Analysis of urban metabolic processes based on input–output method: model development and a case study for Beijing

Yan ZHANG, Hong LIU, Bin CHEN, Hongmei ZHENG, Yating LI

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PDF(392 KB)
Front. Earth Sci. ›› 2014, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (2) : 190-201. DOI: 10.1007/s11707-014-0407-1
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Analysis of urban metabolic processes based on input–output method: model development and a case study for Beijing

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Abstract

Discovering ways in which to increase the sustainability of the metabolic processes involved in urbanization has become an urgent task for urban design and management in China. As cities are analogous to living organisms, the disorders of their metabolic processes can be regarded as the cause of “urban disease”. Therefore, identification of these causes through metabolic process analysis and ecological element distribution through the urban ecosystem’s compartments will be helpful. By using Beijing as an example, we have compiled monetary input–output tables from 1997, 2000, 2002, 2005, and 2007 and calculated the intensities of the embodied ecological elements to compile the corresponding implied physical input–output tables. We then divided Beijing’s economy into 32 compartments and analyzed the direct and indirect ecological intensities embodied in the flows of ecological elements through urban metabolic processes. Based on the combination of input–output tables and ecological network analysis, the description of multiple ecological elements transferred among Beijing’s industrial compartments and their distribution has been refined. This hybrid approach can provide a more scientific basis for management of urban resource flows. In addition, the data obtained from distribution characteristics of ecological elements may provide a basic data platform for exploring the metabolic mechanism of Beijing.

Keywords

urban ecology / urban metabolism / implied physical input–output table / ecological element intensity / Beijing

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Yan ZHANG, Hong LIU, Bin CHEN, Hongmei ZHENG, Yating LI. Analysis of urban metabolic processes based on input–output method: model development and a case study for Beijing. Front. Earth Sci., 2014, 8(2): 190‒201 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-014-0407-1

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (No. NCET-12-0059), National Science Foundation for Innovative Research Group (No. 51121003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171068, 40701004 and 41271543), Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT0809), Special Fund of State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control of China (No. 12Y04ESPCN and 10Z02ESPCN), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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