78
there have been between 2 and 8 urban systems papers per year in JIE, with the
exception of 2012 when 30 papers are recorded. This was due to the publication of
a full special issue on Sustainable Urban Systems with Larry Baker, Shobhakar
Dhakal, Anu Ramaswami and myself as coeditors.
In addition to the journal articles on IE and cities, the past decade has also seen
publication of textbooks on the topic. Amongst these is Sustainable Urban
Metabolism by Paulo Ferrão and John Fernández ( 2013 ). Another that explicitly
recognizes IE is Vortex cities to sustainable cities: Australia’s urban challenge by
Phil McManus ( 2005 ).
4 Urban Metabolism
The interdisciplinary fi eld of Industrial Ecology can today perhaps be broadly
understood as the study of the three types of metabolism – industrial, socioeconomic and urban. When IE fi rst began to establish as a discipline in the 1990s, it
primarily did so with an initial focus on industrial metabolism. Inclusion of urban
metabolism within IE arguably only occurred once IE had broadened to include
Social Ecology (Fischer‐Kowalski and Hüttler 1998 ); urban metabolism can be seen
as a scale-delineated component of socio-economic metabolism. The term urban
metabolism, however, seems to predate the term industrial metabolism, which is
usually attributed to Ayres ( 1994 ). Abel Wolman’s infl uential paper on the
Metabolism of Cities was published in Scientifi c American in 1965, while the
notion that cities have a metabolism can perhaps be traced back further to Marx
(Newell and Cousins 2014 ). Interestingly, Wolman was a member of the Spilhaus’
Committee on Pollution in the early 1960s, as was Alan Kneese who co-authored
the highly infl uential paper on material fl ows in an economy with Bob Ayres in the
late 1960s (Ayres and Knesse 1969 ). So the study of urban metabolism and industrial metabolism do have some shared history.
The topic of urban metabolism nonetheless has its own literature, originally separate from Industrial Ecology. Starting from the 1970s, quantitative studies of the
metabolism of actual cities have been conducted by researchers from several disciplines including civil engineering, chemical engineering, ecology and urban planning (Kennedy et al. 2007 ). Signifi cant contributions to urban metabolism in the
early years included works by Newcombe et al. ( 1978 ), Odum ( 1983 ), Baccini and
Brunner ( 1991 ) and Girardet ( 1992 ). The fi rst urban metabolism study to recognize
the term industrial ecology appears to be Peter Newman’s study of Sydney in 1999.
A review of the urban literature with discussion of applications to urban planning
and design is given by Kennedy et al. ( 2011 ), with an extension to include a growing
number of Chinese studies by Zhang ( 2013 ). Barles ( 2010 ) explores the origins of
urban metabolism in relation to sustainable urban development. More recent review
papers by Broto et al. ( 2012 ) and Newell and Cousins ( 2014 ) have examined relations between studies of urban metabolism in the fi elds of industrial ecology, urban
ecology and political ecology.
C.A. Kennedy
there have been between 2 and 8 urban systems papers per year in JIE, with the
exception of 2012 when 30 papers are recorded. This was due to the publication of
a full special issue on Sustainable Urban Systems with Larry Baker, Shobhakar
Dhakal, Anu Ramaswami and myself as coeditors.
In addition to the journal articles on IE and cities, the past decade has also seen
publication of textbooks on the topic. Amongst these is Sustainable Urban
Metabolism by Paulo Ferrão and John Fernández ( 2013 ). Another that explicitly
recognizes IE is Vortex cities to sustainable cities: Australia’s urban challenge by
Phil McManus ( 2005 ).
4 Urban Metabolism
The interdisciplinary fi eld of Industrial Ecology can today perhaps be broadly
understood as the study of the three types of metabolism – industrial, socioeconomic and urban. When IE fi rst began to establish as a discipline in the 1990s, it
primarily did so with an initial focus on industrial metabolism. Inclusion of urban
metabolism within IE arguably only occurred once IE had broadened to include
Social Ecology (Fischer‐Kowalski and Hüttler 1998 ); urban metabolism can be seen
as a scale-delineated component of socio-economic metabolism. The term urban
metabolism, however, seems to predate the term industrial metabolism, which is
usually attributed to Ayres ( 1994 ). Abel Wolman’s infl uential paper on the
Metabolism of Cities was published in Scientifi c American in 1965, while the
notion that cities have a metabolism can perhaps be traced back further to Marx
(Newell and Cousins 2014 ). Interestingly, Wolman was a member of the Spilhaus’
Committee on Pollution in the early 1960s, as was Alan Kneese who co-authored
the highly infl uential paper on material fl ows in an economy with Bob Ayres in the
late 1960s (Ayres and Knesse 1969 ). So the study of urban metabolism and industrial metabolism do have some shared history.
The topic of urban metabolism nonetheless has its own literature, originally separate from Industrial Ecology. Starting from the 1970s, quantitative studies of the
metabolism of actual cities have been conducted by researchers from several disciplines including civil engineering, chemical engineering, ecology and urban planning (Kennedy et al. 2007 ). Signifi cant contributions to urban metabolism in the
early years included works by Newcombe et al. ( 1978 ), Odum ( 1983 ), Baccini and
Brunner ( 1991 ) and Girardet ( 1992 ). The fi rst urban metabolism study to recognize
the term industrial ecology appears to be Peter Newman’s study of Sydney in 1999.
A review of the urban literature with discussion of applications to urban planning
and design is given by Kennedy et al. ( 2011 ), with an extension to include a growing
number of Chinese studies by Zhang ( 2013 ). Barles ( 2010 ) explores the origins of
urban metabolism in relation to sustainable urban development. More recent review
papers by Broto et al. ( 2012 ) and Newell and Cousins ( 2014 ) have examined relations between studies of urban metabolism in the fi elds of industrial ecology, urban
ecology and political ecology.
C.A. Kennedy