Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Urban metabolism'

There is an urgent need to transition to more sustainable cities and to do so we must identify in what ways and where cities are unsustainable. Urban metabolism offers a way to provide insight into how to move from linear to more sustainable, circular flows of energy and material in the urban area. Incorporating circular economy principles into the urban metabolism concept offers a promising way to reduce urban resource flows and increase the sustainability of the urban system. This thesis aims to combine an urban metabolism framework with circular economy indicators to create an urban circular economy framework, to support the transition towards more sustainable cities. This was achieved by identifying urban metabolism frameworks at the urban scale as well as several circular economy indicators, and then developing criteria for assessing them. It was found that several of the urban metabolism frameworks lacked an inclusion of hinterlands and a life cycle perspective, but provided various approaches to the urban metabolism. Assessment of the identified circular economy indicators showed that there is a lack of flow-based indicators that evaluate the social dimension of sustainability. To assess this in an adequate way there is a need to develop flow-based circular economy indicators, or alternatively urban metabolism frameworks which incorporate the social aspects. Furthermore, there is a need to develop more evaluation criteria and a categorisation for assessing the circular economy indicators. This would ensure that all sectors and some scales of delineation are addressed and provide a holistic understanding of the circular economy. Still, a somewhat holistic view can be gained from the combination of several indicators, as shown in the circular economy framework developed in this thesis. The framework was developed by combining a multilevel urban metabolism framework with 17 of the selected circular economy indicators. Out of these, 16 could be applied directly to the multilevel framework and together they cover all assessment criteria for circular economy indicators. This new framework is extensive and can be used to evaluate circular economy from a sustainable point of view. However, it is not fully holistic since it does not cover all sectors and could use a larger set of indicators. Still, by providing an example of an urban circular economy framework, this thesis offers a step towards the development of urban circular economy frameworks.
Det finns ett akut behov att övergå till mer hållbara städer, och för att kunna göra det måste vi identifiera på vilka sätt städer är ohållbara. Urban metabolism är ett koncept som ger insikt i hur det är möjligt att gå från linjära till mer hållbara, cirkulära flöden av energi och material i urbana områden. Integrationen av principer från cirkulär ekonomi i den urbana metabolismen erbjuder ett lovande sätt att minska urbana resursflöden och därmed öka städers hållbarhet. Denna uppsats kombinerar ett ramverk för urban metabolism med indikatorer för cirkulär ekonomi och skapar på så sätt ett ramverk för urban cirkulär ekonomi. Syftet med det nya ramverket är att kunna stödja övergången till mer hållbara städer. Detta uppnåddes genom att identifiera ramverk för urban metabolism på urban skala, samt flera indikatorer för cirkulär ekonomi, samt utveckla kriterier för att utvärdera dessa. Det visade sig att flera av ramverken för urban metabolism inte behandlade påverkan på kringliggande områden och ett livscykelperspektiv, men gav olika tillvägagångssätt för att undersöka den urbana metabolismen. Utvärdering av de identifierade indikatorerna för cirkulär ekonomi visade att det saknas flödesbaserade indikatorer som bedömer den sociala dimensionen av hållbarhet. För att bättre kunna bedöma detta bör det utvecklas flödesbaserade indikatorer för cirkulär ekonomi, alternativt ramverk för urban metabolism som integrerar de sociala aspekterna. Dessutom finns det behov av att utveckla fler utvärderingskriterier för att bedöma indikatorerna, samt en kategorisering av dessa. Detta skulle säkerställa att alla sektorer och vissa detaljnivåer av flöden tas upp och ge en bättre helhetsförståelse för den cirkulära ekonomin. Utan dessa förbättringar kan dock ändå en något holistisk uppfattning erhållas från kombinationen av flera indikatorer, vilket visas i det skapade ramverket för cirkulär ekonomi. Ramverket utvecklades genom att kombinera ett flernivåigt ramverk för urban metabolism med 17 av de valda indikatorerna för cirkulär ekonomi. Av dessa kunde 16 tillämpas direkt på olika nivåer i nivåstrukturen från DPSIR Multilevel Framework. Tillsammans täcker de alla bedömningskriterier för indikatorer för cirkulär ekonomi. Detta nya ramverk är omfattande och kan användas för att utvärdera cirkulär ekonomi ur ett hållbarhetsperpektiv. Det är dock inte helt holistiskt eftersom det inte täcker alla sektorer och skulle kunna använda en större uppsättning indikatorer. Genom att ge ett exempel på ett ramverk för urban cirkulär ekonomi, erbjuder denna avhandling trots detta ett steg mot utvecklingen av ramverk för cirkulär ekonomi.

The urban sustainability is a growing importance in the built environment research. Urban areas play a key role in planning for sustainable city development. Urbanization has implications for future energy systems and energy-related emissions. The new built environment requires systems that are cost-efficient and have more efficient utilization of energy with a low environmental impact. This can be analyzed and designed with efficient tools for current and future energy systems. The objectives of this dissertation are to examine and analyze the metabolic flows of urban areas, and to develop a methodology for optimization of energy systems and services for the urban district. The dissertation is comprised of two phases and eight appended publications. In the first phase of this dissertation, the research is emphasized on an in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics of energy utilization in large urban areas. An integrated approach applied in this phase includes the energetic urban metabolism, the long-term energy systems modeling using the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) system, and the Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. The urban metabolism approach has been employed to analyze the urban energy flows at macro level. The LEAP model and MCDM approach have been used to develop and evaluate energy scenarios in both demand and supply sides. In the second phase, the research recognizes the lack of tools that applicable for district energy systems analysis. This phase concentrates on the important role of the district level in urban energy systems. Research methods include the Multi-Objective Optimization using Genetic Algorithms, the carbon budget approach, and the case study method. Research in the second phase is mainly focused on the development of tool for energy systems and services at the district level.

QC 20151110

The motivation for this research is a perceived gap in knowledge regarding the complex relationships between the physical form of the urban environment; its environmental performance as expressed through stocks and flows of materials and energy (urban metabolism); and its experienced physical and psychological qualities (urban ambience). The objective is to develop a practical methodological structure which, through investigating the relationships between these domains, may help inform the evaluation, design and development of more sustainable human settlements. One expression of this apparent knowledge gap is the ambiguity around the classification of urban form and identification of a suitable taxonomic framework to support analysis. Urban morphological research and practice is critically reviewed to derive a rigorous definition of the 'urban structural unit' (USU) to facilitate the subdivision and description of urban form across spatial scales. Application of this construct to a study site in Sydney, Australia provides the basis for subsequent exploration. Investigation of theoretical and applied perspectives on urban ecology, metabolism and design enables distillation of a utilitarian set of structural, functional and ambience properties of the USU. A variety of quantitative methods pertinent to evaluation of these properties is systematically examined to derive a streamlined analytical methodology, integrating hemispherical image analysis, space syntax, isovist and material accounting methods within the USU framework. The efficacy of this methodological 'toolkit' is tested in the final, empirical stage of the research, focussing mainly on the campus of the University of New South Wales. Determination of a range of material, microclimatic, ecosystemic, fractal, syntactic and isovist metrics provides a preliminary quantitative description of the campus USU in terms of its interrelated metabolic and ambience properties. This is further explained and interpreted through multivariate statistical analysis. The results suggest that the USU represents a robust framework for urban evaluation, and application of a relatively parsimonious suite of analytical methods enables a useful initial examination of the relations between significant aspects of urban form, metabolism and ambience. The outcomes of such an evaluation can directly inform built environment practice from a sustainability perspective, and also highlight areas for more detailed investigation.

For half a century, urban metabolism has been used to provide insights to support transitions to sustainable urban development (SUD). Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) has recently been recognized as a potential technology enabler to advance this transition. This thesis explored the potential for an ICT-enabled urban metabolism framework aimed at improving resource efficiency in urban areas by supporting decision-making processes. Three research objectives were identified: i) investigation of how the urban metabolism framework, aided by ICT, could be utilized to support decision-making processes; ii) development of an ICT platform that manages real-time, high spatial and temporal resolution urban metabolism data and evaluation of its implementation; and iii) identification of the potential for efficiency improvements through the use of resulting high spatial and temporal resolution urban metabolism data. The work to achieve these objectives was based on literature reviews, single-case study research in Stockholm, software engineering research, and big data analytics of resulting data. The evolved framework, Smart Urban Metabolism (SUM), enabled by the emerging context of smart cities, operates at higher temporal (up to real-time), and spatial (up to household/individual) data resolution. A key finding was that the new framework overcomes some of the barriers identified for the conventional urban metabolism framework. The results confirm that there are hidden urban patterns that may be uncovered by analyzing structured big urban data. Some of those patterns may lead to the identification of appropriate intervention measures for SUD.

