Urban infrastructures, as socio-technical systems that transform metabolic flows, are a key focus for efforts at initiating a more circular economy of resource use and waste recovery. Beyond exemplar discourses and claims, an infrastructure-mediated understanding of and focus on actually existing circularity projects attends to the diverse array of components, sites and exchanges through which transformative socio-technical change is envisaged, enacted and challenged. This article uses in-depth studies of circularity infrastructure initiatives in Nantes (France) and Gothenburg (Sweden) that involve a range of public and private stakeholders. We focus on the contradictions and tensions in these initiatives to draw attention to circularity as a material and political process of relocalising resource use while spatially expanding resource networks. We show how this process involves reworking large-scale infrastructure while nurturing community-level initiatives of the foundational economy, and thereby shaping urban futures through reuse and recycled flows but with a view to sustaining economic growth strategies. We argue that the materialist and productivist logic underpinning the urban infrastructures of the circular economy largely serves to aggravate the underlying fundamental systemic concerns that circularity was supposed to address in the first place. (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)((sic)(sic))(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)((sic)(sic))(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic), (sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).

In the context of the increasingly present policies of circular economy and the emergence of "Circular Bioeconomy" (CB), this article presents the results of a literature review on the sociometabolic research of biomasses. Six schools of thought are identified and distinguished according to their authors, their conceptions of metabolism, methodologies and social and spatial dimensions. Based on this state of the art, we propose an analytical framework that combines quantitative and qualitative approaches at the territorial scale, drawing upon the currents of Territorial Ecology and Political Ecology. This framework enhances our understanding and provides a critical perspective on the geography of CB. We compare discourses to actual practices by analysing biomass flows and power relations while adopting a critical perspective toward circular economy policies.

Ports worldwide are shifting from their original locations, and the reasons behind these patterns of port development are multifaceted. Reasons for locational changes may include local factors such as natural conditions, or global trends like containerisation. This article argues that flows play a significant role in making and breaking metabolic relations between spaces. The authors use a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to characterise the evolution of port and territory interactions. A historical sequencing illustrates the successive phases of connection and disconnection between port and non-port spaces over the years. Drawing from the urban metabolism framework, the analysis of a port’s traffic structure demonstrates how flows influence a port’s extraterritoriality. For this research, the case of the Loire estuary was chosen: the Grand Maritime Port of Nantes Saint-Nazaire is a polycentric port that originated in Nantes and extended coastward in Saint-Nazaire. The case study reveals that a port reaching an urban area does not necessarily mean it will engage or support metropolitan development. Moreover, it concludes that flows are active drivers of territorial development in port regions. The research more broadly discusses the extraterritoriality of large logistics and transport infrastructure, like that of ports.

The environmental and social crises in cities call for radical future visions that can incite transformative change. Yet, urban metabolism research typically adopts an explanatory, retrospective approach to the drivers of urban flows and stocks, resulting in conservative, business-as-usual future outlooks. In this study, we present the results of a narrative literature review on drivers and futures of urban metabolism, and consequently use these results to propose and apply a framework that can be used by researchers (i) to systematically identify the drivers of urban metabolism, and (ii) to critically engage with these drivers for the development of transformative future visions. The framework comprises seven thematic categories of drivers (demographic, economic, cultural, political, technological, environmental, and infrastructural) and an eighth category (power) to be used as the lens through which the interactions between drivers, activities, and flows in the city are critically examined. Applying the framework to the case study of biowaste management in Rennes, France, we found it useful for the systematic identification of often overseen drivers. The proposed framework, allowing for a combined analysis of flows and drivers, can become a useful tool toward a solution-oriented urban metabolism research.

This comprehensive Dictionary brings together an extensive range of definitive terms in ecological economics. Assembling contributions from distinguished scholars, it provides an intellectual map to this evolving subject ranging from the practical to the philosophical.

This comprehensive Dictionary brings together an extensive range of definitive terms in ecological economics. Assembling contributions from distinguished scholars, it provides an intellectual map to this evolving subject ranging from the practical to the philosophical.

