Urban institutional and ecological footprint: A new urban metabolism assessment tool for planning sustainable urban ecosystems

Purpose – This paper is part of a PhD research in urban metabolism assessment tools. Its purpose is to propose a new strategic urban metabolism assessment tool that can be integrated in the urban ecosystem planning process.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the systemic approach to build a model of an urban ecosystem in order to understand its structure and function; understand its metabolism flows and how to assess and “control” it. This systemic model outlines the role of the ecological footprint (EF) in the assessment of urban metabolism flows and demonstrates the need for a new tool to assess the function of metabolism control.Findings – The research paper proposes a new strategic assessment tool composed of the EF, as an assessment tool of urban metabolism flows, and of a new tool dedicated to the assessment of the urban metabolism control function. This tool, fully integrated in the urban planning process, will bridge the gap between urban metabolism assessment and urban metabolism control...

[1]  R. Horne,et al.  Ecological Footprint as an Assessment Tool for Urban Development , 2007 .

[2]  M. Alberti,et al.  Managing urban sustainability: An introduction to the special issue , 1996 .

[3]  A "Constant Global Hectare" Method for Representing Ecological Footprint Time Trends , 2007 .

[4]  Wenlong Li,et al.  A modified method of ecological footprint calculation and its application , 2005 .

[5]  William E. Rees,et al.  Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out , 1992 .

[6]  Jeb Brugmann.  Planning for sustainability at the local government level , 1996 .

[7]  Paul Waddell,et al.  An integrated urban development and ecological simulation model , 2000 .

[8]  J. Barrett,et al.  A material flow analysis and Ecological Footprint of York , 2002 .

[9]  M. Alberti.  Measuring urban sustainability , 1996 .

[10]  Herbert Girardet,et al.  Creating Sustainable Cities , 1999 .

[11]  Peter Newman,et al.  The environmental impact of cities , 2006 .

[12]  Erling Holden,et al.  Ecological footprints and sustainable urban form , 2004 .

[13]  Mathis Wackernagel,et al.  Footprints for Sustainability: The Next Steps , 2000 .

[14]  A. Wolman.  THE METABOLISM OF CITIES. , 1965, Scientific American.

[15]  Helmut Haberl,et al.  How to calculate and interpret ecological footprints for long periods of time: the case of Austria 1926-1995 , 2001 .

[16]  M. Alberti,et al.  Modeling the Urban Ecosystem: A Conceptual Framework , 1999 .

[17]  J. P. Collins,et al.  A New Urban Ecology , 2000, American Scientist.

[18]  D. Moran,et al.  The Ecological Footprint of cities and regions: comparing resource availability with resource demand , 2006 .

[19]  W. Rees.  Understanding Urban Ecosystems: An Ecological Economics Perspective , 2003 .

[20]  M. Wackernagel,et al.  Urban ecological footprints: Why cities cannot be sustainable—And why they are a key to sustainability , 1996 .

[21]  W. Zipperer,et al.  Urban ecological systems: linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas , 2001 .