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The Metabolism of the Industrial City

2002; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 28; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/0096144202028005001

1552-6771

Joel A. Tarr,

Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis

The concept of metabolism has been adopted from biology and refers to physiological processes within living things that provide energy and nutri- ents required by an organism as conditions of life itself. These processes can be described in terms of transformation of inputs (sunlight, chemical energy, nutrients, water, and air) into biomass and waste products. While essentially a concept originating in science, I have found it useful as a means to comprehend environmental history of cities. Just as living things require inputs mentioned above, so do cities. That is, cities cannot exist without those inputs—urbanites require clean air, water, food, fuel, and construction goods to subsist while urban industries need materials for production pur- poses. These materials may initially come from area of urban site itself, but increasingly over time they are derived from urban hinterland or even farther. That is, as city grows, it extends its ecological footprint deeper and deeper into its hinterland. The ecologist Eugene Odum has written that the city is a parasite on natural and domesticated environments, since it not grow food, and dirt- ies its air and water. One can also note that it reshapes and consumes land. Odum observes that a parasite does not live for very long if it kills or damages its host. Therefore, for a parasite to survive, it must develop systems of exchange that benefit both its host and itself. 1 While some may object to char- acterizing city as a parasite on environment, thus raising ancient specter of evil city and natural countryside, from a purely descriptive perspective, concept is a valid one. Cities do consume their environments and cannot survive unless they reach a point of equilibrium with their sites and their hinterlands in regard to consumption of air, water, and land resources. 2 Today we call such a goal seeking a sustainable city.