Industrial Ecology in Support of Sustainable Urban Development—from Measuring to Decision Support

Dear Colleagues,

The research field of industrial ecology has developed following the ideas of Frosch and Gallopoulos. In 1989, their well-known paper, entitled “Strategies for Manufacturing”, suggested the need for "an industrial ecosystem" in which "the use of energies and materials is optimized, wastes and pollution are minimized, and there is an economically viable role for every product of a manufacturing process". Originally, industrial ecology was used as a metaphor for natural ecosystems but has been increasingly used to refer to models based on this metaphor. This is evident since industrial ecology offers a growing set of methods and approaches to investigate urban metabolism. These methods have been used to quantify many types of material and energy flows in our societies. The emissions and concentration of greenhouse gases are increasing, according to recent UN reports, and have reached a higher level than before the pandemic. In order to reach the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree target, climate ambitions need to be seven times higher than their current values. Unsustainable development clearly shows that, in many ways, we are steadily heading in the wrong direction regarding the growing need to address the use of fossil energy, and materials and the increasing waste that affects the environment on a global scale. We seem to be improving our detailed measurements of the gradual development of global warming, decreasing biodiversity, and pollution of the natural environment. The top-down decisions on both global and national levels follow the “Tragedy of the Commons” (Hardin, 1998), an economic theory stating that individuals and nations use up resources shared by many to benefit themselves. Global warming is arguably a good example of the tragedy of the commons theory. It is now highly unlikely that the goals of the Paris Agreement will be reached in time. Technical innovations are thought to be moving forward, but experience shows that technical solutions to large problems can sometimes make those problems worse. Many of the large problems we are currently facing do not have technical solutions, as Hardin also concluded in his paper.

Scope and Purpose

In order to create more applicable roadmaps for short- medium-, and long-time transitions toward a situation where fewer virgin resources are used, we should try to apply more of a bottom-up approach, involving local actors and consumers. Currently, rebound effects driven by consumers are wiping out most higher efficiency gains. Hope for new solutions in national and international agreements is destined to follow the tragedy of the commons theory. What we need now is research showing, in qualitative and quantitative terms, how development can be changed when it comes to developing more sustainable cities, where today most people in the world live. This includes strategies for involving local populations in processes for change. In these processes, the gap between researchers and practitioners must be minimized. Researchers have to find a balance between science- and value-loaded political choices for the future. Sustainable development is a balance between economic, social, and environmental factors and it will always involve the values of our desired future. Researchers using scientific methods should highlight the consequences of choosing different actions and develop tools that can be used in practice by different actors in society. As a researcher, one needs to have an understanding of the practitioners we are working with and know which problems they are struggling with. Industrial ecology, taking a multidisciplinary and practical approach, might be the best research discipline for these studies if we can focus on the relevant questions.

Suggested themes (but not restricted to)

General

How can industrial ecology be developed to support practitioners in transitions to more sustainable cities with a focus on practical solutions on regional and local levels?

Specifically

• Energy and material security on regional and local levels and the role of different critical materials and primary non-fossil energy sources in urban development;
• Transformation processes in power supply, raw material supply, and a rethinking of urban structures including urban planning and architecture;
• Future “Black Swans” when it comes to the supply of critical materials for non-fossil energy systems. How can urban systems become more resilient toward unexpected events?
• Energy–material–biodiversity nexus in urban development on regional and local levels;
• Widening the perspectives of LCA from only climate aspects to integrated sustainability in urban areas;
• Critical analysis of carbon solutions proposed for cities, e.g., climate neutrality, zero carbon, caron-negative solutions, zero waste, circular economy, etc.;
• Studies of rebound effects on regional and local levels and how they can be minimized;
• The role of distributed energy systems for more redundant and resilient cities involving local actors and consumers;
• The use of national and regional sustainability goals as support for developing local roadmaps towards higher sustainability in urban areas;
• How to handle and communicate the conflicts between environmental, social, and economic aspects on the local level;
• A critical look into growth and poverty in relation to urban development.

Dr. Ronald Wennersten
Dr. Getachew Assefa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• industrial ecology
• science and values
• urban development
• rebound effects
• decision support
• urban structure and sustainability
• energy–material–biodiversity nexus
• urban resilience
• distributed energy systems
• circular economy on regional and local levels