolism, depend on: spatial (form, planning); temporal (short-, medium- or long-term); and sectoral (energy, water, waste, energy) aspects of a city. The lack of spatial and temporal consideration in existing studies limits their practical use. Furthermore, there is a time lag between the date of data used to examine the urban metabolism and the study’s publication date, e.g. using a 2000 dataset for a study done in 2008 (Codoban and Kennedy, 2008). This static snapshot in time reduces the usefulness of recommendations, particularly for systems which are subject to change. While snapshots are useful for establishing baseline resource consumption levels, methods which are cognisant of trends in resource flows and consumption prove more helpful for shaping long-term solutions – especially if the information is current, constantly updated and widely accessible.

To support implementation, urban metabolism assessment should be integrated into spatial planning practices (Gemenetzi, 2013). Linking spatial aspects with metabolic flows, as illustrated in Table 4, makes it possible for urban decision-makers to identify the value of urban metabolism outputs and ensures urban metabolism studies provide policy-relevant information, hence, bridging the science-policy divide. Such examples of spatial considerations include extending bulk infrastructure to excluded populations, identifying appropriate sites for industrial activity, integrating transit-oriented development into the city fabric and guiding changes to urban form in ways which enhance material and energy efficiency.

5.4 Scale of analysis

The scale of urban metabolism analyses vary from country, region, city-region, city, neighbourhood and household level (Beloin-Saint-Pierre et al., 2016). On the other hand, there are three spatial scales: macro, which entails country and urban agglomerations and provinces; meso, which includes city and functional regions; and micro, representing land parcels (Huang et al., 2015). Micro-spatial levels encompass individual structure

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Data-scarce environments can benefit from bottom-up approaches.

Methods which are cognisant of trends in resource flows and consumption prove more helpful for shaping long-term solutions.


analysis and sub-systems within them such as houses, room features, activities; meso-spatial covers issues relating patterns of growth, community organisation and residential patterning; and macro-spatial entails resource utilisation and changing land patterns (Lacovara, 2013).

The global nature of environmental and social impact means that cities have multiple scales of impact, each of which must necessarily be a consideration when assessing their functions and contributions to sustainable development. Bounding the city for study has implications for excluding global or regional impacts.

Transitioning from a linear to circular metabolism will require switching between the different scales in both urban metabolism analysis and spatial design. This implies taking a holistic view, which is practical and relevant, to guide urban design and planning at all scales. For countries of the global South in which informal growth is dominant, it implies considering informal urban metabolism. Some projects working towards these objectives include: IABR–2016–The Next Economy3; Differential Urban Metabolism4; Bangalore Urban Metabolism Project5, and informal urban metabolism (Attia and Khalil, 2015, Kovacic et al., 2016, Kovacic and Giampietro, 2016, Guibrunet et al., 2016, Smit et al., 2017)

5.5 Transdisciplinary approach to assessment

Various studies have pointed to the interdisciplinary nature of urban metabolism assessment (Rapoport, 2011, Castán Broto et al., 2012) while others have indicated the concept requires a transdisciplinary framework – with a boundary object (Castán Broto, 2012; Newell and Cousins, 2014; Rapoport, 2011). However, its application has been multidisciplinary and relatively scattered (Barles, 2010, Pincetl et al., 2012). The challenge is moving from multi- to inter- to transdisciplinary inquiry, in which co-design is happening with society, and not for society. This implies engaging with both planners and residents to: (i) identify relevant issues relating to the urban metab-olism; (ii) identify relevant data availability and inform relevant data collection requirements; (iii) create a living platform for knowledge exchange and continuous assessment of the urban metabolism rather than once-off,

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3 http://iabr.nl/en4 http://www.umama-africa.com/projects/index.html5 http://bangalore.urbanmetabolism.asia

Transitioning from a linear to circular metabolism will require switching between the different scales in both urban metabolism analysis and spatial design.

Specific potential local Urban form Metabolic flows Resource efficiencygovernment interventions leverage points

Promotion of walking and cycling Energy • Energy efficiency of

Water

transportation

Optimisation of private car use • Water-use efficiency (carpooling; car sharing) Transport

Waste intransportation sector

Attractiveness of public transport • Carbon emissions

People intensity of transportation

Land use mix Energy

• Compactness

Open and green spaces

Land uses Water

• Population density

Protected areas Waste

• Centrality of the city People

Table 4 An illustration of urban form, metabolic flows and resource-efficiency leverage points’ linkages, relevant for urban practitioners


static analysis. Such platforms include: living labs (e.g. ‘Living Lab’ Buiksloterham in the north of Amsterdam6); community-based research centres (e.g. Enkanini Research Centre in an informal settle-ment in Stellenbosch, South Africa7); and urban laboratories such as Utrecht University’s Urban Futures Studio8 and the City Lab Programme at the African Centre for Cities9.

5.6 System dynamics modelling

Cities are spatial systems which integrate several components: population, economy, technology, governance, culture, resources and environment (Huang et al., 2015). They are also open systems that exchange materials

and energy required to maintain their operation. The interrelationships between physical flows and social processes that exist in urban metabolism studies mainly focus on material and energy flows, rather than the institutions, social processes and power structures that influence the quality and quantity of flows. These complex interrelationships have implica-tions for urban planning and design, especially predicting the effects of urban metabolism interventions. Increasing urbanisation leads to greater resource consumption and waste generation, resulting in environmental problems that limit socio-economic development. System dynamics modelling becomes a suitable approach in urban metabolism assessment to understand and identify leverage points for interventions that achieve resource efficiency goals, as well as provide insights on often-overlooked interactions. As cities are socio-techni-cal systems, these leverage points can range from behaviour-changing campaigns to more expensive infrastructure investments. Finally, it provides insight into how cities and resource flows may change over time, making it a useful tool for considering future scenarios.

6. ConclusionsUrban environments and their activities are managed at sub-national level, mainly, municipal or city level. Effec-tive interventions at municipal level can enable achievement of resource efficiency as well as other sustainable development goals.

Improving the understanding of a sustainable urban transition at local level requires linking overall urban activi-ties within urban planning. Urban metabolism assessment is recognised as a framework to operationalise resource flows and identify possible resource-efficiency measures. The current challenge of urban metabolisms is to transition from a linear perspective to a circular perspective, in which waste is utilised as a resource in the urban environment.

While the concept of urban metabolism is dominant in the field of industrial ecology, it is an inter- and transdisci-plinary concept that has extended to political ecology and urban geography, amongst other fields. The concept is currently embraced in academia (theoretically) and politically, but its practical implementation remains limited.

