Social network analysis and network connectedness analysis for industrial symbiotic systems: model development and case study

Abstract

An important and practical pattern of industrial symbiosis is rapidly developing: eco-industrial parks. In this study, we used social network analysis to study the network connectedness (i.e., the proportion of the theoretical number of connections that had been achieved) and related attributes of these hybrid ecological and industrial symbiotic systems. This approach provided insights into details of the network’s interior and analyzed the overall degree of connectedness and the relationships among the nodes within the network. We then characterized the structural attributes of the network and subnetwork nodes at two levels (core and periphery), thereby providing insights into the operational problems within each eco-industrial park. We chose ten typical ecoindustrial parks in China and around the world and compared the degree of network connectedness of these systems that resulted from exchanges of products, byproducts, and wastes. By analyzing the density and nodal degree, we determined the relative power and status of the nodes in these networks, as well as other structural attributes such as the core-periphery structure and the degree of sub-network connectedness. The results reveal the operational problems created by the structure of the industrial networks and provide a basis for improving the degree of completeness, thereby increasing their potential for sustainable development and enriching the methods available for the study of industrial symbiosis.