QC 20151120

Smart City SRS

Mestrado em Estudos Ambientais
This study analyzed the urban metabolism of the city of Aveiro with a consumption-based perspective. The MFA coupled city scale data of energy, water, wastewater and solid waste with downscaled national data, getting a total mass of inputs equal to 163 kg/cap/day and of outputs equal to 148 kg/cap/day, the difference being due to net accumulation. An economic IO analysis was done for the household expenses and found a total impact of 26 kg CO2-eq./cap/day for climate change (CC) and 7 kg oil eq./cap/day for fossil depletion (FD). The process LCA was done using the products and processes quantities estimated with the MFA. The process LCA total impacts were 27 kg CO2-eq./cap/day for CC, 8 kg oil eq./cap/day for FD and 3 points/cap/day for the ReCiPe endpoint impact. It allowed also the discrimination of products that contributed to more than 1% of each impact (priority products). Process LCA was also applied to the water cycle of Aveiro to compare local impact factors with the ones used from LCA databases. It was observed that the local impact factors of the water cycle were more than 2 times higher, showing the importance of carrying detailed local studies, especially for priority products.

This master thesis depicts the topic of urban mining and its possibilities and challenges in the city of Malmö. Because of present day’s high consumption and construction our resources are becoming scarcer. In order to continue to build and consume the way we do, we need to look at other alternatives to obtain these resources. One sustainable alternative is urban mining which is based on society as a resource base where material accumulating over time is a metal storage that can be used through reuse or recycling. This thesis is limited to one type of urban mining which refers to unused cables and pipes that lie underground, so called hibernating cables. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the possibilities and challenges with urban mining in the city of Malmö and to research the Kabel-x urban mining method and its implementation possibilities. To successfully understand the challenges and possibilities a qualitative approach was taken where semi-structured interviews were conducted to see attitudes towards urban mining as well as to identify stakeholders who would work with an urban mining project in the future. The qualitative approach was complemented by a literary research which built the theoretical framework with theories like urban mining, urban metabolism and material flow analysis and sustainability assessments. The empirical discoveries depict topics such as ownership, knowledge-gap or skepticism when it comes to urban mining as well as methods of extractions, but also point to high interest and economic incentives with are in concordance with sustainability aspects. This lead to the conclusion that urban mining shows both possibilities and challenges in Malmö, which proves a challenging but worth implementation. Regarding Kabel-x method, its sustainability aspects and challenges with its implementation, it was concluded that on account of mostly skepticism and knowledge-gap stakeholders proved its implementation challenging but also interesting for urban development.

With a global population about 7 billion people and their continued growth are pressuring global natural resources, in freshwater matter this pressure is altering both the river flows; timing season of water flows; and spatial patterns in order to meet human demands both in urban as rural areas. However, water stress in urban areas are increasing and expectations by 2050 are grim with a global urban development by 70 percent moreover urbanization rate expected by 2030 in Latin America is 80 percent, thus the water concerns because of high average water consumption 220 lpd, and water leakage by 29 percent in the third largest city of Ecuador Cuenca have motivated to perform this analysis. The analysis is based on a metabolic perspective in order to determine anomalies in the urban water cycle at household level for then apply one of the tools of stormwater management in short term such as harvesting rainwater to find how feasible can be this system both individually as communally in Cuenca urban area based on criteria of rainfall, roof surface, roof material, water average consumption, and costs; in order to generate social, economic, and environmental benefits. Moreover, give recommendations and strategies in mid and long term to get an Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) model that allow ensuring the enough natural resources, environmental health, and economic sustainability for current and future demands. The main problems in the urban water cycle are in a outdated urban water management because of water leakage in the delivery network and unsuitable water pricing as well as bad consumers habits; these are affecting economically the water enterprise; nonetheless these problems are not putting in risk freshwater resources, and infrastructure capacity to meet future demands but the implementation of harvesting rainwater systems both individual as community can allow water savings by 18 percent at household level, and by 11 percent in whole water production process at city level. Moreover, the implementation can generate 750.000 job positions both direct as indirect. Finally, the risk of floods can be mitigated due to, roughly 2.88 million m3 of runoff rainwater a year are not released on rivers. To conclude, economic losses are avoiding that this money can be used to improve and maintain the current infrastructures, and development socio-technical projects in order to get a more suitable water metabolism. In other hand, encourage a harvesting culture at household level is a good strategy in short term but its feasibility is related directly to five drivers of which four can be handled such as roof surface area, roof material, domestic water consumption, and costs; in order to get most efficient systems. Finally, there are more tools and strategies to get sustainable goals in short mid and long term through an Integrated Urban Water Management model, in order to urban dwellers can move from simply consumers to a status of suppliers and managers of resources.

Oslo, capitale della Norvegia, sta sperimentando un’improvvisa crescita della popolazione e secondo le stime fornite da Statistics Norway si prevede un aumento di 200 000 abitanti entro il 2040. La crescita della popolazione comporterà un rilevante aumento di domanda di acqua e, insieme ad altri fattori quali l’età delle infrastrutture e i cambiamenti climatici, sarà responsabile di una notevole pressione sulle infrastrutture idriche presenti. In risposta alla necessità di tempestivi cambiamenti, il gestore del servizio idrico della città (Oslo VAV) ha deciso di finanziare progetti per migliorare la robustezza delle infrastrutture idriche. Il lavoro di tesi si inserisce all’interno del progetto E3WDM, istituito nel 2005 con lo scopo di definire una gestione più efficiente della risorsa idrica di Oslo. L’obiettivo generale della tesi è la creazione di un modello metabolico attraverso il software UWOT (Makropoulos et al., 2008) con lo scopo di rappresentare i consumi idrici di due tipiche tipologie abitative nella città di Oslo. L’innovazione di questo studio consiste nella definizione e nella modellazione della domanda idrica all’interno delle abitazioni ad un livello di dettaglio molto elevato. Il nuovo approccio fornito da UWOT consente la simulazione di differenti strategie di intervento e la successiva gestione ottimale della risorsa idrica in grado di minimizzare i consumi di acqua, di energia e i costi, compatibilmente con la domanda idrica richiesta. Il lavoro di tesi comprende: -La descrizione del software UWOT, in particolare lo scopo del modello, l’innovativo approccio adottato, la struttura e il procedimento per creare un modello del sistema idrico urbano. -La definizione dei dati richiesti per la simulazione dei consumi idrici all’interno delle abitazioni nella città di Oslo e i metodi utilizzati per raccoglierli -L’applicazione del modello UWOT per la definizione dei trend di consumi idrici e la successiva analisi dei risultati

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 133-145).
Coastal areas are home to more than half of the world's population and many of its most populated urban areas. Coastal urbanism remains very much in demand despite major risk factors such as sea level rise, longterm shoreline erosion, storm surges, land liquefaction, and subsidence. City-building on reclaimed land is an ambitious form of development yet prevalent around the world, especially where an economic growth agenda is pursued aggressively against the availability of land resources. This thesis develops a critical design agenda to respond to how pro-growth forces and environmental change can be negotiated towards a reconsidered coastal urbanism. The thesis argument is that coastal urban and territorial form should not follow a static master plan based on a risk model; instead, it should employ/follow a dynamic gradient of permanence and ephemerality in multiple time scales, following coastal succession as a design analogy. Tokyo Bay is the site of experimentation. The world's largest metropolitan area has a long history of land reclamation debates and projects, which resulted in a highly articulated urban coast with reclaimed shorelines, and near- and off-shore artificial islands with a mix of uses. The on-going construction of the urban archipelago is an outcome of urban and regional metabolisms, where incinerated solid waste, dredged sediment, excavated soil, and demolished buildings are deposited to make new land. Demand for post-industrial urban development and land reclamation is still alive in coastal Tokyo despite the vulnerabilities of flooding and seismic events. Large waterfront sites are now available for new development. The construction of permanent and temporary facilities in Tokyo Bay for the 2020 Summer Olympics offers an opportunity to develop a succession- based design strategy-not only for the 2020 peak condition, but also in anticipation of future transformations. The design exploration establishes, via strategic cartography, a resiliency district framework based on a gradient of permanence and flexibility in the ground condition. The sharply delineated boundary between land and sea is rethought as a dynamic frontier zone of flexibility that adapts to flooding and sea level rise and as an active site for coastal deposition and submersion. A second, elevated ground level is proposed to serve as a pedestrian and emergency thoroughfare, as well as an extension of transportation and logistics infrastructure. The Metabolist imaginary envisioned Tokyo Bay as a site of continuous urban growth towards a mega-scale climax state; ground was taken for granted and the possibilities of urban decline or reconstruction were hardly considered within the same design utopia. This project argues for a New Metabolism in which the ground is conceived as an indeterminate landscape of change. The uncertainties of the ground are addressed by an 'artificial land' infrastructure which organizes and facilitates transformation over time.
by Caner Oktem.
S.M.

