Social Sustainability

Urban Metabolism

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Definition

Urban metabolism is the analysis of a city as a system of material and energy flows: the inputs (food, water, energy, materials, goods), the throughputs that sustain urban life, and the outputs (waste, emissions, wastewater, heat). Coined by Abel Wolman (1965) for an American city's water and waste flows, the framework underlies material flow accounting for cities, industrial ecology, and circular city strategies that aim to close loops — waste to resource, wastewater to recycled water, heat recovery.

References

www.scientificamerican.comBulk import source

Source imported for editorial provenance.

www.resourcepanel.orgBulk import source

This reference provides supporting context for how “Urban Metabolism” is defined and used.

Overview

How it is used

The framework structures urban material flow analysis, circular economy city strategies, footprint accounting, and industrial symbiosis projects.

Why it matters

You cannot green a flow you cannot see; urban metabolism is the X-ray of the city's resource body.