Further, the urban metabolism results from complex and dynamic interrelationships between different resource users, institutions that govern the actors’ behaviour, and social as well as global power structures. In order to move from theory to practical implementation, this report suggests the following, based on insights from litera-ture:

• A need to undertake basic urban metabolism assessment for all cities, which will ensure comparison for all cities, in both developed and developing countries.

The challenge is moving from multi- to inter- to transdisciplinary inquiry, in which co-design is happening with society, and not for society.

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6 http://buiksloterham.nl/bericht/2229/amsterdam-launches-living-lab-for-circular-urban-development?netwerk=true 7 https://vimeo.com/164419981 8 https://www.uu.nl/en/research/urban-futures-studio9 https://www.africancentreforcities.net/programme/mistra-urban-futures/citylab/

Institutions, social processes and power structures influence the quality and quantity of flows.


• Combine conventional top-down approaches with more bottom-up approaches in order to capture data that is currently unavailable

• Linking spatial and temporal issues in urban metabolism assessments

• Switching between the different scales of analysis, in both urban metabolism assessments and spatial planning

• Promoting a transdisciplinary approach, where co-design is happening with society, and not for society, and to ensure assessment is not a once-off event.

• Promoting system dynamics modelling to examine the complex, dynamic interrelationships that exist in physical and social processes of the urban metabolism and its implication for the urban planning and design interventions.


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References


Source

Appendix A

Page 28

City or City region

10 Chinese Cities

10 World Cities

100 Cities

12 World Cities

120 African Cities

155 Global Cities

19 Chinese cities

25 large cities from around the world

3 Australian cities

3 Swedish Cities

3 Swedish Cities

5 Australian Cities

5 Chinese and 5 Australian Cities

Date

2016

2010

2016

2010

2016

2010

2007

2000

2017

2016

2015

2016

2016

Location

China

Global

Global

Global

Global South

Global

China

Global

Global North

Global North

Global North

Global North

Global

Method specified

Hybrid EFA and bio-social indicators

Hybrid LCA & Carbon Accounting

Comparative EFA - focus on food

Carbon Footprinting

Comparative MFA & Typology

Comparative MFA & Typology

Comparative MFA

Comparative MFA & Energy

Hybrid MFA and policy analysis

MFA

MFA

CFA

CFA

Method

Hybrid

Hybrid

Footprint Analysis

Footprint Analysis

Accounting (Materials)




Hybrid



Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Huang, L., L. Yan, and J. Wu. 2016. Assessing urban sustainability of Chinese megacities: 35 years after the economic reform and open-door policy. Landscape and Urban Planning 145: 57–70. http://linkinghub.elsevier. com/retrieve/pii/S0169204615002042. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Kennedy, C, A., Steinberger, J., Gasson , B., Hansen, Y., Hillman, T., Havránek, M., Pataki, D., Phdungsilp, A., Ramaswami, A. and Villalba Mendez, G. 2010. Methodology for inventorying greenhouse gas emissions from global cities. Energy Policy 38 (4828:4837)

Goldstein, B., M. Birkved, J. Fernández, and M. Hauschild. 2016. Surveying the Environmental Footprint of Urban Food Consumption: The Urban Foodprint. Journal of Industrial Ecology: n/a–n/a. http://doi.w iley. com/10.1111/jiec.12384. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Sovacool, B.K., Brown, M.A., 2010. Twelve metropolitan carbon footprints: a pre- liminary comparative global assessment. Energy Policy 38, 4856e4869. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2009.10.001. Currie, P.K. and J.K. Musango. 2016. AfricanUrbanization: Assimilating Urban Metabolism into Sustainability Discourse and Practice: AfricanUrbanization. Journal of Industrial Ecology. http://doi. wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12517. Accessed January 9, 2017.

Saldivar-Sali, A. 2010. A Global Typology of Cities: Classification Tree Analysis of Urban Resource Consumption. Cambridge: MIT, September.

Li, D., Wang, Y.L., Fu, Y., Niu, W.Y., 2007. The efficiency analysis of material flow account for the 19 cities of China. Resources Science (29) 176-181 [in Chinese].

Decker, E. H., S. Elliott, F. A. Smith, D. R. Blake, and F. S. Rowland. 2000. Energy and material flow through the urban ecosystem. Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 25: 685–740.

Serrao-Neumann, S., M. Renouf, S.J. Kenway, and D. Low Choy. 2017. Connecting land-use and water planning: Prospects for an urban water metabolism approach. Cities 60: 13–27. http://linkinghub.elsevi-er.com/retrieve/pii/S0264275116303389. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Rosado, L., Kalmykova, Y., Patrício, J., 2016. Urban metabolism profiles. An empirical analysis of the material flow characteristics of three metropolitan areas in Sweden. J. Clean. Prod. 126, 206e217. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.02.139.

Patrício, J., Y. Kalmykova, L. Rosado, and V. Lisovskaja. 2015. Uncertainty in Material Flow Analysis Indicators at Different Spatial Levels: Uncertainty in Material Flow Analysis Indicators at Different Spatial Levels. Journal of Industrial Ecology 19(5): 837–852. http://doi.wiley. com/10.1111/jiec.12336. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Chen, G., T. Wiedmann, M. Hadjikakou, and H. Rowley. 2016. City Carbon Footprint Networks. Energies 9(8): 602. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/8/602. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Chen, G., T. Wiedmann, Y. Wang, and M. Hadjikakou. 2016. Transnational city carbon footprint networks – Exploring carbon links between Australian and Chinese cities. Applied Energy 184: 1082–1092. http://linking-hub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0306261916311400. Accessed January 27, 2017.


City or City region Date Location Method Source

5 coastal cities 1997 Global Accounting

(Materials)Comparative MFA –

focus on water

Timmerman, P. and White, R., 1997. Megahydropolis: coastal cities in the context of global environmental change. Global Environmental Change (7) 205-234.

5 World Cities 2016 Global Hybrid Hybrid MFA & boundary Analysis

Hoornweg, D., M. Hosseini, C. Kennedy, and A. Behdadi. 2016. An urban approach to planetary boundaries. Ambio 45(5): 567–580. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13280-016-0764-y. Accessed November 3, 2016.

79 Irish settlements 2008 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) Carbon accounting

Moles, R., Foley, W., Morrissey, J. and O’Regan, B. 2008. Practical appraisal of sustainable development: methodologies for sustainability measurement at settlement level. Environmental Impact Assessment Review (28) 144-165.

