A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
What does “urban metabolism” mean?
As observed by Kennedy (2016), modern industrial ecology can be characterized as an interdisciplinary field dealing with three kinds of metabolisms and their interactions, i.e., industrial, socio-economic, and urban metabolisms. However, urban metabolism studies have emerged independently of industrial ecology and encompass other fields, which differ from industrial ecology in epistemological, methodological, practical, and institutional terms (Newell & Cousins, 2015). Moreover, disagreements between industrial ecology-inspired approaches to urban metabolisms and urban ecology-inspired ones have emerged in debates on the nature of the analogy underlying the notion of “urban metabolism” itself. Said debates have notably crystallized around the question of whether cities should be compared to “ecosystems” (Golubiewski, 2012) or to “(super-)organisms” (Kennedy, 2012). Therefore, although the concept of “urban metabolism” has played an increasingly prominent role in framing how different disciplines have studied the flows of materials, energy, substances, waste, and pollutants through which cities interact with the environment (Bahers et al., 2022), its content remains opaque since it appears to depend on the context in which it is used. Nevertheless, how could it be possible to clarify the content of the concept of “urban metabolism” so as to make it more transparent and readily applicable across fields as diverse as industrial, urban, or social ecology? Our contribution outlines an answer to this question by drawing on a branch of analytic philosophy known as “conceptual engineering” (Chalmers, 2020). Understood literally and dynamically, the label “conceptual engineering” applies to approaches attempting to improve concepts or words, which are conceived as representational devices aiming to attain some desired theoretical or practical effects. Such approaches are guided by a description of these concepts’ content or use and an assessment of their functional efficacy that is geared towards practical ...
What does “urban metabolism” mean?
As observed by Kennedy (2016), modern industrial ecology can be characterized as an interdisciplinary field dealing with three kinds of metabolisms and their interactions, i.e., industrial, socio-economic, and urban metabolisms. However, urban metabolism studies have emerged independently of industrial ecology and encompass other fields, which differ from industrial ecology in epistemological, methodological, practical, and institutional terms (Newell & Cousins, 2015). Moreover, disagreements between industrial ecology-inspired approaches to urban metabolisms and urban ecology-inspired ones have emerged in debates on the nature of the analogy underlying the notion of “urban metabolism” itself. Said debates have notably crystallized around the question of whether cities should be compared to “ecosystems” (Golubiewski, 2012) or to “(super-)organisms” (Kennedy, 2012). Therefore, although the concept of “urban metabolism” has played an increasingly prominent role in framing how different disciplines have studied the flows of materials, energy, substances, waste, and pollutants through which cities interact with the environment (Bahers et al., 2022), its content remains opaque since it appears to depend on the context in which it is used. Nevertheless, how could it be possible to clarify the content of the concept of “urban metabolism” so as to make it more transparent and readily applicable across fields as diverse as industrial, urban, or social ecology? Our contribution outlines an answer to this question by drawing on a branch of analytic philosophy known as “conceptual engineering” (Chalmers, 2020). Understood literally and dynamically, the label “conceptual engineering” applies to approaches attempting to improve concepts or words, which are conceived as representational devices aiming to attain some desired theoretical or practical effects. Such approaches are guided by a description of these concepts’ content or use and an assessment of their functional efficacy that is geared towards practical ...
What does “urban metabolism” mean?
2023-01-01
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
DDC:
710
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