How has urban metabolism research contributed to urban resilience? A conceptual review of practices

Although the literature indicates that auditing a city's metabolic flows is critical to enhancing the resilience of urban systems, the current knowledge is still unclear about how urban metabolism (UM) research could contribute to urban resilience (UR). Meanwhile, because cities compete for survival, sustainable resource management is already a common challenge. Given this background, this study asks whether UM research has contributed to UR by developing a conceptual review of UR in practice through an industrial ecology perspective. This study selectively reviews 35 urban resilience strategies (URSs) from the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), with dimensions of (1) UM terms, (2) UM framework, and (3) UM tools, used to reveal the contribution of UM research to UR, as well as their engagement with (4) socioeconomic factors. It demonstrates UM research's contribution in different patterns, finding that UM research has not been fully applied in contemporary UR practices; only 23% of URSs show a significant contribution, while 17% demonstrate no integration of UM research. Further investigation recognizes features of UM research's contribution: (1) adopting evidence‐based analysis to enhance the analytical coherence and evidence‐based structure of URSs, (2) providing precise benchmarks to urge cities to improve, (3) recognizing precise places to intervene, and (4) initiating possible cooperation among stakeholders. “Taking UM research seriously” is suggested as a relevant aspect of evaluating UR practices; yet, more work is needed to ensure that UM research will benefit UR. Policymakers and decision‐makers should remain open‐minded about adopting an UM lens to evaluate their practices and decisions consistently.