Material consumption has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the 20th century. The urban metabolism field of research is one of the fields that focuses on understanding and measuring this increase at the city level. Many studies have been carried out to calculate the material consumption at the domestic scale. But it is also important to include the non-domestic scale to account for the amount of materials extracted outside the city that were needed along the supply chains to produce the final products consumed in the city. This is referred as the material footprint, which provides a consumption-based indicator of resource use. The objective of this study was to develop a method to measure the material footprint of the cities of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire (France) and Gothenburg (Sweden), both port cities and pioneers in the implementation of urban policies targeting a circular economy. The methodology combines urban material flow analysis with multi-regional input-output database to extend the urban metabolism beyond the administrative boundaries of cities. We then calculated the absolute and per capita material footprints of the two cities and its material disaggregation. We compared these results with domestic material consumption. Further analysis of the urban material footprint was performed by spatializing the flows in the global economy to understand the extent of consumption due to cities. The results show that on average the material footprint is 2.4 times larger than the domestic material consumption in Gothenburg and 1.9 times larger in Nantes-Saint-Nazaire. A decoupling between material footprint and domestic material consumption can be observed, as the material footprints grew much faster than the domestic material consumption. Regarding the material disaggregation, the most significant category is non-metallic minerals, which weighs more than 50% on average of the total material footprint balance sheet and also increased the most. In conclusion, future work should thus better integrate material footprint, as there is a need to better understand the externalization of urban metabolism and to identify what aspects urban circular economy policies should focus on.

This comprehensive Dictionary brings together an extensive range of definitive terms in ecological economics. Assembling contributions from distinguished scholars, it provides an intellectual map to this evolving subject ranging from the practical to the philosophical.

The concept of urban metabolism has been profusely used by various disciplines over the last and current century to describe different urban phenomena. One theme that appears to gain importance in the interdisciplinary field of urban metabolism is the spatial dimension. In this article, we have carried out a bibliometric and qualitative analysis of the use of this multi-faceted notion in order to understand the place of space in urban metabolism research. Our results show that several communities within the urban metabolism field use and manipulate space for their research according to different approaches (territorial economic, socio-political, socio-ecological, governance and urban planning, and modeling). We discuss recent contributions of these communities and their approaches, their limitations, and a future agenda that might cross-fertilize them in order to embed space more consistently in urban metabolism research.

Small island developing states are often characterized as vulnerable owing to their unique geographies of smallness and remoteness, resource insecurity, and more recently from the impacts of climate change. These vulnerabilities are often manifested in resource insecurity, significant imports, poor waste management, and the inability to develop economies of scale. In effect, sustaining small islands in an era of global environmental change is a task both scholars and policy makers are increasingly grappling with. Can small islands be sustainable? This research examines the social metabolism of an island system, and introduces the concept of “socio-metabolic vulnerability”. As such, this research provides novel insights into the linkages between patterns of resource-use, systemic risks and vulnerability. Results from a local material and energy flow analysis (local-MEFA) for the island of Ndzuwani (Comoros) suggest a very low level of resource-use but at the same time heavy reliance on critical imports that cover vast distances, that are vulnerable to price and climate shocks. Informal activities in resource extraction play an important role in lending both vulnerability and resilience to Ndzuwani. This study adds to the scarce body of literature that argues that small island economies would need to leverage resource-use patterns to build system resilience, along with bold policies and institutions that support material circularity, engage communities and fosters frugal innovation.

Islands are tightly connected to globalized material flows, with specific constraints and vulnerabilities. They are not closed metabolic loops of consumption, production, and waste, favorable to the circular economy. Small islands allow the observation of the material outcomes of circulation, from overflowing dumpsites to marine debris washing up on the shore. We argue that islands are key territories for better understanding the Capitalocene, precisely because of the ways in which they are connected to (rather than isolated from) globalized material flows. This article is a comparative geographical analysis of waste realities in three French/formerly French island territories: Ndzuwani (Comoros), Réunion, and New Caledonia. It builds on metabolism analysis and waste studies—in particular waste colonialism—to address the different perspectives that these approaches open up for the study of island territories. The long-term sociohistorical context of each island helps to explain contemporary waste management policies and practices. A material flow analysis makes it possible to sketch out metabolic profiles that show the contribution of prevailing mining and agricultural industries to waste generation. The comparison of current situations regarding household waste discourses and economies shows how these territories are characterized by waste accumulation.