Estudos relacionados ao consumo de recursos e à emissão de resíduos na escala territorial local se originaram nas pioneiras pesquisas associadas ao conceito de metabolismo urbano. Nos últimos 15 anos, observa-se um crescimento do número de estudos aplicados a cidades, municípios ou regiões metropolitanas. A Análise dos Fluxos de Materiais - AFM (Material Flow Analysis) vem se consolidando como a abordagem metodológica predominante para esse tipo de investigação, a qual objetiva prover informações sobre fluxos de materiais e de energia, usualmente em unidades de massa, entrando e deixando uma sociedade. No entanto, todos os casos estudados na literatura prévia correspondem a capitais nacionais ou a municípios com centralidade econômica e de gestão do território na região as quais pertencem. Adicionalmente, não há estudos desenvolvidos no Brasil. Em face dessas lacunas, o objetivo principal deste trabalho é a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais associados ao metabolismo de um município brasileiro de pequeno porte (MBPP). Para tanto se adotou como estudo de caso o município de Feliz-RS. Como objetivos intermediários da pesquisa estabeleceram-se: a) Identificação dos métodos existentes para caracterização de fluxos de materiais na escala local e análise das possibilidades de aplicação no contexto dos MBPP; b) Desenvolvimento de um detalhamento metodológico da AFM, para a caracterização dos fluxos de materiais de MBPP; c) Análise das limitações e oportunidades para uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental de municípios. Como resultados, avalia-se que o detalhamento metodológico desenvolvido é funcional e replicável para municípios brasileiros com o mesmo perfil, além de fornecer informações bastante detalhadas acerca dos fluxos ocorrentes no município adotado como caso. Assim, é possível realizar análises com diferentes níveis de desagregação. Quanto aos fluxos de materiais de Feliz, encontrou-se que o consumo doméstico de materiais per capita (DMC/ per capita) do município é alto, se comparado àqueles já caracterizados na literatura. Essa constatação corrobora com a proposição de que municípios com produção primária e secundária tendem a demandar, proporcionalmente, mais recursos do que aqueles que são consumidores finais. Quanto ao uso da AFM, na avaliação de sustentabilidade ambiental, verifica-se um alto potencial, com vantagens, em relação a outros métodos correntemente adotados. Entretanto, essas oportunidades ainda são pouco exploradas no contexto internacional e ignoradas no Brasil, ao se analisar a literatura existente.
Studies related to resources consumption and wastes emissions in a local territorial scale were originated from pioneering researches related to the urban metabolism concept. Over the past 15 years, there was a growth in the number of such studies applied to cities, municipalities and metropolitan areas. At the same time, Material Flow Analysis - MFA was consolidated as the predominant methodological approach for this type of research. However, it must be pointed out that all studied cases have been related to national capitals or counties, with economics centrality and land management in their own area. Besides, no studies of this nature were found as being developed in Brazil. Thus, the main goal of the research presented in this paper was to characterize material flows associated with the metabolism of a small Brazilian municipality and for this purpose the municipality of Feliz was adopted as a case study. Three intermediate objectives were established: a) To identify existing methods for material flows characterization on the local scale and to analyse the possibilities of applying them in the context of small Brazilian municipalities; b) to develop a MFA methodological detailing for the characterization of material flows of small Brazilian municipalities; c) to analyse constraints and opportunities for the use of MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability. As results, it is considered that the methodological detailing developed raises the possibility of replicating the procedures applied in Feliz to other Brazilian municipalities, being this research a first and referential step in this direction. Besides, it provides very detailed information on flows occurring in the municipality adopted as the case study. Thus, it is possible ti further develop of analyses considering different levels of disaggregation. Concerning the material flows associated with the metabolism of Feliz, it was found that the studied municipality presents a DMC per capita comparable or superior to that of larger municipalities already analyzed by previous researches. This finding corroborates the hypothesis that municipalities with primary and secondary production tend to demand proportionately more resources than those who are the final consumers. Regarding the use of the MFA in the assessment of municipalities environmental sustainability, it was verified that it presents a high potential, with advantages over other methods currently adopted. However, when analyzing the existing literature it was noticed that these opportunities are still little explored in the international context and ignored in Brazil.

Por primera vez en la historia de la humanidad, una mayor proporción de la población global vive en áreas urbanas. En las próximas décadas, se espera que la mayor parte del crecimiento mundial previsto sea absorbido por las zonas urbanas costaneras del mundo en desarrollo, específicamente en las ciudades pequeñas y medianas así como en las zonas periféricas. En las últimas décadas, tanto las actividades humanas de producción y consumo de alimentos, cómo el fenómeno de la urbanización, se han identificado como actividades que contribuyen a alterar los ciclos naturales de los nutrientes del nitrógeno (N) y del fósforo (P), así como de promover el agotamiento de los recursos minerales del fósforo, generando impactos medioambientales negativos resultantes de la acumulación y pérdida de nutrientes en la tierra, el agua y en la atmosfera. Ambos macronutrientes son básicos para la seguridad alimentaria regional y global al ser insumos esenciales para la producción agrícola de los alimentos. En un mundo cada vez más urbanizado, tanto las áreas urbanas como su desarrollo se encuentan en el centro de todas las discusiones sobre sostenibilidad y desarrollo sostenible. Sin embargo, el papel que desempeñan las ciudades como motores de cambio ambiental a múltiples escalas, p.ej. como agentes en el flujo de energía y materiales, permanece poco reconocido, y por lo tanto poco estudiado, siendo aún más escasos los estudios sobre ciudades en los países en desarrollo, debido a su limitada disponibilidad, acceso y recolección de datos. La noción de metabolismo urbano (UM) proporciona un marco conceptual para el estudio del funcionamiento de las ciudades, y consecuentemente, una aproximación al análisis de la sostenibilidad de las mismas. La presente investigación, centrada en el caso de estudio de la ciudad-región de Gran Nador, en el noreste de Marruecos, tiene por objetivo el estudio del papel que desempeñan las áreas urbanas como agentes en el metabolismo de los alimentos. El estudio, por un lado, analiza la circulación de los principales flujos de nutrientes de los alimentos, el nitrógeno (N) y el fósforo (P), mediante la aplicación del método de Análisis del Flujo de Sustancias (SFA). Por otro lado, contextualiza el desarrollo sociopolítico e histórico de la región urbana de estudio. Los flujos de N y P se calcularon mediante el uso,principalmente, de datos procedentes de bases de datos estadísticas oficiales, literatura publicada e informes no publicados elaborados por las instituciones municipales y regionales de la zona. Además, se utilizaron distintas aproximaciones y “proxies”, así como la adopción de diferentes supuestos y métodos de estimación. Finalmente, se realizó un análisis de incertidumbre para mejorar la fiabilidad de los resultados. Los resultados muestran la linealidad de los flujos de N y P analizados, evidenciando así la apertura del metabolismo de los alimentos en el sistema urbano de Gran Nador. Los resultados también sugieren los fuertes indicios en relación a la influencia significativa que las historias urbanas, es decir, el contexto sociopolítico e histórico en que se desarrolla una región o área urbana, tienen sobre la estructura, el funcionamiento y los flujos metabólicos de la misma área urbana. Posteriormente, el estudio presenta distintas opciones existentes hacia una gestión más equilibrada de los nutrientes, a la vez que para reducir la pérdida y acumulación y aumentar la recirculación de los nutrientes de N y P en Gran Nador. Finalmente, el estudio introduce posibles nuevas líneas de investigación para avanzar con el presente estudio.
For the first time in history a majority of the global population live in urban areas. In the coming decades, most of the world’s population growth is expected to be absorbed by coastal urban areas -specifically in small and medium cities and urban peripheries- of the developing world. In the last decades, anthropogenic food-related activities and urbanization have been identified to contribute altering the natural nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) nutrient cycles, as well as exhausting P-mineral resources. These alterations have caused a myriad of pollution and environmental problems resulting from nutrient accumulation and loss to the soil, waters and air. Both macronutrients are critical for regional and global food security, by virtue of being essential inputs for agricultural food production. In an increasingly urbanized world, urban areas and their development are at the centre of all discussions on sustainability and/or sustainable development. Yet, the role played by cities as drivers of environmental change at multiple scales, e.g. as agents in the flow of energy and materials, stays poorly recognized, and thus grossly understudied, remaining even more scarce (even least available) when it comes to studies of cities in developing countries. The latter are significantly constrained by limited data availability, access, and data collection resources. The notion of Urban Metabolism (UM) provides a conceptual framework to study how a city functions, and hence, a way to address the sustainability of a city. The present research, focused in the city-region of Grand Nador in northeast Morocco as a case study, aimed to study the role played by urban areas as agents in the metabolism of food by, on the one hand, examining the circulation of the major nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) food-related flows by using the analytical method of Substance Flow Analysis (SFA), and on the other hand, contextualizing the politico-historical development of the urban region. N and P flows were estimated using mainly data from official statistical databases, published literature and unpublished reports authored by municipal and regional level institutions. Besides, approximations, surrogates and proxies were used, as well as the adoption of different assumptions and estimation methods. As a result of data limitations, an uncertainty analysis was performed to enhance the reliability of results. The results displayed the linearity of the N and P food-related flows studied, elucidating the openness of the food metabolism in the urban system of Grand Nador. Results also showed the strong insights of the significant influence that urban histories, namely the sociopolitical and historical context in which a region develops, have on its structure, functioning and metabolic flows. Different existing options towards more-balanced nutrient management and to reduce and enhance nutrient N and P recirculation in Grand Nador are discussed. Likewise, new lines of further research are advanced.

