IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v245y2012icp185-198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cities as ecosystems: Growth, development and implications for sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Bodini, Antonio
  • Bondavalli, Cristina
  • Allesina, Stefano

Abstract

Prescriptions for a more sustainable society are usually piecemeal. They are inspired by single issue criteria, no matter if sustainability is, rather, a whole system trait as it pertains to growth and development, that are overall system attributes. In this paper urban sustainability is discussed in a whole system perspective using the ecosystem approach as a framework. This required that urban systems were described as flow networks and investigated through ecological network analysis. Three cities are discussed as a case study and their network representation concerned water flows that were identified knowing water exchanges between city components (i.e. sectors of human activity). Network analysis yielded system level indices that condense the complexity of the flow structure (representing system's metabolism) in a few measures that provide information on how systems grow and develop; as such they allow to explore sustainability at the whole system scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Bodini, Antonio & Bondavalli, Cristina & Allesina, Stefano, 2012. "Cities as ecosystems: Growth, development and implications for sustainability," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 245(C), pages 185-198.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:245:y:2012:i:c:p:185-198
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.02.022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380012000981
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.02.022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beckerman, Wilfred, 1992. "Economic growth and the environment: Whose growth? whose environment?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 481-496, April.
    2. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    3. R White & G Engelen, 1993. "Cellular Automata and Fractal Urban Form: A Cellular Modelling Approach to the Evolution of Urban Land-Use Patterns," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 25(8), pages 1175-1199, August.
    4. Sharma, Shalini, 2003. "Persistence and stability in city growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 300-320, March.
    5. Duncan Black and Vernon Henderson, 1997. "A Theory of Urban Growth," Working Papers 97-1, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    6. Xavier Gabaix, 1999. "Zipf's Law for Cities: An Explanation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 739-767.
    7. Ekins, Paul, 1993. "'Limits to growth' and 'sustainable development': grappling with ecological realities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 269-288, December.
    8. Samuel Niza & Leonardo Rosado & Paulo Ferrão, 2009. "Urban Metabolism: Methodological Advances in Urban Material Flow Accounting Based on the Lisbon Case Study," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(3), pages 384-405, June.
    9. Zhang, Yan & Yang, Zhifeng & Yu, Xiangyi, 2009. "Ecological network and emergy analysis of urban metabolic systems: Model development, and a case study of four Chinese cities," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(11), pages 1431-1442.
    10. Michael Batty, 2005. "Agents, Cells, and Cities: New Representational Models for Simulating Multiscale Urban Dynamics," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(8), pages 1373-1394, August.
    11. Ulanowicz, Robert E., 2009. "The dual nature of ecosystem dynamics," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(16), pages 1886-1892.
    12. Christopher Kennedy & John Cuddihy & Joshua Engel‐Yan, 2007. "The Changing Metabolism of Cities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(2), pages 43-59, April.
    13. Duncan Black & Vernon Henderson, 1999. "A Theory of Urban Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(2), pages 252-284, April.
    14. Li, Y. & Chen, B. & Yang, Z.F., 2009. "Ecological network analysis for water use systems—A case study of the Yellow River Basin," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(22), pages 3163-3173.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kharrazi, Ali & Rovenskaya, Elena & Fath, Brian D. & Yarime, Masaru & Kraines, Steven, 2013. "Quantifying the sustainability of economic resource networks: An ecological information-based approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 177-186.
    2. Giordano, P. & Caputo, P. & Vancheri, A., 2014. "Fuzzy evaluation of heterogeneous quantities: Measuring urban ecological efficiency," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 288(C), pages 112-126.
    3. Gu, Qiwei & Wang, Hongqi & Zheng, Yinan & Zhu, Jingwen & Li, Xiaoke, 2015. "Ecological footprint analysis for urban agglomeration sustainability in the middle stream of the Yangtze River," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 318(C), pages 86-99.
    4. Kiss, Tibor & Hartung, Katalin & Hetesi, Zsolt, 2019. "Termelőüzem ökológiai szempontú tervezése [Ecologically oriented planning of production units]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 863-886.
    5. Ali Kharrazi & Brian D. Fath & Harald Katzmair, 2016. "Advancing Empirical Approaches to the Concept of Resilience: A Critical Examination of Panarchy, Ecological Information, and Statistical Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Watson, Bryan C & Morris, Zack B & Weissburg, Marc & Bras, Bert, 2023. "System of system design-for-resilience heuristics derived from forestry case study variants," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Kiss, Tibor & Kiss, Viktor Miklos, 2018. "Ecology-related resilience in urban planning – A complex approach for Pécs (Hungary)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 160-170.