The concept of island metabolism strives to implement the principles of social ecology at the island scale. It is, therefore, a question of analyzing the flows of materials and energy passing through these territories, as well as the resource base needed to sustain their activities. We propose to develop a nexus approach to the New Caledonian island metabolism to understand the interactions between biophysical structures and societal, as well as economic, activities. Metals, construction minerals, and energy are good symbols of economies based on the extraction of non-renewable resources. This is why, in this article, we sought to investigate how the "metal-energy-construction mineral" nexus can affect the resilience and metabolic sustainability of the extractive island of New Caledonia. We carried out the Material and Energy Flow Analysis (MEFA) of each nexus subsystem for 2016 and of the nodes of interdependence. We also interrogated the role of importing countries because the island's metabolism is dominated by the nickel extraction industry. Indeed, the metabolic profile of this island corresponds to the one of a supply territory for other consumption territories. The latter outsource the impacts of their own consumption to New Caledonia. Finally, based on interviews with economic stakeholders, we studied the potential building blocks for the emergence of an industrial symbiosis in the nexus.

The topic of the urban has met with growing interest among researchers and has grown significantly in recent years. According to Scopus, we have identified 438 published articles, the majority from 2010s. The scientific landscapes are varied and among 20 communities according to a bibiometric analysis. This topic can be understood as the idea of opening the black box of urban material and energy functioning, but also of considering that the spatial dimension should not be treated as absolute and homogeneous, when it can be very politically charged and refers to numerous socioeconomic and territorial processes. The goal of the discussion session could entail, what can we learn from spatialising metabolic analysis / spatialising flows and actors / linking urban metabolism and spatial planning / territorial ecology / different sub-metabolisms for the same city / relationship between cities and their hinterland / political-industrial ecology / linking metabolic flows and ecosystem services, etc. Before the discussion, we had 6 introductory contributions: Contribution Jean-Baptiste Bahers (short summary): The presentation will show a bibliometric analysis according from Scopus database. We have identified 483 published articles, the majority from 2010s. The scientific landscapes are varied and among 20 communities. We will show a map of co-citation of cited authors based on bibliographic data and co-occurrence map based of notions from titles, abstracts and key words. Finally, we will discuss the terms of spatial, ie the notions, concepts, theories and methods which emerge from it.

In a forthcoming publication (Bahers, Tanguy, and Pincetl 2020), we have shown that port cities are particularly interesting territories for studying urban metabolism. Transited through these port cities, flows of goods and energy are very important that cross the oceans to the regions concerned, causing a chain of pollution that extends local emissions through distribution and consumption, but also through ocean pollution related to transportation. This continuum of pollution is poorly identified, measured and analyzed by environmental assessment tools, by actors in the economic sectors and by territorial and international policies. Towards the new field of research of “politico-industrial ecology” (Pincetl et Newell 2017) that provides a framework to track the quantities of resource flows across space and time and to study social and environmental dynamics that reveal indirect flows of imports, we will discuss the dependency on a distant hinterland and the metabolic inequalities. The methodological question remains: how to couple the flow approaches from environmental engineering, and the territory approaches from social geography and political ecology? It would make it possible to decipher intertwined social and environmental dynamics and to combine the modeling of the circulation of flows and the political and societal perspective. The metabolism of the port cities of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire (France) and Gothenburg (in Sweden) will be compared to explore this issue.

Outsourcing of urban metabolisms is a phenomenon that has grown exponentially over the last century. It is a cause of vulnerability for cities for two main reasons. They are dependent on distant hinterlands and their consumption induces global environmental impact they do not fully control. This study aims to investigate these two effects of outsourcing through a single, multiscale approach to energy accounting. A spatially differentiated energy flow analysis (EFA) is developed, which includes indicators for dependency, embodied energy and energy losses. Applied to the case of the harbor-industrial area of Saint-Nazaire, France, the results show that the global scale dominates dependency and embodied energy indicators, whereas primary energy losses occur mainly at the domestic scale. The local scale accounts for less than 0.1% of the energy supply and about 6% of indirect flows. The spatial trajectories of some renewables (wood, biofuels, wind electricity) suggest that the energy transition could decrease global dependency, but with a transfer to the domestic level, and not necessarily to the local scale, without a radical change from the ports production system. Moreover, trade-offs could emerge between reducing the amount of embodied energy in foreign countries and using energy losses as a local secondary source, depending on the resource used to generate the losses. This study highlights thus the need to link local transition policies more closely to outsourcing issues in order to allow a comprehensive understanding of the possible transfers in terms of dependency and environmental burdens that may occur in a transition context.