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O planejamento urbano integrado aos recursos hídricos não é uma realidade ainda difundida às cidades, embora necessária, considerando que os sistemas urbanos dependem, em sua maioria, de uma única fonte de abastecimento de água, geralmente externa aos seus limites. Campina Grande, cidade de médio porte do semiárido brasileiro, objeto de estudo da presente dissertação, é expressão dessa desarticulação, tendo, historicamente, vivenciado crises relativas à disponibilidade hídrica para os diversos usos urbanos. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar possibilidades de ampliação da sensibilidade urbana em relação aos recursos hídricos, a partir da compreensão do metabolismo urbano e dos impactos da produção do espaço sobre esse metabolismo. Foram realizadas duas análises do espaço urbano: a primeira delas é relativa ao desempenho hidrológico, onde são levantados os potenciais de diversificação hídrica por meio do desenvolvimento de indicadores quantitativos e da geração de cenários possíveis à diversificação; a segunda refere-se à produção do espaço, onde é realizado um levantamento histórico das condições de acesso à água na cidade estudada. É verificado como se deu o processo de produção do espaço e o impacto deste processo sobre os recursos hídricos. Mais detalhadamente, observa-se as correlações entre os agentes e as transformações espaciais, visando identificar as associações que comandam essas transformações, sendo o objeto desta análise o Bairro do Catolé, devido às expressivas transformações espaciais que apresentou nos últimos 20 anos. Os resultados apresentam um potencial de 243,60% para diversificação por uso de água de chuva, e 68,90% por reúso de água residuária. Ainda, por meio da combinação de possibilidades de diversificação hídrica, o sistema de abastecimento, que atualmente é totalmente centralizado, poderia ter esta centralização reduzida a até 57,19%. Sendo assim, ressalta-se a importância do papel do município na gestão dos recursos hídricos. No entanto, a análise realizada no Catolé revela uma crescente diminuição do papel do Estado, como regulador dos processos espaciais. Os promotores imobiliários e proprietários fundiários condicionam a dinâmica espacial a seus interesses especulativos. Tal contexto dificulta a melhoria do desempenho hidrológico urbano. Por fim, são apresentadas diretrizes que indicam possíveis medidas a serem adotadas na cidade para direcionar-lhe a uma maior sensibilidade aos recursos hídricos.
Urban planning integrated to water resources is still not widespread in cities, although it is necessary, considering that urban systems rely, mostly, on a single source of water supply, usually outside their boundaries. Campina Grande, a medium-sized city in the Brazilian semi-arid, object of study of this dissertation, is an expression of this disarticulation, having, historically, experienced crises related to the water availability for its various urban uses. The aim of this work is to present possibilities of increasing urban sensitivity in relation to water resources, from the understanding of urban metabolism and the impacts of space production on this metabolism. Two analyzes of the urban space were carried out: the first is related to the hydrological performance, in which the water diversification potentials are raised by developing quantitative indicators and by the generation of possible scenarios for diversification; the second refers to the space production, in which a historical survey of the access conditions to water in the studied city is carried out. The space production process is verified, and the impact of this process on the water resources. In more detail, it is noted the correlations between the agents and the spatial transformations, in order to identify the associations that command these transformations, being the object of this analysis Catolé neighborhood, due to the expressive spatial transformations that it presented in the last 20 years. Results showed a potential of 243.60% for diversification by using rainwater, and 68.90% by reusing wastewater. Also, by the combination of possibilities of water diversification, the supply system, which is currently fully centralized, could have this centralization reduced to 57.19%. Therefore, the importance of the municipality's role in the management of water resources is emphasized. However, the analysis carried out in Catolé reveals a growing decrease in the role of the state, as a regulator of space processes. Real-Estate Developers and landowners condition spatial dynamics to their speculative interests. This situation makes it difficult to improve urban hydrological performance. Finally, guidelines indicating possible measures to be adopted in the city to direct it to a greater sensitivity to water resources are presented.

Material flows in Urban Metabolism play a key role for the purpose of building urban areas and growing the economy. There is lack of standard method for accounting of material flows within and across the boundaries of urban systems. This thesis aims to assess the Urban Metabolism of small-scale urban area through the application of the Economic Wide Material Flow Analysis and enhance the scope of the method by adding water flows, which could potentially become a basis for the development of the method in the future. First, the application of the Economic Wide Material Flow Analysis in urban areas was studied through a literature review and then the enhanced Economic Wide Material Flow Analysis was applied to Stockholm Royal Seaport using bottom-up data. Using bottom-up data resulted in detailed information, however, full comparison between urban areas was not possible due to data gaps. The results showed the importance of the method for enhancing Urban Metabolism analysis and amending resource management. Spotting available secondary and recycled resources in the socioeconomic system as a part of application of the method is beneficial to sustain the natural resources use. Since still the method is developing for small-scale urban areas, a mixture of this method and other recommended methods by having focus on data collection is suggested for integrating databases and comprehensive analysis.
Under de senaste decennierna har stadsområden expanderat snabbare än tidigare. Genom att öka människors tendens att bo i stora städer kommer naturresurser att behövas för att tillgodose stadsområdens växande behov. Materialflöden i stadsmetabolismen spelar en nyckelroll för att bygga miljövänligt och växande ekonomin. Det saknas en standardmetod för redovisning av materialflöden inom och över gränserna för stadssystem. Denna avhandling syftar till att utvärdera stadsmetabolismen genom att använda tillämpning av bred ekonomisk materialflödesredovisning och förbättra metodens omfattning genom att lägga till vatten- och genomströmningsflöden som potentiellt kan bli bas för utvecklingen av metoden i framtiden. Först studerades tillämpningen av ekonomiskt bred materialflödesredovisning i urbana områden genom litteraturöversikt och sedan tillämpades den förbättrade analysen av ekonomiskt bred materialflöde på Norra Djurgårdsstaden med hjälp av bottom-up data. Att använda bottom-up-data resulterade i detaljerad information, men fullständig jämförelse mellan stadsområden var inte möjlig på grund av dataklyftan Resultaten visade vikten av materialflödesredovisning för att förbättra urban metabolismanalys och ändra resurshantering. Att hitta tillgängliga sekundära och återvunna resurser i det socioekonomiska systemet som en del av tillämpningen av metoden är fördelaktigt för att upprätthålla användningen av naturresurser. Eftersom metoden fortfarande utvecklas för småskaliga stadsområden föreslås en blandning av denna metod och andra rekommenderade metoder såsom, livscykelbedömning, genom att fokusera på datainsamling för att integrera databas och omfattande analys.