8 cities 2007 Global Accounting (Materials) Comparative MFA

Kennedy, C., Cuddihy, J.& Engel-Yan, J. 2007. The Changing Metabolism of Cities. Journal of Industrial Ecology (11) 43:59.

8 US Cities 2010 Global North Footprint Analysis EFAHillman, T., Ramaswami, A., 2010. Greenhouse gas emission footprints and energy use benchmarks for eight U.S. Cities. Environ. Sci. Technol. 44, 1902e1910.

Aichi prefecture, Japan

2008 Global North IOA IOA

Tachibana, J., Hirota, K., Goto, N.& Fujie, K. 2008. A

analysis: A demonstration case study of Aichi prefecture, Japan. Resources, Conservation and Recycling (52) 1382-1390.

Alpines regions 2005 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFASchoder, T., Amann, C., Bagliani, M., Blöchliger, H., Eichler, M. and Eisenmenger, N. 2005. MARS Report 2005. BAK Basel Economics, Basel, Switzerland.

Amazonia 2002 Global South

Accounting (Materials) MFA

Amann, C., Bruckner, W., Fischer-Kowalski, M.&

Amazonia. A tool for sustainable development. Social ecology working paper. Vienna, Austria: Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of Austrian Universities.

Amsterdam 2002 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Amann, C., Bruckner, W., Fischer-Kowalski, M.&

Amazonia. A tool for sustainable development. Social ecology working paper. Vienna, Austria: Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of Austrian Universities.

Amsterdam, Netherlands 2017 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFA

Hoek, J.P. van der, A. Struker, and J.E.M. de Danschutter. 2017. Amsterdam as a sustainable European metropolis: integration of water, energy and material

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1573062X.2015.1076858. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Amsterdam, Netherlands 2016 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFA

Voskamp, I. M., Stremke, S., Spiller, M., Perrotti, D., van der Hoek, J. P. and Rijnaarts, H. H. M. (2016), Enhanced Performance of the Eurostat Method for Comprehensive Assessment of Urban Metabolism: A Material Flow Analysis of Amsterdam. Journal of Industrial Ecology. doi:10.1111/jiec.12461

Ann Arbor, USA 2001 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Energy Flow Analysis

Melaina, M., Keoleian, G., 2001. A framework for urban energy metabolism studies: an Ann Arbor, Michigan case study.

Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland

2004 Global North Hybrid MSA

Binder, C.R., Hofer, C., Wiek, A.& Scholz, R.W. 2004.

case of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland. Ecological Economics (49) 1-17.

Aveiro, Portugal 2014 Global North IOA IOA

Dias, A. C., Lemos, D., Gabarell, X., Arroja, L. 2014. Environmentally extended input-output analysis on a city scale – application to Aveiro (Portugal). Journal of Cleaner Production. 75: 118-129



Bandung, Indonesia 2013 Global

South Hybrid Hybrid MFA & Value

Ushijima, K., Irie, M., Sintawardani, N., Triastuti, J., Hamida, U., Ishikawa, T., Funamizu, N. 2013. Sustainable design of sanitation system based on

Indonesia. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering. 7(1):120-126.

Bangkok 2011 Global South

Accounting (Substance) SFA

Færge, J., Magid, J., Penning de Vries, F.W.T., 2001. Urban nutrient balance for Bangkok. Ecol. Model. 139, 63e74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(01) 00233-2.

Bangkok, Thailand 2012 Global

SouthAccounting (Substance) SFA

Buathong, T., Boontanon, S. K., Boontanon, N., Surinkul, N., Harada, H., Fujii, S. 2012. Nitrogen Flow Analysis in Bangkok City, Thailand: Area Zoning and Questionnaire Investigation Approach. Presented at the 3rd SUSTAIN International Conference on Sustainable Future for Human Security 2012.

Barcelona 1999 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) GHG Accounting

Baldasano, J.M., Soriano, C., Boada, L., 1999. Emission inventory for greenhouse gases in the City of Barcelona, 1987e1996. Atmos. Environ. 33, 3765e3775. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00086-2.

Barcelona, Spain 2007 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) Energy

Oliver-Solà, J., Núñez, M., Gabarrell, X., Boada, M. and Rieradevall, J., 2007. Service sector metabolism: accounting for energy impacts of the Montjuic Urban Park in Barcelona. Journal of Industrial Ecology (11) 83-98.

Barcelona, Spain 2011 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) GHG AccountingVillalba, G., Gemechu, E.D., 2011. Estimating GHG emissions of marine portsdthe case of Barcelona. Energy Policy 39, 1363e1368. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.enpol.2010.12.008.

Basque country, France

2002 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

IHOBE. 2002. Total material requirement of the Basque Country. Bilbao, Spain: IHOBE.

Beijing 2011 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Zhang, Y., Yang, Z., Liu, G. and Yu, X. 2011. Emergy analysis of the urban metabolism of Beijing. Ecological Modelling (222) 2377-2384.

Beijing 2010 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Exergy

Liu, G.Y., Yang, Z.F. and Chen, B. 2010. Extended exergy-based urban ecosystem network analysis: a case study of Beijing, China. Environmental Sciences (2) 243-251.

Beijing 2015 China Accounting (Substance) SFA

Li, J.S., G.Q. Chen, T. Hayat, and A. Alsaedi. 2015. Mercury emissions by Beijing�s fossil energy consumption: Based on environmentally extended input–output analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 41: 1167–1175. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S136403211400759X. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Beijing 2015 China Hybrid Emergy & Slack based model

Song Tao, Cai Jianming, Xu Hui, Deng Yu, Niu Fangqu, Yang Zhenshan, Du Shanshan, 2015. Urban metabolism based on emergy and slack based model: A case study of Beijing, China. Chinese Geographical Science, 25(1): 113–123.

Beijing 2010 China HybridHybrid Ecological

network analysis / MSA

Zhang, Y., Yang, Z.F. and Fath, B.D., 2010. Ecological network analysis of an urban water metabolic system: model development, and a case study for Beijing. Science of the Total Environment (408) 4702-4711.

Beijing 2014 Global South Simulation ABM

Yuan, X., Wei, Y., Pan, S., Jin, J. 2014. Urban Household Water Demand in Beijing by 2020: An Agent-Based Model. Water Resource Management. 28:2967-2980.

Beijing, Cape Town, Hong Kong, London, Toronto

2013 Global Process: LCA LCA (broadened to UM-LCA)

Goldstein, B., Birkved, M., Quitzau, M.-B. & Hauschild,

coupling with the life cycle assesment framework: concept development and case study. Environmental Research Letters. 8:14.



