Metabolism of Cities
  • About

    About Us

    • Our Story
    • Mission & Values
    • Team
    • Task Forces
    • Services

    Connect With Us

    • ContributeJoin Us
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
  • Community

    Research

    • Projects
    • Theses
    • ContributeAdd Research
    • People

    Updates

    • Events
    • News
  • Resources

    Getting Started

    • About Urban Metabolism
    • Starter Kit

    Multimedia

    • Photos
    • Videos

    Publications

    • Library
    • Journals
    • ContributeAdd Publication

    Data

    • Datasets
    • Data Visualisations

    Tools

    • Online Material Flow Analysis Tool (OMAT)
    • MOOC
  • Cities

    MultipliCity - Data Portals

    • Introduction
    • Video
    • Add DataContribute
    • Data Collection Events
    • Development Roadmap
    • Datasets

    Existing Data Portals

    • Prototype: Cape Town, South Africa
    • Prototype: The Hague, Netherlands
    • Prototype: Beijing, China
    • Overview page

    Upcoming Data Portals

    • Apeldoorn, Netherlands Coming soon
    • Bødo, Norway Coming soon
    • Brussels, Belgium Coming soon
    • Høje Taastrup, Denmark Coming soon
    • Mikkeli, Finland Coming soon
    • Porto, Portugal Coming soon
    • Sevilla, Spain Coming soon
    • Toronto, Canada Coming soon
    • Your city?
    • Orange Theme
    • Blue Theme
    • Metabolism of Cities
    • Metabolism of Islands

Publications

  1. Resources
  2. Publications
  3. Publication #964

Bibtex

@article{reference_tag,
  author = "Cui, Xuezhu; Wang, Xuetong; Feng, Yunyu",
  title = "Examining urban metabolism: A material flow perspective on cities and their sustainability",
  journal = "Journal of Cleaner Production",
  year = 2019,url = "http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619300277",
  abstract = "The resource challenge associated with anthropogenic forces gained attention in recent years. However, the pathways toward urban sustainability are complicated and depend on local conditions, which need an understanding of the characteristics of urban metabolism (hereafter referred to as “UM”). This study adopts the flow perspective and develops a methodological framework to conduct a local-scale assessment of resource input to an urban system and related consumption, stock, and output. Through categorizing human activities and describing inner flows, a model of urban metabolism is constructed to clarify interrelationships among different sectors within the urban system, enabling the estimation of material dynamics. By determining metabolism profile and resource scarcity, the results reveals how metabolism takes effect on surrounding environment and urban resilience. This methodological framework is demonstrated through a case study of Guangzhou, China. The main characteristics identified are diversified material consumption, high resource intensity, dependence on non-metallic material and fossil energy import, and a high percentage of CO2 emission associated with industrial production. This result is meaningful in understanding the local resource scarcity and driving a regenerative process in Guangzhou, which is an industry-based economy. Advanced policy is further suggested that refers to clean energy use, waste management techniques, rigorous population control, and advanced measures and data sharing platform in urban management. These findings suggest the need to rethink the trajectory of urban development and gain awareness of the need to focus on new local initiatives in resource use optimization.",
  doi = "10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.021",
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
T1 - Examining urban metabolism: A material flow perspective on cities and their sustainability
AU - Cui, Xuezhu; Wang, Xuetong; Feng, Yunyu
Y1 - 2019
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619300277
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.021
N2 - The resource challenge associated with anthropogenic forces gained attention in recent years. However, the pathways toward urban sustainability are complicated and depend on local conditions, which need an understanding of the characteristics of urban metabolism (hereafter referred to as “UM”). This study adopts the flow perspective and develops a methodological framework to conduct a local-scale assessment of resource input to an urban system and related consumption, stock, and output. Through categorizing human activities and describing inner flows, a model of urban metabolism is constructed to clarify interrelationships among different sectors within the urban system, enabling the estimation of material dynamics. By determining metabolism profile and resource scarcity, the results reveals how metabolism takes effect on surrounding environment and urban resilience. This methodological framework is demonstrated through a case study of Guangzhou, China. The main characteristics identified are diversified material consumption, high resource intensity, dependence on non-metallic material and fossil energy import, and a high percentage of CO2 emission associated with industrial production. This result is meaningful in understanding the local resource scarcity and driving a regenerative process in Guangzhou, which is an industry-based economy. Advanced policy is further suggested that refers to clean energy use, waste management techniques, rigorous population control, and advanced measures and data sharing platform in urban management. These findings suggest the need to rethink the trajectory of urban development and gain awareness of the need to focus on new local initiatives in resource use optimization.
ER - 

Journal Article

2019

Author(s)

Cui, Xuezhu; Wang, Xuetong; Feng, Yunyu

Reference

  • Bibtex
  • RIS
  • RefWorks

Search

  • Google Scholar
  • Google

More options

Add a publication

Report error

Examining urban metabolism: A material flow perspective on cities and their sustainability

Journal of Cleaner Production

Journal of Cleaner Production

The resource challenge associated with anthropogenic forces gained attention in recent years. However, the pathways toward urban sustainability are complicated and depend on local conditions, which need an understanding of the characteristics of urban metabolism (hereafter referred to as “UM”). This study adopts the flow perspective and develops a methodological framework to conduct a local-scale assessment of resource input to an urban system and related consumption, stock, and output. Through categorizing human activities and describing inner flows, a model of urban metabolism is constructed to clarify interrelationships among different sectors within the urban system, enabling the estimation of material dynamics. By determining metabolism profile and resource scarcity, the results reveals how metabolism takes effect on surrounding environment and urban resilience. This methodological framework is demonstrated through a case study of Guangzhou, China. The main characteristics identified are diversified material consumption, high resource intensity, dependence on non-metallic material and fossil energy import, and a high percentage of CO2 emission associated with industrial production. This result is meaningful in understanding the local resource scarcity and driving a regenerative process in Guangzhou, which is an industry-based economy. Advanced policy is further suggested that refers to clean energy use, waste management techniques, rigorous population control, and advanced measures and data sharing platform in urban management. These findings suggest the need to rethink the trajectory of urban development and gain awareness of the need to focus on new local initiatives in resource use optimization.

Tags

  • Case Study
  • Economy-Wide Material Flow Analysis (EW-MFA)
  • Urban

More information

10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.021

Website

  • Literature
  • Publications
  • Journals
  • Events
  • Publishers

Latest news

Reflections on the first Actionable Science for Urban Sustainability (un)conference (AScUS) 2020
June 23, 2020

Read more

Do you have data on resource flows?

Share data

We can use your help

Join us

Metabolism of Cities

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Our source code is available on
Gitlab

Contact us

Follow Us

Metabolism of Islands

Visit our twin site:
Metabolism of Islands