Contemporary towns and cities in developing countries are faced with myriads of challenges. And, scholars have been suggesting various approaches, methods and tools to improve local resilience against these challenges. Some of the approaches and movements that proliferated recently in urban studies are Urban Metabolism, Sustainable Spatial Planning, the specified resilience approach, and the circular economy. Although these movements played an important role in improving local resilience and sustainability in the western world, their impacts on towns and cities of the developing world remains minimal. This is mainly because these movements were conceived and born in western countries and most of them are targeted at solving their own local problems. So, there is a very strong need to contextualize and modify them so that they fit into the existing local conditions in towns and cities of developing countries. In addition, lack of institutions and usable data makes it very difficult to undertake similar studies in countries like Ethiopia. That is why contextualizing these movements and searching resource efficient paths to local resilience and sustainability have become important tasks in recent years. In addition, developing a methodology that helps to operationlize and spatialize these concepts (resilience and sustainability - concepts usually criticized for being too general and normative) is also very crucial.This research, therefore, developed a robust diagnostic and analytical tool to study the nexus between major challenges (in small towns) and their impact on local resilience and sustainability in Ethiopia. The urban metabolism approach is mainly used (as a tool) to understand the nature of these challenges and to diagnose resilience in small towns. It specifically focuses on the flow food and housing construction materials (the two most stressed flows) in the case towns. These case towns are selected to represent the two ends of the sustainable town planning continuum in Ethiopia (Amdework is an organically growing old town and BuraNEST is a new planned town based on principles of sustainability). This research is mainly conducted at three stages: at regional level, at local level and at sub-system level. The first task done to achieve this objective is, therefore, characterization of the role of the case town in the regional urban system. This is done mainly using the urban metabolism approach. The deployment of this tool helped the researcher to pinpoint weak links, unsustainable flows, and vulnerable paths that simultaneously impact local resilience and sustainability in the case towns. This preliminary exploratory research clearly indicated the role of the town in the regional urban system and revealed the two most stressed (but important) sub-systems in the localities: the food and the housing sub-systems.Following this preliminary finding, the research has been narrowed down to the aforementioned two most stressed sub-systems. The food sub-system is first studied using the urban metabolism and the 'specified resilience' approaches. The research adopts a tri-tiered method (resilience at the source, resilience in the chain and resilience in consumption) to investigate local food resilience and metabolism and their relationship with the spatial configuration of the case town. The deployment of this method helps to operationalize and reduce the normative content of the concept (of resilience). This study reveals that urban agriculture is a highly marginalized agenda at all the three stages. Furthermore, the research investigates various bottom-up informal initiatives in the case town and other innovative planning endeavors (such as the planning of BuraNEST) that are aimed at improving sustainability and resilience in the food sub-system. The other focus area of the research is the housing sub-system. The urban metabolism approach, again, is primarily used to characterize, map and quantify the flow of materials used in the construction of residential houses in the town. The research developed a new bottom-up data generation technique to undertake this analysis. This method dominantly relied on estimations and conversions (of traditional measurements to the metric system) to get quantified data that was finally used as an input to develop metabolic models. Models (Sankeys) developed in this research reveal that the vast majority of inputs used in the construction are sourced locally. However, certain recent worrisome trends challenging sustainability have been observed in the housing sub-system due to the increased tendency of transporting important construction inputs from distant sources (mainly due to local construction regulations). The research, on the other hand, found that housing in BuraNEST, a town claimed to have been planned based on principles of sustainability, is more reliant on local sources and recognizes local needs and challenges. However, there are some critical pending questions (related with governance and affordability) that need to be addressed to improve sustainability in the housing sub-system in the long-run. Lastly, the research also investigates planning system challenges in small towns of Ethiopia. This is done mainly because many of the challenges found in the previous two analyses point to the presence of certain systemic problems in the policies, laws and manuals used in the planning of small town of Ethiopia. Such disorientations obviously negatively impact local resilience and sustainability in the long-run. Various definitions, wordings, phrases, and criteria identified in the federal planning law and manual were found to be on a direct collision course with principles of sustainability in many instances. By doing these, this research, therefore, systematically analyzed how the nexus between population pressure, resource flows and planning system challenges impact local resilience and sustainability (in the food and housing sub-systems) in small towns of Ethiopia. More importantly, it successfully spatialized and operationalized critical concepts such as urban resilience and sustainability using a new bottom-up approach. Clarity of the methodology vividly spells out the starting point when dealing with such important topics. This research can, therefore, serve as an important material to other researchers who are interested to study issues related to urban resilience and metabolism in small towns of developing countries. It clearly shows how the urban metabolism (as a tool) can be deployed to diagnose resilience in specific systems and sub-systems of towns and cities. It also provides a step-by-step procedure on how to generate data in data poor contexts and build metabolic models that can be used to study resilience in urban areas.
Les villes contemporaines des pays en développement sont confrontées à une multitude de défis. Les chercheurs ont suggéré diverses approches, méthodes et outils pour améliorer la résilience locale face à ces défis et parmi les approches qui ont proliféré récemment dans les études urbaines, nous pouvons citer le Métabolisme Urbain, l’urbanisme durable, l'approche de la Résilience Spécifiée et l'économie Circulaire. Bien que ces mouvements et ces outils aient joué un rôle important dans l'amélioration de la résilience et de la durabilité locales dans le monde occidental, leur application et leur impact sur les villes des pays en développement sont négligeables. Cela est principalement dû au fait que ces mouvements ont été conçus et sont nés dans les pays occidentaux et que, par conséquent, la plupart d'entre eux visent à résoudre des problèmes qui leur sont propres. Il existe donc un besoin important de contextualiser et d'adapter ces outils, mouvements et méthodologies pour étudier, comprendre et résoudre les problèmes des villes du monde en développement. En outre, le manque d'institutions et de données utilisables rend difficile la réalisation d'études similaires dans des pays comme l'Éthiopie. La recherche de chemins efficaces pour la résilience et la durabilité locale est donc une tâche difficile dans les pays en développement. De plus, il est très important de développer une méthodologie qui aide à opérationnaliser et à spatialiser ces concepts (résilience et durabilité, des concepts généralement critiqués pour être trop généraux et normatifs).Cette recherche a donc permis de mettre au point un solide outil de diagnostic et d'analyse pour étudier le lien entre les principaux défis et leur impact sur la résilience et la durabilité locale dans les petites villes d'Éthiopie. L'approche du métabolisme urbain est principalement utilisée pour comprendre la nature des défis urbains et diagnostiquer la résilience dans les villes concernées. Cette approche se concentre spécifiquement sur les flux des deux sous-systèmes les plus sollicités :les flux de nourriture et de matériaux de construction de logements. Les deux villes étudiées sont sélectionnées pour représenter les deux extrêmes du continuum de la planification urbaine durable en Éthiopie :une nouvelle ville planifiée (BuraNEST) et une vieille ville à croissance organique (Amdework). Cette recherche est organisée selon trois échelles :au niveau régional, au niveau local et au niveau des sous-systèmes. La première tâche effectuée pour atteindre cet objectif a donc été de caractériser le rôle de la ville prise comme cas d’étude dans le système urbain régional, en s’appuyant sur l'approche du métabolisme urbain. Le déploiement de cet outil a permis d'identifier les trajectoires non durables, les flux vulnérables et les activités qui ont simultanément un impact sur la résilience locale et sur la durabilité des villes étudiées. Cette recherche exploratoire préliminaire a clairement souligné le rôle de la ville dans le système urbain régional et a révélé deux sous-systèmes particulièrement sous tension: les sous-systèmes de l'alimentation et du logement.Suite à cette première constatation, la recherche se concentre sur ces deux sous-systèmes. Le sous-système alimentaire est d'abord étudié en utilisant le métabolisme urbain et les approches de « résilience spécifiée ». La recherche adopte une méthode suivant trois niveaux (résilience à la source, résilience dans la chaîne et résilience dans la consommation) pour étudier la résilience alimentaire locale et sa relation avec la configuration spatiale urbaine. Le déploiement de cette méthode permet d’opérationnaliser et de réduire le contenu normatif du concept de résilience. La recherche révéle que l'agriculture urbaine est un programme très marginalisé aux trois stades du métabolisme alimentaire. En outre, la recherche examine diverses initiatives informelles ascendantes dans la ville en question et d'autres initiatives de planification innovantes (telles que la planification de BuraNEST) qui visent à améliorer la durabilité et la résilience du sous-système alimentaire.Le second domaine d'étude de la recherche concerne le sous-système du logement. L'approche du métabolisme urbain est utilisée pour caractériser, cartographier et quantifier le flux de matériaux utilisés dans la construction des bâtiments résidentielles. La recherche développe une nouvelle technique de génération de données ascendantes pour entreprendre cette analyse. Cette méthode repose principalement sur de nombreuses estimations et conversions (des mesures traditionnelles vers le système métrique) pour obtenir des données quantifiées qui peuvent être utilisées comme intrants pour développer des modèles métaboliques. Les modèles (Sankeys) développés dans le cadre de cette recherche ont révélé que la grande majorité des matériaux intrants utilisés dans la construction proviennent de sources locales. Cependant, certaines tendances récentes inquiétantes remettant en cause la durabilité ont été observées dans le sous-système de logement en raison de la tendance croissante à importer d'importants éléments de construction provenant de sources éloignées (principalement en raison des réglementations locales en matière de construction). D'autre part, la recherche a révélé que les logements de BuraNEST, une ville qui déclare avoir été planifiée sur la base des principes de durabilité, dépendent davantage des ressources locales et considèrent les besoins et défis locaux. Cependant, le programme de logement de BuraNEST suscite d'importantes préoccupations en raison de la présence de quelques enjeux la gouvernance et l’économie de la construction des maisons, qui peuvent menacer la durabilité du programme à long terme. Enfin, la recherche s'est également penchée sur les problèmes liés au système de planification dans les petites villes d'Éthiopie. Cela est principalement dû au fait que de nombreuses questions relevées dans les deux analyses précédentes indiquent la présence de certains problèmes systémiques dans les politiques, les lois et les manuels utilisés dans la planification des petites villes d'Éthiopie. De telles désorientations ont évidemment un impact négatif sur la résilience et la durabilité locales à long terme. Dans de nombreux cas, diverses définitions, formulations, phrases et critères identifiés dans la loi et les règles de planification fédérale se sont révélés être en conflit direct avec les principes de durabilité.Par conséquent, cette recherche analyse de manière systématique le lien entre la pression démographique, les flux de ressources et les défis du système de planification qui ont un impact sur la résilience et la durabilité des petites villes d'Éthiopie. Plus important encore, cette recherche a réussi à spatialiser et à opérationnaliser des concepts critiques tels que la résilience et la durabilité urbaines en utilisant une nouvelle approche bottom-up. La rigueur de la méthodologie définit clairement le point de départ lorsqu'il s'agit de traiter des sujets aussi importants. Cette recherche peut donc constituer un matériel important pour les chercheurs qui souhaitent étudier les questions liées à la résilience et au métabolisme urbains dans les petites villes des pays en développement. Elle montre clairement comment le métabolisme urbain, en tant qu'outil, peut être déployé pour diagnostiquer la résilience dans les systèmes et sous-systèmes spécifiques des villes. Il fournit également une procédure étape par étape sur la façon de générer des données dans des contextes de manque d’information ,permettant ainsi deconstruire des modèles métaboliques qui peuvent être utilisés pour étudier la résilience dans les zones urbaines.
Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme (Polytechnique)
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Urban areas cover 2% of the Earth’s land surface, host more than 50% of global population and are estimated to account for around 75% of CO2 emissions from global energy use. In order to mitigate existing and future direct and indirect environmental pressures resulting from urban resource use, it is necessary to investigate and better understand resource and pollution flows associated with urban systems.Current urban environmental assessment methodologies enable the quantification of resource use and pollution emissions flows entering, becoming stocked and exiting urban areas. While these methodologies enable to estimate the environmental effect of cities, they often consider urban areas as being static and homogeneous systems. This partial and simplistic representation shadows the complex spatio-temporal interrelationships between the local context and its associated local and global environmental pressures. This characterisation of urban systems is a significant limitation, not only for the urban environmental assessments, but also for the identification of their drivers as it may lead to inadequate urban environmental policies. To overcome this limitation and effectively reduce glocal urban environmental pressures, it is necessary to better understand the complex functioning of cities and identify their drivers.This research developed a comprehensive urban environmental assessment framework that helps to better explicit and understand the complex relationship between an urban system and its environmental profile in a systemic and systematic way. This framework was applied to the case study of Brussels Capital Region (BCR).Results from the application of this framework show that urban systems are neither static nor homogeneous. In fact, different relationships between the urban and metabolic profiles appear when considering different spatial scales and temporal intervals as well as different urban and metabolic metrics. The establishment of BCR’s urban profile showed that components that shape the urban system evolve in an organic way over time. Moreover, the spatial expression of an urban system portrays its heterogeneous aspect and how different metrics of the same urban indicator can reveal distinct facets and challenges for an urban area or a neighbourhood. Finally, it was demonstrated that the relationship between urban indicators is different for each spatial scale and therefore knowledge from one spatial scale is not necessarily transferable from one scale to another. The establishment and analysis of BCR’s metabolic profile also underlined the complex functioning of cities as each flow has a different temporal evolution and spatial expression. Due to the multifaceted and intertwined aspect of metabolic flows it becomes clear that no single parameter enables to explain or predict their behaviour. This leads to the conclusion that a great number of questions still need to be considered, understood and answered before effectively and coherently reducing environmental pressures from cities. The developed framework proposes a number of concrete steps that enable existing and new cities to better understand their metabolic functioning and ultimately transition towards less environmentally harmful futures.
Doctorat en Art de bâtir et urbanisme (Polytechnique)
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