Beijing, China 2016 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Carbon accounting

Xia, L., Fath, B.D., Scharler, U.M., Zhang, Y., 2016. Spatial variation in the ecological relationships among the components of Beijing’s carbon metabolic system. Sci. Total Environ. 544, 103e113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.110.

Beijing, China 2014 China HybridHybrid: IOA and Environmental

Network Analysis

Zhang, Y., Zheng, H., Fath, B. D. 2014. Analysis of the energy metabolism of urban socioeconomic sectors and the associated carbon footprints: Model development and a case study for Beijing. Energy Policy. 73:540-551

Beijing, China 2010 China IOA IOA

Hu, D., You, F., Zhao, Y., Yuan, Y., Liu, T., Cao, A., Wang,

urban residential building system in Beijing city, China from 1949 to 2008. Resources, Conservation and Recycling (54) 1177-1188.

Bogata, Colombia 2014 Global

SouthAccounting (Materials) MFA

Piña, W. H. A., Martínez, C., I., P. 2014. Urban material

Ecological Indicators. 42: 32-42

Bogata, Colombia 2016 Global

South Process: LCA LCA

Vergara, S.E., A. Damgaard, and D. Gomez. 2016.

Gas Reductions from Informal Recycling in Bogotá, Colombia: Quantifying GHG Reductions from Informal Recycling in Colombia. Journal of Industrial Ecology 20(1): 107–119. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12257. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Brussels, Belgium 1974 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFADuvigneaud, P. 1974. The Ecological Synthesis: Populations, Communities, Ecosystems, Biosphere, Noosphere. Doin, Paris, France [In French].

Brussels, Belgium 2016 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFA

Athanassiadis, A., P. Bouillard, R.H. Crawford, and A.Z. Khan. 2016. Towards a Dynamic Approach to Urban Metabolism: Tracing the Temporal Evolution of Brussels’ Urban Metabolism from 1970 to 2010. Journal of Industrial Ecology. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12451. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Brussels, Belgium 2016 Global North IOA IOA

Athanassiadis, A., M. Christis, P. Bouillard, A. Vercalsteren, R.H. Crawford, and A.Z. Khan. 2016. Comparing a territorial-based and a consumption-based approach to assess the local and global environmental performance of cities. Journal of Cleaner Production. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S095965261631678X. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Cape Town, South Africa 2016 Global


Hoekman, P. and H. von Blottnitz. 2016. Cape Town’s Metabolism: Insights from a Material Flow Analysis: Cape Town’s Metabolism. Journal of Industrial Ecology. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12508. Accessed December 5, 2016.


South Footprint Analysis Footprint Analysis

Gasson, B., 2002. The Ecological Footprint of Cape Town: Unsustainable Resource Use and Planning Implications. In: The National Conference of the South African Planning Institution, 18-20 September, Durban, South Africa.


South Hybrid Hybrid MSA / IOA Van Beers, D. and Graedel, T.E. 2003. The magnitude and spatial distribution of in-use copper stocks in Cape Town, South Africa. South African Journal of Science (99) 61-69.

Caral, Peru; Lisbon, Portugal

Global Simulation SDMFernandez. J.E. Undated. Urban metabolism of ancient Caral, Peru. School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Unpublished.

Castelnuovo Berardenga 2004 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) ExergyBalocco, C., Papeschi, S., Grazzini, G., Basosi, R. 2004. Using exergy to analyze the sustainability of an urban area. Ecological Economics (48) 231-244.



Chengyang District, China 2008 China Accounting

(Materials) EW-MFA

Zhou, Z. and Sun, L., 2008. Analysis on characteristics of regional material metabolism based on MFA: a case study of Chengyang District in Qingdao. The 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering, 16-18 May, Shanghai, China

Chinese Cities 2009 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Su, M.R., Yang, Z.F., Chen, B., Ulgiati, S., 2009. Urban ecosystem health assessment based on emergy and set pair analysis: a comparative study of typical Chinese cities. Ecol. Model. 220, 2341e2348. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2009.06.010.

Cities in China 2009 Global South Footprint Analysis

Hubacek, K., Guan, D.B., Barrett and J.& Wiedmann, T. 2009. Environmental implications of urbanization and lifestyle change in China: Ecological and Water Footprints. Journal of Cleaner Production (17) 1241-1248.

Cities in China and USA 2006 Global Footprint Analysis

Jenerette, G.D., Wu, W., Goldsmith, S., Marussich, W.A & John Roach, W. 2006. Contrasting water footprints of cities in China and the United States. Ecological Economics (57) 346-358.

Curitiba, Brazil 2015 Global South


Conke, L.S. and T.L. Ferreira. 2015. Urban metabolism: Measuring the city’s contribution to sustainable development. Environmental Pollution 202: 146–152. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0269749115001499. Accessed April 19, 2016.

Czech Republic regions

2009 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Kovanda, J., Weinzettel, J. and Hak, T. 2009. Analysis of

Resources, Conservation and Recycling (53) 243-254.

Dalian 2010 China Accounting (Materials) MFA

Bao, Z.M., 2010. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) of the Environmental-Economic System of Dalian. Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.

Denver, USA 2008 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) GHG Accounting

Ramaswami, A., Hillman, T., Janson, B., Reiner, M., Thomas, G., 2008. A demand- centered, hybrid life-cycle methodology for city-scale greenhouse gas in- ventories. Environ. Sci. Technol. 42, 6455e6461. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ es702992q.

Dukou (Panzhihua) 1983 China Accounting

(Substance) SFA

Chen, S.G., Xu, J.C., Zheng, T.H., Liu, L.M., 1983.

of Dukou City: the movement and distribution of iron, titanium and vanadium in the environment. Sichuan Environment (1)14-18 (in Chinese).

European cities 2009 Global North Accounting

(Materials) Comparative MFA

Schremmer, C. and Stead, D. 2009. Restructuring cities for sustainability: a metabolism approach. In: The Fifth Urban Research Symposium: Cities and Climate Change responding to an Urgent Agenda. World Bank Urban Development Unit, 28-30 June, Marseille, France.

Galicia 2008 Global North Footprint AnalysisCarballo Penela, A. and Villasante, S. 2008. Applying physical input-output tables of energy to estimate the energy ecological footprint (EEF) of Galicia (NW Spain). Energy Policy (36) 1148-1163.

Galve, Sweden 1995 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Nilsson, J., 1995. A phosphorus budget for a Swedish municipality. J. Environ. Manag. 45, 243e253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jema.1995.0072.

