Urban metabolism for ecosystem services : an analysis of three cities based on combined dynamic modelling approaches
(2025)
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- Authors
- Supervisors
- Perrotti, Daniela
- Abstract
- As cities host most of the global population, their resource and energy consumption escalates exponentially, leading to significant environmental impacts. Urban Metabolism (UM) and Ecosystem Services (ES) offer complementary approaches to understanding the interaction between human activities and ecological processes in cities, yet their integration remains underexplored. This thesis develops a framework combining UM and ES assessments, embedded with Economy-Wide Material Flow Analysis (EW-MFA). Applied to Lima, London, and Brussels, the framework evaluates resource flows and ES contributions under urban growth, climate change, and policy scenarios to 2050. Results show that all three cities face increasing ES supply-demand gaps, with urban agriculture, carbon sequestration, and cooling effects contributing marginally to sustainability goals. Policy analysis highlights disparities in urban sustainability efforts, with Brussels demonstrating awareness of UM-ES integration, while Lima lacks the necessary tools. Key limitations include oversimplified socioeconomic factors, restricted ES mapping, and missing trans-boundary impacts.
- Affiliations
Citations
Cardenas Mamani, U. (2025). Urban metabolism for ecosystem services : an analysis of three cities based on combined dynamic modelling approaches. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/242571