Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon
Cities are complex systems with a key role in economic development and in improving the environmental sustainability of nations. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of urban systems is fundamental to designing relevant policies and initiatives. Urban metabolism characterization may provide a ho...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Environments |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/10/2/14 |
| _version_ | 1797621082453180416 |
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| author | Sónia Cunha Paulo Ferrão |
| author_facet | Sónia Cunha Paulo Ferrão |
| author_sort | Sónia Cunha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cities are complex systems with a key role in economic development and in improving the environmental sustainability of nations. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of urban systems is fundamental to designing relevant policies and initiatives. Urban metabolism characterization may provide a holistic framework for analyzing urban systems in the context of the broader national metabolism. This paper provides a methodology to characterize the metabolism of an urban area, such as the Lisbon metropolitan area, taking as a source of data the socioeconomic metabolism of the country. The national metabolism is established by computing physical input-output tables. The downscaling to the urban level is accomplished with a variety of sector-specific parameters, from which an urban mass balance is established for a set of economic activities. The results obtained for the case study of Portugal and the city of Lisbon suggest that the share of services and the type of manufacturing industries in the economic structure of Lisbon, together with the higher resource productivity in the most representative economic sectors, are key aspects of the metabolism that contribute to Lisbon having higher overall resource productivity. The representation of the metabolism flows revealed key differences between the supply chains of Lisbon and the national flows, as well as a strong dependence of the Lisbon economy on material flows from other regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:51:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-362f221ba1a047fa9895e3f332c623fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3298 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:51:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environments |
| spelling | doaj.art-362f221ba1a047fa9895e3f332c623fe2023-11-16T20:24:51ZengMDPI AGEnvironments2076-32982023-01-011021410.3390/environments10020014Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of LisbonSónia Cunha0Paulo Ferrão1IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, PortugalIN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1049-001 Lisbon, PortugalCities are complex systems with a key role in economic development and in improving the environmental sustainability of nations. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of urban systems is fundamental to designing relevant policies and initiatives. Urban metabolism characterization may provide a holistic framework for analyzing urban systems in the context of the broader national metabolism. This paper provides a methodology to characterize the metabolism of an urban area, such as the Lisbon metropolitan area, taking as a source of data the socioeconomic metabolism of the country. The national metabolism is established by computing physical input-output tables. The downscaling to the urban level is accomplished with a variety of sector-specific parameters, from which an urban mass balance is established for a set of economic activities. The results obtained for the case study of Portugal and the city of Lisbon suggest that the share of services and the type of manufacturing industries in the economic structure of Lisbon, together with the higher resource productivity in the most representative economic sectors, are key aspects of the metabolism that contribute to Lisbon having higher overall resource productivity. The representation of the metabolism flows revealed key differences between the supply chains of Lisbon and the national flows, as well as a strong dependence of the Lisbon economy on material flows from other regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/10/2/14urban metabolismsocioeconomic metabolismsustainable urban developmenturban sustainabilityclimate changematerial flow analysis |
| spellingShingle | Sónia Cunha Paulo Ferrão Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon Environments urban metabolism socioeconomic metabolism sustainable urban development urban sustainability climate change material flow analysis |
| title | Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon |
| title_full | Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon |
| title_fullStr | Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon |
| title_short | Urban Metabolism Characterization from the National to the Regional Scale: A Case Study of Lisbon |
| title_sort | urban metabolism characterization from the national to the regional scale a case study of lisbon |
| topic | urban metabolism socioeconomic metabolism sustainable urban development urban sustainability climate change material flow analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/10/2/14 |
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