Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region
Urban metabolism is a growing field of study into resource flows through cities, and how these could be managed more sustainably. There are two main schools of thought on urban metabolism—metabolic flow analysis (MFA) and urban political ecology (UPE). The two schools remain siloed despite common fo...
| 主要な著者: | , , , , , |
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| フォーマット: | 論文 |
| 言語: | English |
| 出版事項: |
IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| シリーズ: | Environmental Research Letters |
| 主題: | |
| オンライン･アクセス: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21 |
| _version_ | 1827870847131451392 |
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| author | Christina Culwick Graeme Götz Siân Butcher Jesse Harber Gillian Maree Darlington Mushongera |
| author_facet | Christina Culwick Graeme Götz Siân Butcher Jesse Harber Gillian Maree Darlington Mushongera |
| author_sort | Christina Culwick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban metabolism is a growing field of study into resource flows through cities, and how these could be managed more sustainably. There are two main schools of thought on urban metabolism—metabolic flow analysis (MFA) and urban political ecology (UPE). The two schools remain siloed despite common foundations. This paper reflects on recent research by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) into urban sustainability transitions in South Africa’s Gauteng City-Region, a large and sprawling urban formation that faces a host of sustainability challenges including water deficits, erratic electricity supply, stretched infrastructure networks and increasingly carbon-intensive settlement patterns. Three GCRO research projects are reviewed. Each project began with the assumption that data collection on the region’s metabolism could enable an MFA or MFA-like analysis to highlight where possible resource efficiency and sustainability gains might be achieved. However, in each case we confronted severe data-limitations, and ended up asking UPE-style questions on the reasons for and implications of the chronic paucity of urban metabolism data. We have been led to conclude that urban metabolism research will require much more than just assembling and modelling flows data, although these efforts should not be abandoned. A synthesis of MFA and UPE is needed, which simultaneously builds a deeper understanding of resource flows and the systems that govern these flows. We support the emerging approach in political-industrial ecology literature which values both material data on and socio-political insight into urban metabolism, and emphasises the importance of multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional analysis to inform decision-making in urban sustainability transitions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-953a7af829b14562845bc137c7bcd74f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:01:49Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-953a7af829b14562845bc137c7bcd74f2023-08-09T14:35:17ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-01121212500610.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-RegionChristina Culwick0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2710-9797Graeme Götz1Siân Butcher2Jesse Harber3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3892-5458Gillian Maree4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7952-6659Darlington Mushongera5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6939-3864Gauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg , the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Provincial Government and organised local government in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Gauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg , the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Provincial Government and organised local government in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South AfricaSchool of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South AfricaGauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg , the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Provincial Government and organised local government in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South AfricaGauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg , the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Provincial Government and organised local government in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South AfricaGauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg , the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng Provincial Government and organised local government in Gauteng, Johannesburg, South AfricaUrban metabolism is a growing field of study into resource flows through cities, and how these could be managed more sustainably. There are two main schools of thought on urban metabolism—metabolic flow analysis (MFA) and urban political ecology (UPE). The two schools remain siloed despite common foundations. This paper reflects on recent research by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) into urban sustainability transitions in South Africa’s Gauteng City-Region, a large and sprawling urban formation that faces a host of sustainability challenges including water deficits, erratic electricity supply, stretched infrastructure networks and increasingly carbon-intensive settlement patterns. Three GCRO research projects are reviewed. Each project began with the assumption that data collection on the region’s metabolism could enable an MFA or MFA-like analysis to highlight where possible resource efficiency and sustainability gains might be achieved. However, in each case we confronted severe data-limitations, and ended up asking UPE-style questions on the reasons for and implications of the chronic paucity of urban metabolism data. We have been led to conclude that urban metabolism research will require much more than just assembling and modelling flows data, although these efforts should not be abandoned. A synthesis of MFA and UPE is needed, which simultaneously builds a deeper understanding of resource flows and the systems that govern these flows. We support the emerging approach in political-industrial ecology literature which values both material data on and socio-political insight into urban metabolism, and emphasises the importance of multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional analysis to inform decision-making in urban sustainability transitions.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21urban metabolismmetabolic flow analysisurban political ecologyGauteng City-Regionurban policydata issues |
| spellingShingle | Christina Culwick Graeme Götz Siân Butcher Jesse Harber Gillian Maree Darlington Mushongera Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region Environmental Research Letters urban metabolism metabolic flow analysis urban political ecology Gauteng City-Region urban policy data issues |
| title | Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region |
| title_full | Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region |
| title_fullStr | Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region |
| title_short | Doing more with less (data): complexities of resource flow analysis in the Gauteng City-Region |
| title_sort | doing more with less data complexities of resource flow analysis in the gauteng city region |
| topic | urban metabolism metabolic flow analysis urban political ecology Gauteng City-Region urban policy data issues |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7c21 |
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