Toronto 2003 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Sahely, H.R., Dudding, S., Kennedy, C.A. 2003. Estimating the urban metabolism of Canadian cities: GTA case study. Canadian Journal for Civil Engineering (30) 468-483.

Toronto 2002 Global North Accounting (Materials)

MFA focus on transport

Kennedy, C.A. 2002. A comparison of the sustainability of public and private transportation systems: study of the Greater Toronto Area. Transportation (29) 459:493.



Guangzhou, China 2011 China Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) Carbon accountingWu, Y.Q., Yan, M.C. 2011. Analysis of the indicators between urban metabolism and land use change in Guangzhou. Geographical Research (30) 1380-1390 (in Chinese).

Hamburg 2003 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Hammer, M., Giljum, S., Bargigli, S. and Hinterberger.

Questions, problems, solutions. NEDS Working Paper 2, Hamburg. Available online: http://seri.at/wp-content/

regional-level1.pdf [Accessed October 20, 2011].

Hong Kong 1978 China Accounting (Materials)

Emergy and other materials

Newcombe, K., Kalma, J. andAston, A. 1978. The metabolism of a city: the case of Hong Kong. Ambio (7) 3-15.

Hong Kong 2001 Global South Footprint Analysis EFA

Warren-Rhodes, K. and Koenig, A. 2001. Ecosystem appropriation by Hong Kong and its implications for sustainable development. Ecological Economics (39) 347-359.

Hong Kong 2001 Global South Footprint Analysis EFA

Warren-Rhodes, K. and Koenig, A. 2001. Escalating trends in the Urban Metabolism of Hong Kong: 1971-1997. Ambio (30) 429-438.

Italian town 2002 Global North HybridHybrid Ecological

network analysis / MSA

Bodini, A. and Bondavalli, C. 2002. Towards a sustainable use of water resources: a whole-ecosystem approach using network analysis. International Journal of Environment and Pollution (18) 463-485.

Jinchang City, China 2016 China Accounting

(Materials) MFA

Li, Y., Beeton, R.J.S., Halog, A., Sigler, T., 2016. Evaluating urban sustainability potential based

case study in Jinchang City, China. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 110, 87e98. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.03.023.

Johannesburg, South Africa 2011 Global

South Footprint Analysis EFAPalmer Development Group. 2011. Growth and Development Strategy Jo’burg 2040. Available online: http://joburg.org.za/gds2040/pdfs/ecological_footprint.pdf [Accessed 6 January 2012].

Leipzig 2006 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Hammer, M., S. Giljum, F. Luks, and M. Winkler. 2006. Die ¨okologische Nachhaltigkeit regionaler

Hamburg, Wien und Leipzig. [Ecological sustainability

regions of Hamburg, Vienna and Leipzig]. Natur und Kultur 7(2): 62–78 [In German].

Lille, France 2009 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Territorial Material and Energy Flow

Analysis

Duret, B. 2009. A Method for Territorial Material and Energy Flow Analysis, city of Lille, France. In: Energies et matières dans la ville: Les nouveaux enjeux de l’environnement urbain [Energy and material in the city], edited by S. Barles, M. Maizia, T. Souami, and J. P. Traisnel. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes. Forthcoming [In French].

Limerick City, Ireland 2009 Global North Accounting

(Materials) EW-MFABrowne, D., O’regan, B. & Moles, R. 2009. Assessment

an Irish city-region. Waste Management (29) 2765-2771.

Limerick City, Ireland 2011 Global North Accounting

(Materials) EW-MFA accounting in an Irish city-region. Journal of Cleaner Production (19) 967-976.

Linfen, China 2015 China Simulation SDM

Kuai, P., Li, W., Cheng, R., Cheng, G. 2015. An application of system dynamics for evaluating planning alternaitves to guide a green industrial transformation in a resource-based city. Journal of Cleaner Production. 104:403-412.

Lisbon, Portugal 2014 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFARosado, L., Niza, S., Ferrao, P. 2014. A Material Flow Accounting Case Study of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area using the Urban Metabolism Analyst Model. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 18(1):84-101.



Lisbon, Portugal 2009 Global North IOA IOA

Niza, S., L. Rosado and P. Ferrão. 2009. Urban metabolism: Methodological advances in urban material

of Industrial Ecology 13(3): 384–405.

Lisbon, Portugal 2009 Global North IOA IOA

Rosado, L. and Ferrão, P. 2009. Measuring the embodied energy in household goods: application to the Lisbon City. In: Havránek, M. (Ed.), ConAccount 2008: Urban Metabolism, Measuring the Ecological City. Charles University Environment Center, Prague, pp. 159-181.

London, UK Global North Footprint Analysis

Best Foot Forward Ltd. 2002. City limits—a resource

Best Foot Forward, Oxford, UK. Available online: www.citylimitslondon.com [Accessed on 5 September 2011].

Longyan City, China 2015 China Accounting

(Substance) SFACui, S., Xu, S., Huang, W., Bai, X., Huang, Y., Li, G. 2015. Changing urban phosphorus metabolism: Evidence from Longyan City, China. Science of the Total Environment. 536:924-932

Los Angeles county 2008 Global North IOA IOA

Ngo, S. and Pataki, D. E. 2008. The energy and mass balance of Los Angeles County. Urban Ecosystems, Vol. (11). 121-139.

Los Angeles County, USA 2016 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon)Energy Flow

Analysis

Pincetl, S., Graham, R., Murphy, S., Sivaraman, D., 2016. Analysis of high-resolution utility data for understanding energy use in urban systems: the case of Los Angeles, California. J. Ind. Ecol. 20, 166e178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ jiec.12299.

Los Angeles County, USA 2016 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon)Energy Flow

Analysis

Porse, E., J. Derenski, H. Gustafson, Z. Elizabeth, and S. Pincetl. 2016. Structural, geographic, and social factors in urban building energy use: Analysis of aggregated account-level consumption data in a megacity. Energy Policy 96: 179–192. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0301421516302853. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Los Angeles County, USA 2015 Global North Hybrid Hybrid LCA and GIS

Cousins, J.J. and J.P. Newell. 2015. A political–industrial ecology of water supply infrastructure for Los Angeles. Geoforum 58: 38–50. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016718514002279. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Los Angeles County, USA 2016 Global North Hybrid Hybrid MFA &

political analysis

Cousins, J.J. 2016. Volume control: Stormwater and the politics of urban metabolism. Geoforum. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016718516300951. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Los Angeles County, USA 2014 Global North Hybrid LCA & energy and

GHG accounting

Pincetl, S., Chester, M., Circella, G., Fraser, A., Mini, C., Murphy, S., Reyna, J., Sivaraman, D. 2014. Enabling Future Sustainability Transitions: An Urban Metabolism Approach to Los Angeles. Journal of Industrial Analysis. 18(6):871-882

Macao 2016 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Lei, K., L. Liu, D. Hu, and I. Lou. 2016. Mass, energy, and emergy analysis of the metabolism of Macao. Journal of Cleaner Production 114: 160–170. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652615006769. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Macao 2009 China Simulation SDM

Kampeng, L., Shaoqi, Z., Lianggang, L.& Kiu, C.S. 2009.

org/conferences/2009/proceed/papers/P1372.pdf [Accessed 20 October 2011].

