Sustainable Urban Metabolism

by Paulo Ferrao, John E. Fernandez

Overview

A unified framework for analyzing urban sustainability in terms of cities' inflows and outflows of matter and energy.

Urbanization and globalization have shaped the last hundred years. These two dominant trends are mutually reinforcing: globalization links countries through the networked communications of urban hubs. The urban population now generates more than eighty percent of global GDP. Cities account for enormous flows of energy and materials—inflows of goods and services and outflows of waste. Thus urban environmental management critically affects global sustainability. In this book, Paulo Ferrão and John Fernández offer a metabolic perspective on urban sustainability, viewing the city as a metabolism, in terms of its exchanges of matter and energy. Their book provides a roadmap to the strategies and tools needed for a scientifically based framework for analyzing and promoting the sustainability of urban systems.

Using the concept of urban metabolism as a unifying framework, Ferrão and Fernandez describe a systems-oriented approach that establishes useful linkages among environmental, economic, social, and technical infrastructure issues. These linkages lead to an integrated information-intensive platform that enables ecologically informed urban planning. After establishing the theoretical background and describing the diversity of contributing disciplines, the authors sample sustainability approaches and tools, offer an extended study of the urban metabolism of Lisbon, and outline the challenges and opportunities in approaching urban sustainability in both developed and developing countries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262316965
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/30/2013
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Paulo C. Ferrão is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, and Director of the MIT Portugal Program.

John E. Fernández is Associate Professor and Director of the Building Technology Program in the Department of Architecture at MIT and Director of MIT's International Design Center.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

I Urban Metabolism: Defining a Field 1

1 Industrial Ecology: A Metaphor for Sustainable Development 3

2 Urban Metabolism: Resource Consumption of Cities 23

3 Intellectual Foundations and Key Insights 43

II Industrial Ecology: A Framework 65

4 Industrial Ecology: A Framework of Tools and Practices 67

5 Industrial Ecology as a Framework for a Sustainable Urban Metabolism 97

III Sustainable Urban Systems 113

6 Green Urban Policies and Development 115

7 Urban Typologies: Prospects and Indicators 135

8 Complexity and Dynamics of Urban Systems 153

9 Integrated Approaches to Sustainable Urban Metabolism 165

IV Mapping and Assessing Urban Metabolism 187

10 Urban Metabolism in Practice: Case Studies from Developed Countries 189

11 The Challenge of Urban Metabolism in a Developing Context 203

Epilogue 223

Notes 225

References 227

Index 241

What People are Saying About This

Christopher Kennedy

For those who take the sustainability of cities seriously, the study of urban metabolism is an absolute necessity. At last we have a text fully devoted to the subject! Ferrão and Fernández skillfully blend their talents as architect and engineer to produce a book that is both beautifully composed and with appropriate technical details.

John R. Ehrenfeld

With half the world's people living in urban areas, sustainability depends critically on understanding how cities work and on keeping them healthy.

Elaborating on the concepts of industrial ecology and urban metabolism, Ferraõ and Fernández provide access into the workings of cities plus a set of powerful practical tools and methodologies for analysts and designers.