In urban areas, stormwater management ponds (SWPs) are built to mitigate polluted runoff. Although these ponds are increasing in numbers, their ecology is not well understood. Physical and chemical characteristics of 17 SWPs in the City of Ottawa were measured to determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass (Chl. a) and primary production (PP). While total phosphorus was the best predictor of algal biomass in the ponds (as in lakes), the imperviousness of the catchment could also predict Chl. a. Planktonic PP in two ponds measured seasonally was more closely related to water residence time than to nutrient concentrations with rates approaching at times the theoretical maximum for aquatic systems. In one pond, whole ecosystem metabolism, estimated using diel changes in dissolved oxygen and δ18O-O2, suggested that these hypereutrophic systems were net sinks for carbon in the summer but likely sources to the atmosphere at other times of the year.

Cette recherche s’intéresse aux transformations des pratiques de chauffage à Istanbul impulsées par l’arrivée d’une nouvelle ressource énergétique. À travers l’analyse d’une trajectoire heurtée et contestée de diffusion du gaz naturel en substitut de combustibles traditionnels (charbon/bois/fuel), ma thèse dévoile les spécificités et les contradictions d’un processus « ordinaire » de transition énergétique au regard des dynamiques inégales d’appropriation sociale des innovations technologiques, qui viennent conforter et parfois subvertir la nature même des projet techniques et politiques. Inspiré par des travaux sur la sociologie de l’énergie et d’écologie politique urbaine, je propose de suivre dans le temps et dans l’espace les modalités d’agencement d’un nouveau système sociotechnique (service de distribution en réseaux, équipements de chauffage prétendant à l’efficacité énergétique pour la dernière génération d’entre eux, panneaux solaires, etc.), de comprendre les logiques conflictuelles de territorialisation de ces dispositifs en lien avec d’autres dynamiques de transformations urbaines, et enfin de repérer les conditions matérielles, culturelles et socio-économiques, plus ou moins favorables, pour que ces infrastructures réussissent à s’encastrer dans le quotidien des habitants. Ce faisant, ma thèse répond à un double questionnement : comment expliquer la rapidité et la massivité du déploiement du gaz naturel étant donnée la nature des obstacles à surmonter dans le contexte d’une métropole émergente (étalement urbain, concentration de pauvreté, inadaptation d’un cadre bâti hérité à l’usage du chauffage centralisé) ? Comment interpréter les multiples formes de vulnérabilité produites par un processus de transition énergétique censé, paradoxalement, incarner la modernisation et accompagner l’internationalisation d’Istanbul ?
My research focuses on the transformations of heating practices in Istanbul driven by the arrival of a new energy resource. Through the analysis of a contested and non linear trajectory of natural gas diffusion, my dissertation reveals the specificities and the contradictions of an « ordinary » process of energy transition (natural gas being a substitute for traditional fuels such as coal/wood) in light of the unequal dynamics of social appropriation of technological innovations, which reinforce and sometimes subvert the very nature of technical and political projects. Inspired by works on the sociology of energy and urban political ecology, I propose to analyze the construction of a new socio-technical system (network distribution service, boiler devices which pretend to be efficient for the most recent ones, meters, solar panels, etc.), to understand the conflicting logics of territorialization of these artefacts in relation with other dynamics of urban transformations, and finally to identify the material, cultural and socio-economic conditions, though which these new energy amenities success or failed to connect differents categories of people and neighbourhoods. In doing so, my thesis answers a double questioning : given the nature of various obstacles to overcome in the context of Istanbul (urban sprawl, high rates of poverty, heritage of a built environment which is inapropriate with the installation of central heating system), how can we explain the quickness and the large scale development of natural gas demand in Istanbul ? How can we interpret the multiple forms of vulnerability produced by an energy transition process, which is paradoxically, supposed to embody the modernization of Istanbul and to foster its internationalization ?

Population habits and growth are two main factors that lead the urban water system (UWS) to be inadequate in terms of water resources and water infrastructure. Moreover, land use, city expansion, and infrastructure aging add difficulties to deliver safe and reliable drinking water. In order to counteract these detrimental effects, and considering a framework characterized by limited resources availability, metabolism model represents a flexible methodology able to provide support to decision making process. This approach considers UWS as an amount of fluxes, e.g. resources, chemical compounds, energy, costs, emissions, etc., that interact and influence each other. Through the identification of these fluxes, several performance indicators are evaluated, considering different dimensions of sustainability. The governance and rationalization of these fluxes allow to identify the more sustainable strategies of intervention. Urban Metabolism (UM) concept have been developed and applied in many urban fields (Kennedy et al., 2007) (Kennedy et al., 2010) (Liserra et al., 2016). In this thesis, the Reggio Emilia Urban Water System (UWS) and its interconnections are analysed, with the related water infrastructures. The aim of this work is to adopt sustainability criteria in order to provide support for long-term strategic decisions, considering the presence of internal drivers (i.e. population growth) and external drivers (i.e. population migration to the municipal boundary). In this work, an analysis of the UWS of the city of Reggio Emilia is presented, and two different scenarios are performed. In the first case (Business As Usual), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) describe the “every day” dimensions involved in the systems and its components. In the second case (Scenario condition), stress criteria are applied to the water network to know the physical limit associated to its actual topology. In both cases is considered the population growth, in the second migration.