    8. Jiali Huang & Robert E Ulanowicz, 2014. "Ecological Network Analysis for Economic Systems: Growth and Development and Implications for Sustainable Development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(6), pages 1-8, June.
    9. Francisco Orlando Rosales & Brian D. Fath & Grace Yolanda Llerena, 2023. "Quantifying a virtual water metabolic network of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador using ecological network methods," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(5), pages 1304-1318, October.
    10. Bob O. Manteaw, 2020. "Sanitation Dilemmas and Africa’s Urban Futures: Foregrounding Environmental Public Health in Contemporary Urban Planning," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 9, September.
    11. Borrett, Stuart R. & Sheble, Laura & Moody, James & Anway, Evan C., 2018. "Bibliometric review of ecological network analysis: 2010–2016," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 382(C), pages 63-82.
    12. Zhu, Xueting & Mu, Xianzhong & Hu, Guangwen, 2019. "Ecological network analysis of urban energy metabolic system—A case study of Beijing," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 404(C), pages 36-45.
    13. Jørgensen, Sven E. & Nielsen, Søren Nors & Fath, Brian D., 2016. "Recent progress in systems ecology," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 319(C), pages 112-118.
    14. Zackery B. Morris & Marc Weissburg & Bert Bras, 2021. "Ecological network analysis of urban–industrial ecosystems," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 193-204, February.
    15. Damjana Gantar & Jana Kozamernik & Ina Šuklje Erjavec & Simon Koblar, 2022. "From Intention to Implementation of Vertical Green: The Case of Ljubljana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.
    16. Fan, Jing-Li & Kong, Ling-Si & Wang, Hang & Zhang, Xian, 2019. "A water-energy nexus review from the perspective of urban metabolism," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 392(C), pages 128-136.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michel DIMOU & Alexandra SCHAFFAR & Zhihong CHEN & Shihe FU, 2008. "LA CROISSANCE URBAINE CHINOISE RECONSIDeReE," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 27, pages 109-131.
    2. Anderson, Gordon & Ge, Ying, 2005. "The size distribution of Chinese cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 756-776, November.
    3. Zhihong Chen & Shihe Fu & Dayong Zhang, 2013. "Searching for the Parallel Growth of Cities in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(10), pages 2118-2135, August.
    4. Chen, Zhihong & Fu, Shihe & Zhang, Dayong, 2010. "Searching for the parallel growth of cities," MPRA Paper 21528, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Chengri Ding & Zhi Li, 2019. "Size and urban growth of Chinese cities during the era of transformation toward a market economy," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 46(1), pages 27-46, January.
    6. repec:wyi:journl:002175 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Klein, Alexander & Leunig, Tim, 2013. "Gibrat’s Law and the British Industrial Revolution," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 146, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    8. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    9. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Mark L. J. Wright, 2007. "Urban Structure and Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 597-624.
    10. Duranton, Gilles, 2002. "City size distributions as a consequence of the growth process," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20065, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Alexandra SCHAFFAR, 2012. "La Loi De Zipf Sous Le Prisme De L’Auto-Correlation Spatiale - Les Cas De La Chine Et De L’Inde," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 36, pages 189-204.
    12. Aurélie Lalanne & Martin Zumpe, 2020. "Time-Series Based Empirical Assessment of Random Urban Growth: New Evidence from France," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 18(4), pages 911-926, December.
    13. Kristian Giesen & Jens Südekum, 2011. "Zipf's law for cities in the regions and the country," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 667-686, July.
    14. Alexandra SCHAFFAR & Sotiris PAVLEAS, 2014. "The Evolution Of The Greek Urban Centers: 1951-2011," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 39, pages 87-104.
    15. Findeisen, Sebastian & Südekum, Jens, 2008. "Industry churning and the evolution of cities: Evidence for Germany," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 326-339, September.
    16. Desmet, Klaus & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2015. "The Geography of Development Within Countries," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1457-1517, Elsevier.
    17. Morris A. Davis & Jonas D. M. Fisher & Toni M. Whited, 2014. "Macroeconomic Implications of Agglomeration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(2), pages 731-764, March.
    18. Gabaix, Xavier & Ioannides, Yannis M., 2004. "The evolution of city size distributions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 53, pages 2341-2378, Elsevier.
    19. Bowen, H. & Munandar, H. & Viaene, J.M., 2006. "Evidence and implications of zipf’s law for integrated economies," Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2006-03, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
    20. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2023. "Urban Growth and Its Aggregate Implications," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 2219-2259, November.
    21. Córdoba, Juan-Carlos, 2008. "On the distribution of city sizes," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 177-197, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:245:y:2012:i:c:p:185-198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.