Can urban metabolism models advance green infrastructure planning? Insights from ecosystem services research

Sven Stremke,Daniela Perrotti

doi:10.1177/2399808318797131

Abstract

Urban metabolism studies have gained momentum in recent years as a means to assess the environmental performance of cities and to point to more resource-efficient strategies for urban development. Recent literature reviews report a growing number of applications of the industrial ecology model for material flow analysis in the design of the built environment. However, applications of material flow analysis in green infrastructure development are scarce. In this article, we argue that: (i) the use of material flow analysis in green infrastructure practice can inform decision-making towards more resource-efficient urban planning; (ii) the ecosystem service concept is critical to operationalize material flow analysis for green infrastructure planning and design, and, through this, can enhance the impact of urban metabolism research on policy making and planning practice. The article draws from a systematic review of literature on urban ecosystem services and benefits provided by green infrastructure in urban regions. The review focuses on ecosystem services that can contribute to a more energy-efficient and less carbon-intensive urban metabolism. Using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services as a baseline, we then discuss opportunities for integrating energy provision and climate regulation ecosystem services in material flow analysis. Our discussion demonstrates that the accounting of ecosystem services in material flow analysis enables expressing impacts of green infrastructure on the urban energy mix (renewable energy provision), the magnitude of energy use (mitigation of building energy demand) and the dynamics of biogeochemical processes in cities (carbon sequestration). We finally propose an expanded model for material flow analysis that illustrates a way forward to integrate the ecosystem service concept in urban metabolism models and to enable their application in green infrastructure planning and design.

Highlights

Urban metabolism (UM) research is nowadays a growing field of study spanning across a wide spectrum of disciplines
We have argued that the application of UM models in green infrastructure planning and design represents a promising new frontier for UM research, especially in light of local authorities’ growing ambitions to make use of nature-based solutions in pursuing a more sustainable UM
We have argued that the ecosystem service concept can help operationalize UM models and can foster their applications in green infrastructure planning and design

Summary

Introduction

Urban metabolism (UM) research is nowadays a growing field of study spanning across a wide spectrum of disciplines. A Scopus Boolean search on journal articles including “urban metabolism” OR “metabolism of cities” in the title, abstract or keywords shows that the publication pace has accelerated from an average of two papers per year in the early 2000s to 80 in 2017. Such figures are in line with the rejuvenation of metabolic studies since the 2000s, described in several UM review articles UM is defined as the totality of processes through which cities import, produce and export materials, energy and other resources (and expel waste) to ensure their maintenance and growth (Kennedy et al, 2007)

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