Thermodynamic-based ecological scaling theory in urban metabolic framework: a review

Highlights

● Under thermodynamic, urban ecosystem fits scaling law due to self-organization.

● Urban ecosystem has similar scaling to social economic system.

● The scaling law transitions are reflected in the multistable coexistence.

Abstract

Prior research has consistently demonstrated that urban economic and social systems adhere to the empirical scaling law. Furthermore, a plethora of evidence, including the scale-free networks of energy metabolism, the allometric growth patterns of species and populations, and the scaling law relationship between exergy and transformity in biosphere systems across various levels, indicates that urban ecosystems exhibit multi-level scaling law characteristics in energy metabolism under self-organization, alongside significant human activity imprints. This study synthesizes these findings to hypothesize that urban ecological components are also aligned with system-level scaling theory within the urban metabolism framework. This encompasses: 1) the existence of multistable coexistence and mutual transformation phenomena, mirroring the dynamic nature of scaling laws; and 2) a nuanced balance between the ecosystem and the socio-economic system, particularly in the realms of spatial competition and output efficiency. The ecosystem scaling theory hypotheses of urban metabolic processes offer a theoretical foundation for identifying ecological security tipping points, which are pivotal in the strategic decision-making for ecological planning and management in the future.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Ecosystem scaling theory / Urban metabolism / Complexity / Critical review

Gengyuan Liu is a full professor and the vice dean of the School of Environment at Beijing Normal University, China. His expertise lies in the fields of urban metabolism and ecological management. He serves as the Center Director for the Advances in Cleaner Production Network (ACPN) Regional Center for Asia, Africa, and Oceania and the Secretary-in-Chief for the China Chapter of the International Society for Advancement Emergy Research (ISAER). His contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards. Among these, he was honored with the first prize for the Science & Technology Progress Award and the second prize for the Natural Science Award of the Ministry of Education. In 2018, he was awarded the Advances in Cleaner Production Network Medal Award: Young Researcher in 2024, he was award the MAO YISHENG Beijing Youth Science and Technology Award

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52430003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52481540200) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (China). Special thanks to the Young Talent Award committee of the FESE journal.

Conflict of Interests

The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

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