73
It is increasingly chic for some communities to call themselves “sustainable communities”
yet the science to understand what such assertions really mean has yet to be done.
Developing integrated models of urban communities, including small, relatively selfcontained cities, larger cities with surrounding suburbs, and large megalopolises with
decayed centres and most business activity decentralized throughout the suburbs will be a
necessary step in achieving such an understanding. Urban centres in developing and developed nations should also be modelled and compared. Such models would include: transportation, physical infrastructure, food energy, material stocks and fl ows, and other systems.
Both direct and embedded impacts (…) should be included. This information would facilitate identifi cation of major sources of environmental impacts, patterns of activities that give
rise to them, and potential environmentally preferable technological or mitigation options.
It would also provide a necessary basis for comparing the environmental impacts of different kinds of communities, as well as creating higher level, integrated regional models.
Further recognition of the topic of cities is given in Discovering Industrial
Ecology by Ernest Lowe, John Warren and Stephen Moran (1997). The front cover
shows a night-time city panorama superimposed on to a view of Earth from Space.
Table 4.1 Coverage of cities or urban systems in early books or conference proceedings on
industrial ecology
Book or conference proceeding
Content on cities or urban systems
Winter ( 1988 ). Business and the environment: a
handbook of industrial ecology with 22 checklists
for practical use
No chapters, or checklists, specifi c to cities
Ausubel and Sladovich ( 1989 ). Technology and
environment
Cursory mention of urban air pollution and
waste management
National academy of science colloquium on
industrial ecology published in PNAS (1992)
No papers specifi c to cities
Allenby and Richards ( 1994 ). The greening of
industrial ecosystems
No chapters or cases on cities
Socolow et al. ( 1994 ). Industrial ecology and
global change
One paper on reducing urban sources of
methane
Richards and Fullerton ( 1994 ). Industrial
ecology: U.S. –Japan perspectives
No urban content
Graedel and Allenby ( 1995 ). Industrial ecology
Two paragraphs on ecologically planned
cities
Ayres and Ayres ( 1996 ). Industrial ecology:
towards closing the materials cycle
Brief mention of a proposed industrial
ecosystem including a municipal waste
treatment plant
Lowe et al. ( 1997 ). Discovering industrial
ecology: an executive briefi ng and sourcebook
Section on applications of IE for local
government
Allenby ( 1999 ). Industrial ecology: policy
framework and implementation
One paragraph describing the need for
research on physical models of
communities
Ayres and Ayres ( 2002 ). A handbook of industrial
ecology
Three chapters on: urban material fl ows,
urban planning; and municipal waste
Bourg and Erkman ( 2003 ). Perspectives on
industrial ecology
One chapter on urban transportation and IE
Note the list of books examined here may not be comprehensive and is infl uenced by availability
at the University of Toronto library and online access
4 Industrial Ecology and Cities
It is increasingly chic for some communities to call themselves “sustainable communities”
yet the science to understand what such assertions really mean has yet to be done.
Developing integrated models of urban communities, including small, relatively selfcontained cities, larger cities with surrounding suburbs, and large megalopolises with
decayed centres and most business activity decentralized throughout the suburbs will be a
necessary step in achieving such an understanding. Urban centres in developing and developed nations should also be modelled and compared. Such models would include: transportation, physical infrastructure, food energy, material stocks and fl ows, and other systems.
Both direct and embedded impacts (…) should be included. This information would facilitate identifi cation of major sources of environmental impacts, patterns of activities that give
rise to them, and potential environmentally preferable technological or mitigation options.
It would also provide a necessary basis for comparing the environmental impacts of different kinds of communities, as well as creating higher level, integrated regional models.
Further recognition of the topic of cities is given in Discovering Industrial
Ecology by Ernest Lowe, John Warren and Stephen Moran (1997). The front cover
shows a night-time city panorama superimposed on to a view of Earth from Space.
Table 4.1 Coverage of cities or urban systems in early books or conference proceedings on
industrial ecology
Book or conference proceeding
Content on cities or urban systems
Winter ( 1988 ). Business and the environment: a
handbook of industrial ecology with 22 checklists
for practical use
No chapters, or checklists, specifi c to cities
Ausubel and Sladovich ( 1989 ). Technology and
environment
Cursory mention of urban air pollution and
waste management
National academy of science colloquium on
industrial ecology published in PNAS (1992)
No papers specifi c to cities
Allenby and Richards ( 1994 ). The greening of
industrial ecosystems
No chapters or cases on cities
Socolow et al. ( 1994 ). Industrial ecology and
global change
One paper on reducing urban sources of
methane
Richards and Fullerton ( 1994 ). Industrial
ecology: U.S. –Japan perspectives
No urban content
Graedel and Allenby ( 1995 ). Industrial ecology
Two paragraphs on ecologically planned
cities
Ayres and Ayres ( 1996 ). Industrial ecology:
towards closing the materials cycle
Brief mention of a proposed industrial
ecosystem including a municipal waste
treatment plant
Lowe et al. ( 1997 ). Discovering industrial
ecology: an executive briefi ng and sourcebook
Section on applications of IE for local
government
Allenby ( 1999 ). Industrial ecology: policy
framework and implementation
One paragraph describing the need for
research on physical models of
communities
Ayres and Ayres ( 2002 ). A handbook of industrial
ecology
Three chapters on: urban material fl ows,
urban planning; and municipal waste
Bourg and Erkman ( 2003 ). Perspectives on
industrial ecology
One chapter on urban transportation and IE
Note the list of books examined here may not be comprehensive and is infl uenced by availability
at the University of Toronto library and online access
4 Industrial Ecology and Cities