congress team:
Ni Mindong (China) & Matej Niksic (Slovenia)
The concepts of urban metabolism and resources management are becoming a crucial part of integrated urban planning for energy, water, food, land and waste. Part of this game is dealing with new alternatives regarding energy sources, provision and usage on one hand, and with dealing with waste in a circular way on the other hand. Old spatial and functional structures need to be adapted to these concepts and new social and economic practices are needed to improve the metabolic efficiency of future cities.
Urban metabolism approach needs to address the city in all nuances of city's life to solve urban problems in a long-term and in a strategic perspective, and to formulate a comprehensive and strategic urban development plan and action to maintain the continuous improvement of urban material, environmental, social and economic conditions. This view has very close common ground with many relevant theories around the world, such as e.g. the "City Betterment and Ecological Restoration" in China. In the era of searching for the leverages of improving the urban quality and efficiency, urban development needs to step in and get aligned with the urban metabolic concept of "renewal, replacement and growth". This demands global planners to pay attention to the problems that stand out in this process. In particular the cities with a long history must pay attention to the new requirements of the times, and need to focus on the issues caused by a separation of urban functions, low environmental quality, unequal development or insufficient support for urban renewal.
How should the city reshape its metabolism? How could planners help the efficient and organic urban renewal? How do urban economics and urban policy contribute to a more efficient urban metabolism? How shall urban planning address the mechanisms of urban metabolism to prevent and respond to sudden urban disasters?
Papers and presentations within this track shall focus on inclusion of urban metabolism aspects in city planning in different scales – from macro urban regions and cities to urban districts, neighbourhoods and their parts. Some topics the contributions may address, but are not limited to:
- Redesigning the urban metabolism in a view of sustainability goals (Reshaping Urban Metabolism)
- Urban metabolism and ecological assessment
- Urban metabolism and urban resource management
- Relations between economic model of constant growth and urban metabolism
- Urban development strategy options to the urban metabolism optimal path
- Sustainable neighbourhood and urban metabolism
- Disaster Prevention under the concept of urban metabolism
- Human needs and social dynamics in the light of urban metabolism
In this track we call for contributions focusing on theoretical reflections and applied analyses of urban projects and policies dealing with the above issues, as well as case studies from various urban contexts.