Macao 2008 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Lei, K. and Wang, Z.S. 2008. Emergy synthesis and simulation of Macao. Energy (33) 613:625.

Macau 2013 China Process: LCA LCA & emergy analysis

Songa, Q., Wanga, Z., Li, J. 2013. Sustainability evaluation of e-waste treatment based on emergy analysis and the LCA method: A case study of a trial project in Macau. Ecological Indicators. 30: 138-137.



Manchester, UK 2002 Global North Accounting

(Materials) MFADouglas, I., Hodgson, R., Lawson, N. 2002. Industry, environment and health through 200 years in Manchester. Ecological Economics (41) 235:255.

Manila, Phillipines 2016 Global


Burger Chakraborty, L., M. Sahakian, U. Rani, M. Shenoy, and S. Erkman. 2016. Urban Food Consumption in Metro Manila: Interdisciplinary Approaches Towards Apprehending Practices, Patterns, and Impacts: Urban Food Consumption in Metro Manila. Journal of Industrial Ecology 20(3): 559–570. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12402. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Maui, Hawaai 2009 Global North Simulation SDM

Bassi, A, M., Harrisson, J. and Mistry, R, S. 2009. Using an Integrated Participatory Modeling Approach to Assess Water Management Options and Support Community Conversations on Maui. Sustainability 2009 (1) 1331-1348.

Megacities 2015 Global Accounting (Materials) MFA

Kennedy, C., I. Stewart, A. Facchini, I. Cersosimo, R. Mele, B. Chen, M. Uda, et al. 2015. Energy and material

Melbourne & Sydney, Australia

2016 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) CFA

Chen, G., M. Hadjikakou, and T. Wiedmann. 2016. Urban carbon transformations: unravelling spatial and inter-sectoral linkages for key city industries based on multi-region input–output analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0959652616303146. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Melbourne, Australia 2016 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) GHG Accounting

Wiedmann, T.O., G. Chen, and J. Barrett. 2016. The Concept of City Carbon Maps: A Case Study of Melbourne, Australia: The Concept of City Carbon Maps. Journal of Industrial Ecology 20(4): 676–691. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12346. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Mexico City & Santiago de Chile

2016 Global South


Guibrunet, L., M. Sanzana Calvet, and V. Castán Broto. 2016. Flows, system boundaries and the politics of urban metabolism: Waste management in Mexico City and Santiago de Chile. Geoforum. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016718516300380. Accessed October 16, 2016.

Miami region 1975 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Energy

Zucchetto, J. 1975. Energy, economic theory and mathematical models for combining the systems of man and nature, case study: the urban region of Miami. Ecological Modelling (1) 241-268.

Montreal, Canada 2013 Global North Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) EmergyVega-Azamar, R. E., Glaus, M., Hausler, R., Oropeza-Garcia, N. A., Romero-Lopez, R. 2013. An emergy analysis for urban environmental sustainability assessment, the Island of Montreal, Canada.

Naples, Italy 2015 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) GHG Accounting

Famulari D, I. Russo, R. Vuolo, D. Piscitelli, P. DiTommasi, A. Esposito, M. Tosca, G. Agrillo, D. Gasbarra, L. Schindler, B. Gioli, Vincenzo Magliulo, A. Zaldei, A. Mazzarella, R. Viola, N. Scafetta, G. Tirimberio, E. Chianese, A. Riccio, P. Toscano. 2015. Intensive measurements of PM above the city of Naples (Southern Italy). European Aerosol Conference (EAC 2015)

New Delhi, India 2012 Global

SouthAccounting

(Energy or Carbon) GHG Accounting

Chavez, A., Ramaswami, A., Nath, D., Guru, R. and Kumar. E. 2012. Implementing Trans-Boundary Infrastructure-Based Greenhouse Gas Accounting for Delhi, India: Data Availability and Methods. Methods, tools, and software. Yale University. Vol. 16 (6).

New York 2012 Global North Process: LCA EIO-LCA

De Sousa, M. R. C., Montalto, F. A. and Spatari. S. 2012. Using Life Cycle Assessment to Evaluate Green and Grey

Industrial Ecology. Volume 16 (6) 901:913.



New Zealand regions 2004 Global North Footprint Analysis

McDonald, G. and Patterson, M. 2004. Ecological footprints and interdependencies of New Zealand regions. Ecological Economics (50) 49-67.

Norrköping, Sweden. 2015 Global North Hybrid

Hybrid MFA & Infrastructure

Studies

Wallsten, B. 2015. Toward Social Material Flow Analysis: On the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research: Toward Social MFA. Journal of Industrial Ecology 19(5): 742–752. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12361. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Palerme 2009 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Femia, A. and Falcitelli, F. 2009. The ANAFLUMPA Project: economy-wide MFA at local leveldthe case of the Italian province of Palermo. In: Havránek, M. (Ed.), ConAccount 2008: Urban Metabolism, Measuring the Ecological City. Charles University Environment Center, Prague, pp. 408-430.

Paris 2007 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Barles, S. 2007. Feeding the city: Food consumption and

Environment 375, 48-58.

Paris 2009 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Billen, G., Barles, S., Garnier, J., Rouillard, J., Benoit, P. 2009. The food-print of Paris: long-term reconstruction

hinterland. Regional Environmental Change (9) 13-24.

Paris and its region 2009 Global North Accounting

(Materials) EW-MFABarles, S. 2009. Urban Metabolism of Paris and Its Region. Journal of Industrial Ecology 13, 898-913.

Phoenix 2000 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Lauver, L., Baker, L.A., 2000. Mass balance for wastewater nitrogen in the Central ArizonaePhoenix ecosystem. Water Res. 34, 2754e2760. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/S0043-1354(99)00355-3.

Phoenix, Arizona 2001 Global North Accounting

(Substance) SFABaker, L.A., Hope, D., Xu, Y., Edmonds, J., Lauver, L., 2001. Nitrogen balance for the Central Arizona-Phoenix (CAP) ecosystem. Ecosystems (4) 582-602.