There is a plethora of methods and tools that can be used for the assessment of Urban Metabolism. Nevertheless, there is no standardized method for accounting of material flows within and across the boundaries of urban systems. This thesis aims to provide a physical accounting model for monitoring material flows in urban areas that could potentially become the basis for the development of a standardized accounting method in the long term. The model is based on a Physical Input Output Table framework and builds upon the strengths of existing accounting methods but at the same time it demonstrates new features that can address their limitations. The functions of the model were explored and evaluated through its application to an urban neighbourhood in the Stockholm Royal Seaport. Bottom-up data were used for the application of the model in the case study. The application of the model provided a preliminary description of the material flows in the neighbourhood and most importantly provided information that underpinned the assessment of the strengths and limitations of the model. It was deduced, that on the one hand the model can describe successfully the physical interactions between the urban socioeconomic system and the environment or other socioeconomic systems and at the same it has the potentials to illustrate the intersectoral flows within the boundaries of the system. In addition, it can be used to structure available data on material flows and promote the study of an urban system with a life cycle perspective. On the other hand, the process of compiling the tables of the model can be considered as complex and moreover the data requirements for the compilation of the tables are significant. Especially, the compilation of the tables of the model with bottom-up data may require a laborious data collection and analysis process, which however may not address all data gaps. Thus, the combination of bottom-up data with top-down data is recommended. Moreover, it is recommended the development of integrated databases for data collection and management at the municipal level and the fostering of collaboration between stakeholders within the municipalities to facilitate dissemination of data and information.
Mer än hälften av den globala befolkningen bor numera i urbana områden och denna andel uppskattas öka under de kommande årtiondena. Urbana system förbrukar fysiska resurser och genererar stora mängder av rester vilket innebär påfrestningar på miljön samt hindrar en hållbar utveckling. Således kan förståelse av Urban Metabolism (UM) stödja insatserna för att effektivisera resursförbrukningen och avfallshanteringen. I detta sammanhang har en stor mängd av metoder och verktyg utvecklats och tillämpats i UM-studier, såsom Materialflödeanalys (Material Flow Analysis - MFA) och Input-output Analys (Input Output - IOA) baserat på fysiska input-output tabeller (Input Output Tables – PIOTs). Ändå saknas en standardiserad metod för redovisning av materialflöden inom och över gränserna av urbana system. I samband med detta examensarbete utvecklades en fysisk räkenskapsmodell för övervakning av materialflöden i urbana områden. Denna modell kan potentiellt bli grunden för en enhetlig metod för beräkning av materialflöden i urbana system. Modellen utvecklades i en stegvis process och baserades på litteraturgranskning. Grunden för modellen är ett omfattande PIOT ramverk som kan användas för registrering av materialflöden i urbana system. PIOT ramverket är annorlunda än de typiska PIOT-systemen. Det ger en tydligare avgränsning av systemgränserna, det visar tydligt ursprung och destination för materialflöden, och dessutom kan det erbjuda ett livscykelperspektiv på materialflödena. Modellen består av en uppsättning identiska PIOT. Varje deltabell innehåller materialflöden som tillhör i en specifik klass, medan huvudtabellen aggregerar materialet som strömmar för alla material från deltabellerna. Därigenom kan modellen avbilda materialflödena i ett aggregat-perspektiv och samtidigt ge fysiska räkenskaper för specifika materialtyper. Modellen användes i en nybyggd stadsdel i Norra Djurgårdsstaden (NDS), för att utforska och bedöma dess funktioner. För att kartlägga och kvantifiera flödena i stadsdelen genomfördes en MFA baserad på “bottom-up-data”. Insamlingen och analysen av data var emellertid en besvärlig process och dessutom kunde flera materialflöden inte kvantifieras på grund av databrister. Därför kunde modellens tabeller inte fyllas fullständigt och ett flödesdiagram skapades med både kvantitativa och kvalitativa flöden. Trots att det fanns databrister lyckades tillämpningen av modellen att avbilda UM i det avgränsade urbana systemet på ett adekvat sätt. Det visade tydligt att nästan 96% av de materiella insatserna är ackumulerade i lager. Dessutom fastställde modellen kvalitativt den fysiska växelverkan mellan det urbana systemet och den naturliga miljön, det nationella socioekonomiska och det globala socioekonomiska systemet. Emellertid var det inte möjligt att bedöma modellens fullständiga potential eftersom det inte var möjligt att upprätta intersektorala kopplingar. Dessutom beräknades indirekta flöden av flera importerade material baserat på koefficienterna för materialintensitet. Detta tillvägagångssätt kan erbjuda insikt om de uppströms påfrestningar som orsakas av materialproduktionen. Dock finns det endast koefficienter för specifika material. Därför kan de inte användas för att uppskatta de indirekta flödena för varje materialinflöde. Dock framhöll deras partiella tillämpning att indirekta flödena var 38% högre än direktflödena, vilket indikerar att påfrestningar som utövas till miljön på grund av produktion av importerade material är betydande. Tillämpningen av modellen möjliggjorde en bedömning av både styrkor och svagheter hos modellen. Å ena sidan kan modellen fastställa fysiska interaktioner mellan det urbana socioekonomiska systemet och naturmiljön, det nationella socioekonomiska systemet och det globala socioekonomiska systemet. Dessutom har det potential att beskriva intersektorala flöden inom gränserna för det urbana systemet och det kan erbjuda insikt om materialinflödenas ursprung och materialutflödenas destination. En annan styrka i modellen är att den erbjuder livscykelperspektiv genom att ta hänsyn till indirekta flöden av importerade material. Å andra sidan demonstrerades att sammanställningenav modellens tabeller kräver en stor mängd data, speciellt när data erhålls med ett ”bottom-up” tillvägagångssätt. Ändå är bottom-up data inte alltid tillgängliga för urbana områden. En annan svaghet är att sammanställningenav tabellerna i modellen med bottom-up-data kräver en mödosam process för datainsamling och analys. Dessutom kräver analysen av data många antaganden som ökar osäkerheten i resultaten. Ovanstående svagheter i modellen kan hindra tillämpningen av modellen för räkenskap av materialflöden på urbana områden. Således rekommenderas kombinationen av bottom-up-data med top-down data för tillämpning av modellen. Dessutom föreslås utvecklingen av integrerade databaser för datainsamling om materialflöden i urbana områden.

