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edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia this article has multiple issues please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page learn how and when to remove these messages this article contains inline citations that are not properly formatted please improve this article by correcting them october 2026 learn how and when to remove this message this article may require copy editing for spelling grammar style cohesion or tone you can assist by editing it october 2026 learn how and when to remove this message learn how and when to remove this message model of the flows of materials and energy in cities urban metabolism um is a model to facilitate the description and analysis of the flows of the materials and energy within cities such as undertaken in a material flow analysis of a city it provides researchers with a metaphorical framework to study the interactions of natural and human systems in specific regions 1 from the beginning researchers have tweaked and altered the parameters of the urban metabolism model c kennedy and fellow researchers have produced a clear definition in the 2007 paper the changing metabolism of cities claiming that urban metabolism is the sum total of the technical and socio economic process that occur in cities resulting in growth production of energy and elimination of waste 2 with the growing concern of climate change and atmospheric degradation the use of the urban metabolism model has become a key element in determining and maintaining levels of sustainability and health in cities around the world urban metabolism provides a unified or holistic viewpoint to encompass all of the activities of a city in a single model history edit sociologists have noted that the works of karl marx and collaborator friedrich engels include early discussions pertaining to the concept of urban metabolism though before the term was adopted marx and engels often focused on the social organization of the harvesting of the earth s materials by analysing the dynamic internal relationships between humans and nature 1 marx even used the metaphor of metabolism to refer to the actual metabolic interactions that take place through humans exertion of physical labour to cultivate the earth for sustenance and shelter 3 they also used metabolism to describe the material and energy exchange between nature and society in as a critique of industrialization which they argued created an interdependent set of societal needs brought into play through the concrete organization of human labour citation needed later in reaction against industrialization and coal use sir patrick geddes a scottish biologist undertook an ecological critique of urbanization in 1885 making him the first scientist to attempt an empirical description of societal metabolism on a macroeconomic scale 4 through his experimental study of urbanization he established a physical budget for urban energy and material throughput by way of an input output table 3 geddes table consisted of the sources of energy and materials transformed into products in three stages 1 extraction of fuels and raw materials 2 the manufacture and transport and 3 exchange the table also included intermediary products used for manufacture or transport of the final products calculation of energy losses between each of the three stages and the resultant final product which was often surprisingly small in material terms compared with its overall material inputs 4 it wasn t until 1965 when abel wolman fully developed and used the term urban metabolism in his work the metabolism of cities which he developed in response to deteriorating air and water qualities in american cities 2 in this study wolman developed a model which allowed him to determine the inflow and outflow rates of a hypothetical american city with a population of 1 million people 5 the model allows the monitoring and documentation of natural resources used mainly water and the consequential creation and out put of waste 6 wolman s study highlighted the fact that there are physical limitations to the natural resources we use on a day to day basis and with frequent use the compilation of waste can and will create problems it also helped focus researchers and professionals of their time to focus their attention on the system wide impacts of consumption of goods and sequential production of waste within the urban environment 7 working off of wolman s pioneering work in the 60s environmentalist herbert girardet 1996 began to see and document his findings in the connection between urban metabolism and sustainable cities 6 girardet laid the foundation for the industrial ecology approach to urban metabolism in which it is seen as the conversion of nature into society 7 aside from being a great advocate and populariser for urban metabolism girardet significantly coined and drew the difference between a circular and linear metabolism 7 in a circular cycle there is nearly no waste and almost everything is re used girardet characterizes this as a natural world process on the other hand a linear metabolism which is characterized as an urban world process has a clear resource in put and waste out put girardet emphasizes that the accelerated use of linear metabolisms in urban environments is creating an impending global crisis as cities grow more recently when the metabolism frame of reference has been used in the reporting of environmental information in australia where researchers such as newman have begun to link urban metabolic measures to and it has been suggested that it can be used to define the sustainability of a city within the ecosystems capacity that can support it 8 this research has stayed mainly at a descriptive level and did not reach into the political or social forces of urban form and stages of flow 1 from this research there has been a strong theme in present literature on urban sustainability is that of the need to view the urban system as a whole if we are to best understand and solve the complex problems 5 two main schools of approach edit the energy method edit main article energy developed in 1970s howard t odum a systems ecologist wanted to emphasize the dependence on the source of almost all energy on the planet the sun 6 odum believed that previous research and development on urban metabolism was missing and did not account for qualitative differences of mass or energy flows odum s study took this into count and he coined the term emergy to track and account for the metabolic flows by measuring the solar energy used directly or indirectly to make a product or deliver a service this method also emphasizes the use of a standard unit of measurement to calculate energy nutrient and waste movement in the biophysical system the unit chosen was solar equivalent joules sej at first glance the notion to use standard units seems like a beneficial idea for calculating and comparing figures in reality the ability to convert all urban processes into solar energy joules has proven to be a difficult feat and difficult to understand 1 material flow analysis edit main article material flow analysis the um approach has been applied several times to assess and describe urban flows and impacts related to them using different tools such as material flow analysis mfa 9 the mfa researched by