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Urban development and sustainability challenges chronicled by a century of construction material flows and stocks in Tiexi, China

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  • Jing Guo
  • Tomer Fishman
  • Yao Wang
  • Alessio Miatto
  • Wendy Wuyts
  • Licheng Zheng
  • Heming Wang
  • Hiroki Tanikawa

Abstract

Construction materials are considerable forces of global environmental impacts, but their dynamics vis‐à‐vis urban development are poorly documented, in part because their long lifespans require elusive and sometimes nonexistent decade‐long high‐resolution data. This study analyzes the construction material flow and stock trends that shaped and were shaped by the development, decline, and renewal of the Tiexi district of Shenyang, a microcosm of China's urban transformations since the early 20th century. Chronicling building‐by‐building the material flows and stock accumulations involved in the buildup of this area, we shed light on the physical resource context of its socioeconomic history. We find that 42 million tonnes of construction materials were needed to develop the Tiexi district from 1910 to 2018, and 18 million tonnes of material outflows were generated by end‐of‐life building demolition. However, over 55% of inflows and 93% of outflows occurred since 2002 during a complete redevelopment of the district. Only small portions of end‐of‐life materials could have been reused or recycled because of temporal and typological mismatches of supply and demand and technical limitations. Our analysis reveals a dramatic decrease in median building lifetimes to as low as 6 years in the early 21st century. These findings contribute to the discussion of long‐term environmental efficiency and sustainability of societal development through construction and reflect on the challenges of urban renewal processes not only in China but also in other developing and developed countries that lost (or may lose) their traditional economic base and restructure their urban forms. This article met the requirements for a Silver/Silver JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.

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  • Jing Guo & Tomer Fishman & Yao Wang & Alessio Miatto & Wendy Wuyts & Licheng Zheng & Heming Wang & Hiroki Tanikawa, 2021. "Urban development and sustainability challenges chronicled by a century of construction material flows and stocks in Tiexi, China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 162-175, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:inecol:v:25:y:2021:i:1:p:162-175
    DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13054
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cai, Zhengyu & Yu, Chin-Hsien & Zhu, Chunhui, 2021. "Government-led urbanization and natural gas demand in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Franz Schug & David Frantz & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Helmut Haberl & Doris Virág & Sebastian van der Linden & Patrick Hostert, 2023. "High‐resolution mapping of 33 years of material stock and population growth in Germany using Earth Observation data," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 110-124, February.
    3. Razzaq, Asif & Sharif, Arshian & Ozturk, Ilhan & Skare, Marinko, 2022. "Inclusive infrastructure development, green innovation, and sustainable resource management: Evidence from China’s trade-adjusted material footprints," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Dong Yang & Mengyuan Dang & Jing Guo & Lingwen Sun & Ruirui Zhang & Feng Han & Feng Shi & Qian Liu & Hiroki Tanikawa, 2023. "Spatial–temporal dynamics of the built environment toward sustainability: A material stock and flow analysis in Chinese new and old urban areas," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 84-95, February.
    5. Yupeng Liu & Jiajia Li & Wei‐Qiang Chen & Lulu Song & Shaoqing Dai, 2022. "Quantifying urban mass gain and loss by a GIS‐based material stocks and flows analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 1051-1060, June.
    6. Janneke van Oorschot & Benjamin Sprecher & Bart Rijken & Pieter Witteveen & Merlijn Blok & Nico Schouten & Ester van der Voet, 2023. "Toward a low‐carbon and circular building sector: Building strategies and urbanization pathways for the Netherlands," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 535-547, April.

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