Phoenix, Arizona 2012 Global North Accounting

(Substance) SFAMetson, G., Aggarwal, R and Childers. D., L. 2012. Changes in Phosphorus Cycling at the Urban–Agricultural: Interface of a Rapidly Urbanizing Desert Region, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 16(6).

Pittsburgh 2002 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Tarr, J.A. 2002. The metabolism of the industrial city: a case of Pittsburgh. Journal of Urban History (28) 511:545.

Prague 2008 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Energy Flow Analysis

Fikar, P., Havránek, M. 2009. Energy metabolism of the Prague city. In: Havránek, M. (Ed.), ConAccount 2008: Urban Metabolism, Measuring the Ecological City. Charles University Environment Center, Prague, 80-101.

Ra’anana, Israel 2017 Global North Footprint Analysis EFA

Dor, A. and M. Kissinger. 2017. A multi-year, multi-scale analysis of urban sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 62: 115–121. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195925516300634. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Ruhr area and North Rhine Westphalia

1996 Global North Accounting (Materials)

Material balance at a regional level

Bringezu, S.,and Schütz, H. 1996a. Der Ökologische Rucksack der Ruhrgebiets, Rep. No 61. Wuppertal Institute, Wuppertal.

Shanghai 2016 China Hybrid MuSIASEM

Lu, Y., Geng, Y., Qian, Y., Han, W., McDowall, W., Bleischwitz, R., 2016. Changes of human time and land use pattern in one mega city’s urban metabolism: a multi-scale integrated analysis of Shanghai. J. Clean. Prod. 133, 391e401. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.174.

Shanwei, Guangdong, China

2015 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Lou, B., Qui, Y., Ulgiati, S. 2015. Emergy-based indicators of regional environmental sustainability: A case study in Shanwei, Guangdong, China. Ecological Indicators. 57:514-524



Shenyang, China 2016 China Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Sun, L., Dong, H., Geng, Y., Li, Z., Liu, Z., Fujita, T., Ohnishi, S., Fujii, M., 2016. Uncovering driving forces on urban metabolismdA case of Shenyang. J. Clean. Prod. 114, 171e179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.053. Towards Post Fossil Carbon Societies: Regenerative and Preventative Eco-Industrial Development.

Shenyang, China & Kawasaki, Japan

2014 Global Footprint Analysis

Geng, Y., Zhang, L., Chen, X., Xue, B., Fujita, T., Dong, H. 2014. Urban ecological footrping analysis: a comparative study between Shenyang in China and Kawasaki in Japan. Journal of Cleaner Production. 75:130-142.

Singapore 2007 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Schulz, N.B. 2007. The direct material inputs into Singapore’s development. Journal of Industrial Ecology (11) 117-131.

Singapore 2011 Global North Simulation SDM

Abou-Abdo, T., Davis, N.R., Krones, J.S., Welling, K.N. and Fernandez, J.E. 2011. Dynamic modeling of

sustainable scenario development. Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST), 2011 IEEE International Symposium on, pp. 1-6.

Stockholm 2001 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Hedbrant, J., 2001. Stockhome: a spreadsheet model of urban heavy metal metabolism. Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1, 55e66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1017543802533

Stockholm 2009 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Cui, Q., Brandt, N., Malmström, M.E. 2009. Sediment

Stockholm. In: Havránek, M. (Ed.), ConAccount 2008: Urban Metabolism, Measuring the Ecological City. Charles University Environment Center, Prague, pp. 290-381.

Stockholm, Linköping and Finspång

2004 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Lindqvist, A. and von Malmborg, F. 2004. What can we

Cleaner Production (12) 909-918.

Stockholm, Sweden 1996 Global North Accounting

(Substance) SFA technosphere to biosphere in a city region. Science of The Total Environment (192) 95-109.

Stockholm, Sweden 2016 Global North Accounting

(Substance) SFA

Amneklev, J., A. Augustsson, L. Sörme, and B. Bergbäck. 2016. Monitoring Urban Copper Flows in Stockholm, Sweden: Implications of Changes Over Time: Monitoring Urban Copper Flows. Journal of Industrial Ecology. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12470. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Suzhou, China 2011 China Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Liang, S. & Zhang, T. 2011. Urban Metabolism in China Achieving Dematerialization and Decarbonization in Suzhou. Journal of Industrial Ecology (15) 420-434.

Suzhou, China 2012 China Hybrid Hybrid IOA and Scenario Analysis

Liang, S., Zhang, T., 2012. Comparing urban solid waste recycling from the viewpoint of urban metabolism based on physical inputeoutput model: a case of Suzhou in China. Waste Manag. 32, 220e225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.wasman.2011.08.018.

Swiss Lowlands region

1998 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Kytzia, S., Redle, M., Henseler, G., Müller, D.B., Bader, H.P., Scheidegger, R. and Baccini P. 1998. Materials accounting as a tool for decision making in environmental policy-Mac TemPo case study report 5-SYNOIKOS. In: In: Brunner P. et. Al (Eds.), Materials. Accounting as a tool for decision making in environmental policy (Mac TemPo). Available online:

[Accessed 24 November 2011].



Swiss region 1994 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Brunner, P., Daxbeck, H. and Baccini, P. 1994. Industrial metabolism at the regional and local level: A case study on a Swiss region, in: Ayres, R.U., Simonis, U.E. (Eds.), Industrial metabolism: restructuring for sustainable development. UNU Press, Tokyo, Japan.

Sydney 1996 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Newman, P., Birrell, B., Homes, D., Mathers, C., Newton, P., Oakley, G., O’Connor, A., Walker, B., Spessa, A. and Tait, D. 1996. Human settlements. Available online: http://laptop.deh.gov.au/soe/1996/publications/report/pubs/chap03.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2011].

Taipei 2015 China Hybrid Hybrid MFA & LCA

Tseng, W.-L. and P.-T. Chiueh. 2015. Urban Metabolism of Recycling and Reusing Food Waste: A Case Study in Taipei City. Procedia Engineering 118: 992–999. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1877705815021955. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Taipei 2005 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Carbon analysis

Huang, S.L. and Chen, C.W. 2005. Theory of urban energetics and mechanisms of urban development. Ecological Modelling (189) 49-71.

Taipei 2003 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy and emergy evaluation of Taipei’s urban construction.

Landsc. Urban Plan. 63, 61e74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(02)00152-4.

Taipei 1998 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Emergy & Energy Flow Analysis

Huang, S.-L., 1998. Urban ecosystems, energetic hierarchies, and ecological economics of Taipei metropolis. J. Environ. Manag. 52, 39e51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jema.1997.0157.

