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Urban metabolism redux

Author

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  • Matthew Gandy

Abstract

Metabolic readings of urban space point in at least four different analytical directions: the organicist emphasis on cities and their agricultural hinterlands; the diagrammatic city of modelling and trophic imaginaries, extending to interest in material flow analysis, industrial metabolism, and neo-Luhmannian conceptions of socio-metabolic transitions; the neo-Marxian concern with metabolic rift and evolving intersections between capital, the human body, and a variety of material infrastructures; and the more recent interest in metabolic densities, occluded pathways, and multispecies metabolic entanglements. I suggest that an alternative conceptual synthesis might allow for a more embodied, multi-subjectival, and historically situated reading of urban metabolism.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Gandy, 2025. "Urban metabolism redux," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 62(8), pages 1483-1511, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:8:p:1483-1511
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980251322663
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    References listed on IDEAS

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