baccini and brunner in the 1990s measures the materials flowing into a system the stocks and flows within it and the resulting outputs from the system to other systems in the form of pollution waste or exports 1 much like wolmans case model for a hypothetical american city this method is based on the concept that the mass of the resources used will equal the mass plus stock changes out 1 the mfa technique has become the mainstream school of urban metabolism because it uses more practical units that the public workers government officials and researchers can understand 6 applications edit there are four main uses of urban metabolism that are used today by urban planners and designers sustainability reporting urban greenhouse gas accounting mathematical modelling for policy analysis and urban design sustainability indicators edit further information sustainability reporting with the issue of sustainability at the core of many environmental issues today one of the main uses of urban metabolism in the modern era is to track and record levels of sustainability in cities and regions around the world urban metabolism collects important and very useful information about energy efficiency material cycling waste management and infrastructure in urban environments the urban metabolism model records and analyzes environmental conditions and trends which are easily understood for policy makers and consequently comparable over time 6 making it easier to find unhealthy patterns and develop a plan of action to better the level of sustainability greenhouse gas accounting edit main article greenhouse gas accounting staying in line with the notion of sustainability urban metabolism is also a helpful tool for tracking greenhouse gas emissions on a city or regional level as mentioned above with the proliferation of linear metabolisms such as cars the production of greenhouse gases has increased exponentially since the birth and mass production of the automobile causing a problem for our atmosphere 7 urban metabolism has been proven to be a necessary tool for measuring levels of greenhouse gas because it is an output or waste product that is produced through human consumption the model provides quantifiable parameters which allow officials to mark unhealthy levels of ghg emissions and again develop a plan of action to lower them 6 mathematical models edit aside from accounting applications scholars have begun to develop mathematical models to quantify and predict levels of particles and nutrients within the urban metabolism model such models are mostly used in mfa analysis and are helpful in determining present and future sub processes and material stocks and flows within the urban environment 6 with the ability to predict future levels the models allow progress to be made and possible pollution prevention programs to be instated rather than end of the pipe solutions which have been favoured in the past 10 design tools edit through utilization of the 3 applications above scholars and professionals are able to use urban metabolism as a design tool to create greener and more sustainable infrastructure from the beginning by tracing flows of energy materials and waste through urban systems as a whole changes and alterations can be made to close the loops to create circular metabolisms where resources are recycled and almost no waste is produced 6 such initiatives are being made around the world with technology and inventions which make building green that much easier and accessible uses of the model are however not restricted to strictly functional analysis as the model has been adapted to examine the relational aspects of urban relationships between infrastructure and citizens 11 see also edit business and economics portal ecology portal society portal anthropogenic metabolism dematerialization economics industrial ecology industrial metabolism social metabolism musiasem urban ecology references edit notes edit 1 2 3 4 5 6 pincetl s bunje p holmes t 2012 an expanded urban metabolism method toward a systems approach for assessing urban energy processes and causes landscape and urban planning 193 202 1 2 kennedy c cuddihy j engel yan j 2007 the changing metabolism of cities journal of industrial ecology 11 2 43 59 1 2 fischer kowalski m 1998 society s metabolism the intellectual history of materials flow analysis part i i 860 i 970 journal of industrial ecology 2 1 61 78 1 2 mcdonald g w patterson m g 2007 bridging the divide in urban sustainability from human exemptionalism to the new ecological paradigm urban ecosyst 10 169 192 1 2 decker e elliot s smith f blake d rowland f s 2000 energy and material flow through the urban ecosystem energy environment 25 685 740 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 kennedy c pincetl s bunje p 2011 the study of urban metabolism and its applications to urban planning and design environmental pollution 159 1965 1973 1 2 3 4 wachsmuth d 2012 three ecologies urban metabolism and the society nature opposition the sociological quarterly 53 506 523 newman p 1999 sustainability and cities extending the metabolism model landscape and urban planning 44 219 226 ioppolo giuseppe reinout heijungs stefano cucurachi roberta salomone and rené kleijn 2014 urban metabolism many open questions for future answers pp 23 32 in pathways to environmental sustainability eds roberta salomone and giuseppe saija springer cleaner production versus end of pipe n d retrieved from http www centric at services cleaner production cleaner production versus end of pipe gandy m 2004 rethinking urban metabolism water space and the modern city city http www geog ucl ac uk about the department people academics matthew gandy files pdf2 pdf bibliography edit baccini p 2007 a city s metabolism towards the sustainable development of urban systems journal of urban technology 4 2 27 39 boyle h g 1994 metropolitan food systems in developing countries the perspective of urban metabolism geojournal 34 3 245 251 cleaner production versus end of pipe n d retrieved from http www centric at services cleaner production cleaner production versus end of pipe decker e elliot s smith f blake d rowland f s 2000 energy and material flow through the urban ecosystem energy environment 25 685 740 fischer kowalski m 1998 society s metabolism the intellectual history of materials flow analysis part i i 860 i 970 journal of industrial ecology 2 1 61 78 kennedy c cuddihy j engel yan j 2007 the changing metabolism of cities journal of industrial ecology 11 2 43 59 kennedy c pincetl s bunje p 2011 the study of urban metabolism and its applications to urban planning and design environmental pollution 159 1965 1973 mcdonald g w patterson m g 2007 bridging the divide in urban sustainability from human exemptionalism to the new ecological paradigm urban ecosyst 10 169 192 newman p 1999 sustainability and cities extending the metabolism model landscape and urban planning 44 219 226 pincetl s bunje p holmes t 2012 an expanded urban metabolism method toward a systems approach for assessing urban energy processes and causes landscape and urban planning 193 202 state of the environment advisory council 1996 state of the environment report 1996 csiro wachsmuth d 2012 three ecologies urban metabolism and the society nature opposition the sociological quarterly 53 506 523 wolman a 1965 the metabolism of ...