Tehran, Iran 2014 Global South Simulation SDM

Vafa-Arani, H., Jahani, S., Dashti, H., Heydari, J., Moazen, S. 2014. A system dynamics modelling for urban air pollution: A case study of Tehran, Iran. Transportation Research Part D. 31:21-36

Tianjin City, China 2011 China Accounting

(Materials) EW-MFAWei, L., Wenxin, T., Chaofan, C., Liang, L. and Yun, L. 2011. The Development and Practice in City Level of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) in China. Energy Procedia (11) 4445-4452.

Tokyo 1976 Global North Accounting (Materials) MFA

Hanya, T., Ambe, Y., 1976. A study on the metabolism of cities. In: HESC Science Council of Japan (Ed.), Science for a Better Environment. Science Council of Japan, Kyoto, 228:233.

Toronto 2013 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Resilience assessment

Bristow, D.N. and C.A. Kennedy. 2013. Urban Metabolism and the Energy Stored in Cities: Implications for Resilience. Journal of Industrial Ecology 17(5): 656–667.

Toronto 1993 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon) CFA

Harvey, L.D.D., 1993. Tackling urban CO2 emissions in toronto. Environ. Sci. Policy Sustain. Dev. 35, 16e44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00139157.1993.9929991.

Toronto 2007 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Forkes, J. 2007. Nitrogen balance for the urban food metabolism of Toronto, Canada. Resources. Conservation and Recycling (52) 74-94.

Toronto 2003 Global North IOA IOASahely, H.R., Dudding, S., Kennedy, C.A., 2003. Estimating the urban metabolism of Canadian cities: greater Toronto Area case study. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 30, 468e483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/l02-105.

Trinket Ilsand 2001 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Singh, S. J., Grünbühel, C. M., Schandl, H. and Schultz, N. B. 2001. Social metabolism and labour in a local context: changing environmental relations on Trinket Island. Population and Environment (23) 71-104.

UK Cities 2013 Global North Footprint Analysis Carbon Footprinting

Minx, J., Baiocchi, G., Wiedmann, T., Barrett, J., Creutzig, F., Feng, K., Fo€rster, M., Pichler, P.-P., Weisz, H., Hubacek, K., 2013. Carbon footprints of cities and other human settlements in the UK. Environ. Res. Lett. 8, 035039. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035039.



United Kingdom Municipalities

2006 Global North Footprint AnalysisSei, W. W. and Cure. 2006. Counting consumption -

of the UK by region and devolved country. WWF-UK: Godalming, Surrey, UK.

United Kingdom Regions

2005 Global North Hybrid Hybrid material and economic IOA

Sinclair, P., Papathanasopoulou, E., Mellor, W. and Jackson, T. 2005. Towards an integrated regional

Ecology (9) 69-84.

Uppsala, Sweden 2014 Global North Hybrid Emergy & Economic

Cost Analysis

Russo, T., Buonocore, E., Franzese, P.P., 2014. The urban metabolism of the city of Uppsala (Sweden). J. Environ. Acc. Manag. 2, 1e12. http://dx.doi.org/10.5890/ JEAM.2014.03.0 01.

Vancouver 2013 Global North Footprint AnalysisMoore, J., Kissinger, M., Rees, W. E. 2013. An urban metabolism and ecological footprint assessment of Metro Vancouver. Journal of environmental management, Vol.124, pp.51-61

Vienna 2011 Global North Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Krausmann, F. 2011. A city and its hinterland: Vienna’s energy metabolism 1800-2006. Available online: http://homepage.univie.ac.at/peter.eigner/SS/Krausmann.pdf [ Accessed 4 December 2011].

Vienna 2006 Global North Accounting (Materials) EW-MFA

Hammer, M., S. Giljum, F. Luks, and M. Winkler. 2006. Die ¨okologische Nachhaltigkeit regionaler

Hamburg, Wien und Leipzig. [Ecological sustainability

regions of Hamburg, Vienna and Leipzig]. Natur und Kultur 7(2): 62–78 [In German].

Vienna 1996 Global North Accounting (Materials) stock analysis

(MFSA)

Daxbeck, H., Lampert, C., Morf, L., Obernsterer, R., Rechberger, H. and Reiner, I. 1996. Der antropogene stoffhaushalt der stadt wien. Vienna, Austria. Technical University of Vienna.

Vienna 2000 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Hendriks, C., Obernosterer, R., Müller, D., Kytzia, S.,

a tool to support environmental policy decision making. Two case studies on the city of Vienna and the Swiss lowlands. Local Environment (5) 311 – 328.

Vienna 2016 Global North Hybrid Hybrid MFA & GIS

Kleemann, F., J. Lederer, H. Rechberger, and J. Fellner. 2016. GIS-based Analysis of Vienna’s Material Stock in Buildings: GIS-based Analysis of Material Stock in Buildings. Journal of Industrial Ecology. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/jiec.12446. Accessed January 27, 2017.

Vienna & Taipei 2013 Global Accounting

(Substance) SFAKral, U., Lin, C., Keller, K., Ma, H., Brunner, P. 2013. The Copper Balance of Cities: Exploratory Insights into a European and an Asian City. Journal of Industrial Ecology. 18(3):432-444.

Vienna, Austria 2001 Global North Accounting (Substance) SFA

Obernosterer, R., Brunner, P.H., 2001. Urban metal management: the example of lead. Water Air Soil Pollut. Focus 1, 241e253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A: 1017520624823.

Wuyishan City, China 2011 China Accounting

(Energy or Carbon) EmergyYang, Z.F., Li, S.S., Zhang, Y., Huang, G.H., 2011. Emergy synthesis for three main industries in Wuyishan City, China. Journal of Environmental Informatics (17) 25-35.

Xiamen 2014 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon) Emergy

Yang, D., Kao, W. T. M., Zhang, G., Zhang, N. 2014. Evaluating spatiotemporal differences and sustainability of Xiamen urban metabolism using emergy synthesis. Ecological Modelling. 272:40-48

Xiamen 2012 China Accounting (Energy or Carbon)

Zhao, W. 2012. Analysis on the characteristic of energy

Xiamen City. Procedia Environmental Sciences (13) 2274-2279.

Zhangye City, Northwestern China

2009 China IOA IOA

Wang, Y., Xiao, H.L. and Lu, M.F. 2009. Analysis of water consumption using a regional input-output model: Model development and application to Zhangye City, Northwestern China. Journal of Arid Environments (73) 894-900.


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