A aplicação de biossólidos em solos agrícolas e/ou florestais é uma prática aceitável, tanto como forma de disposição destes materiais, quanto de melhorar as características físicas, químicas e biológicas do solo. No entanto, pouco se sabe dos impactos decorrentes desta utilização e dos seus efeitos sobre a estrutura das comunidades microbianas dos solos e sua capacidade metabólica. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar alterações quanti-qualitativas na diversidade metabólica dos microrganismos do solo após a adição de biossólidos e identificar possíveis indicadores de alteração de qualidade do solo. O delineamento experimental constituiu-se de 4 doses de biossólidos da ETE-Franca, equivalentes à 6, 12, 24 e 48 Mg ha-1, mantendo-se um controle sem adição de biossólido. Foram utilizadas 4 repetições por tratamento, compreendendo 20 sub-parcelas. Estas sub-parcelas foram incubadas por 1, 2, 4, 8 e 16 semanas, perfazendo um total de 120 parcelas. Após o período de incubação, amostras de solo foram coletadas para as determinações de pH, C-biomassa, Respiração Basal (RB), Respiração Induzida pelo Substrato (RIS), Quociente Metabólico (qCO2) e Diversidade Metabólica. Houve um aumento transiente do pH nos tratamentos com as maiores doses de biossólido, em relação ao controle. Após 16 semanas de incubação os solos com biossólidos apresentaram pH mais baixo do que o controle sem biossólido. O C-biomassa apresentou comportamento semelhante, com os valores decrescendo e tendendo a estabilização, em relação ao controle sem biossólido. A atividade metabólica com base na RB, RIS e MHM indicou uma indução transiente no metabolismo da microbiota do solo nos tratamentos com as maiores doses de biossólido, tanto no início quanto no final do período de incubação. Os maiores valores de qCO2 nos solos com as maiores quantidades de biossólidos sugerem a ocorrência de condições estressantes para a microbiota e sucessão de populações microbianas. A utilização de substratos de C pela comunidade microbiana foi substancialmente influenciada pela quantidade de biossólido adicionado ao solo e pelo período de incubação. Os maiores valores de Riqueza de Substratos (S) e Diversidade Metabólica (H) observados nos tratamentos que receberam as maiores quantidades de biossólido, no início do período de incubação, são indicativos de um estímulo da microbiota nativa e da contribuição de novas células microbianas decorrentes da adição do biossólido. As similaridades entre os perfis de utilização de substratos C diminuíram com o aumento da concentração de biossólido no solo, em relação ao controle sem biossólido, e aumentaram em função do período de incubação, sugerindo uma indução transiente na diversidade metabólica do solo em função da aplicação de biossólido da ETE-Franca. Solos que receberam altas doses de biossólidos apresentaram atividades metabólicas não observadas no solo sem biossólidos, no início do período de incubação, e perderam algumas atividades no final do período de incubação, em relação ao controle sem biossólido. No geral, os resultados sugerem que a aplicação de biossólidos da ETE-Franca no solo argiloso utilizado provoca um distúrbio na fisiologia da microbiota do solo e que aplicações sucessivas de altas doses de biossólido podem ocasionar alterações significativas na capacidade metabólica dos solos.
The use of biosolids in agricultural and/or forestry soils has been an acceptable practice to dispose as well as to improve physical, chemical and biological soil properties. However, the impacts of biosolids application on microbial community structures and metabolic diversity in agricultural soils are relatively unknown. The aim of this work was to determine quantitative and qualitative alterations in the metabolic diversity of a clay soil upon treatment with biosolids. A clay soil was amended with the equivalent to 6, 12, 24 and 48 Mg ha-1 of biosolids from the City of Franca (SP) Sewage Treatment Plant. A control without biosolids was also used. Four repetitions per treatment were used, totalizing 20 sub-parcels. Sub-parcels were incubated for 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks, after incorporating the biosolids, totaling 120 microcosms. After the incubation period, soil samples were collected to determine pH, Basal Respiration (BR), Substrate Induced Respiration (SIR), C-biomass, Metabolic Quotient (qCO2) and Metabolic Diversity. A transient increase in soil pH was observed in the treatments with the higher concentrations of biosolids, compared to the control without biosolids. After 16 weeks of incubation, the pH of soils with biosolids was lower than in the control without biosolids. The C-biomass also showed a transient increase in soils with biosolids at early time points, and did not statistically differ from the control at late time points. Transient increases in metabolic activities, based on BR, SIR and AWCD (Average Well Color Development), were observed in soils with the higher concentrations of biosolids at early time points. Higher values of qCO2 in soils with higher concentrations of biosolids at the earliest and latest time points suggests stressing conditions to the microbial community and alterations in microbial community structure. The utilization of C-substrates by the soil microbial community was greatly affected by the concentration of biosolids added and by the incubation time. Higher values of Substrate Richness (S) and Metabolic Diversity (H) in the soils with the higher concentrations of biosolids at early time points indicate that biosolids stimulate the activity of soil microorganisms and contribute with new activities. The similarities between the C-sources utilization profiles in the soil amended with biosolids and the control were lower in soils with the higher concentrations of biosolids. The similarities of C-source utilization profiles in the soils with biosolids and the control increased during the incubation time. Soils amended with the higher concentrations of biosolids showed metabolic activities not observed in the control soil at the early time points. The ability to use several C-sources was lost at the latest time point. In general, the results suggest that the incorporation of biosolids to the clay soil disturbs soil microbial physiology and that the successive application of biosolids to the soil may significantly alter the soil metabolic activities.

As cidades podem ser definidas como sistemas abertos altamente dependentes do seu entorno para a provisão dos recursos naturais e eliminação dos resíduos. Abarcando 2% da superfície da terra, elas consomem aproximadamente 75% de seus recursos, expulsando resíduos em escala similar. Na atualidade, 50% da população mundial habita em cidades e é estimado que esta porcentagem ascenderá a 70% no 2050. Em particular, a América Latina apresenta uma crescente população urbana. No ano 1970, 57 % da população era urbana e estima se que se atinja 81% no 2025. O Uruguai é o país de América Latina de maior porcentagem de população urbana: 93%, em 2010. A Análise de Fluxos de Materiais (AFM) é una metodologia de avaliação do campo da economia ecológica que tem sido pouco considerada na planificação ou gestão urbana regional. Argumenta-se que essas abordagens são as que podem dar luz a um modelo de desenvolvimento de cidades mais sustentáveis, contribuindo para a definição de políticas publicas ambientais. O objetivo do trabalho é estimar quantitativamente o consumo doméstico de materiais (CDM) para a cidade de Montevidéu, no período entre os anos 2002 e 2009. Os principais desafios do trabalho foram a inexistência de metodologias de consenso de aplicação regional e a dificuldade na aquisição de dados, os quais se encontram em sua maioria desagregados em diferentes instituições públicas e privadas. O referencial metodológico adotado foi o proposto por EUROSTAT, aplicado a nível nacional pelas maiores economias da OCDE. O trabalho propõe uma estratégia de ponderação que permite a passagem da escala nacional á urbana, Os resultados obtidos evidenciam um aumento no consumo de materiais em Montevidéu na serie de anos analisada, sendo 80% deles de origem não renovável no ano 2009. A indústria da construção é responsável por mais de 50% do consumo total. A estimação quantitativa do CDM, para a cidade de Montevidéu, é um primeiro passo na identificação de alternativas para uma menor intensidade no uso de materiais, condição indispensável para um relacionamento mais equilibrado entre os sistemas socioeconômicos e o médio ambiente. O CDM de Montevidéu é uma ferramenta em processo, passível de ser aprimorada em futuros trabalhos. A principal dificuldade deste trabalho foi a compatibilização dos diferentes critérios de classificação de materiais da metodologia da EUROSTAT e das bases de dados nacionais.
Cities can be defined as open systems that are highly dependent on their environment for the provision of natural resources and waste disposal. Although cities only cover 2% of the surface of the earth, they consume 75% of its resources. Currently, 50% of the world population lives in cities and it is estimated that this number will rise to 70% in the year 2050. This phenomenon is remarkable in Latin America. While in 1970 its urban population was 57%, it is expected to climb to 81% by 2025. In this context, Uruguay is the country of Latin America that present the higher rate of urban population: 93% (year 2010). The Material Flow Analysis (MFA) (an evaluation methodology from the field of ecological economics) has not been contemplated on regional planning and urban management. However, it is argued that these approaches can enlighten the development of more sustainable cities contributing to the definition of environmental public policy. The aim of this work is to quantify the domestic consumption of materials (fossils, minerals and biomass) for the city of Montevideo, Uruguay for the years 2006 and 2009. At this point, the main barriers are the lack of agreed on regional implementation methodologies and the difficulty with data acquisition. The methodological guide to be used is the one defined by Eurostat, applied nationally for several years by the greatest OECD economies. The paper proposes a weighting strategy that allows the passage from a national scale to an urban one.The results obtained for the period of time analized show an increase in consumption of materials and energy. For instance, the consumption of non-renewable sources reached 80% for the year of2009. On this period, the construction industry was responsible for the 50% of the total consumption. This diagnosis let us perceive the paths to follow in order to reduce the intensity of the use of materials and energy, wich is imperative to create a balanced relationship between socioeconomic systems and the environment. The DMC of Montevideo is a tool in the process, which can be improved in future works. The main difficulty of this work was to reconcile the different criteria of classification of materials from EUROSTAT methodology with national databases.

L’alimentation et l’excrétion constituent deux besoins physiologiques fondamentaux de tout être humain. En analysant leur matérialisation depuis l’échelle cellulaire jusqu’à celle des grands cycles biogéochimiques planétaires, nous proposons de considérer que l’alimentation et l’excrétion humaines participent d’un système dont les modalités de réalisations dans les différentes sociétés humaines permettent de caractériser des régimes socio-écologiques. Nous avons plus particulièrement analysé les systèmes alimentation/excrétion des territoires urbains au regard de leur soutenabilité et proposons une méthodologie de caractérisation fondée principalement sur l’analyse du flux de la substance qui nous paraît la plus pertinente, à savoir l’azote, et sur les modalités de gestion des urines humaines qui représentent près des trois quarts de ce flux. Nous montrons que les systèmes alimentation/excrétion des différentes communautés humaines présentent une très grande variété selon les lieux et époques considérés et proposons de les distinguer entre autres en fonction de leur circularité, c’est-à-dire par le taux de retour sur des sols agricoles des excrétats. En prenant l’agglomération parisienne comme cas d’étude, nous montrons que son système alimentation/excrétion a été de plus en plus circulaire au cours du XIXe siècle, culminant au tout début du XXe siècle aux alentours de 50 % de circularité, avant de se linéariser progressivement au cours du XXe siècle. En ce début de XXIe siècle, nous caractérisons le système alimentation/excrétion de l’agglomération parisienne comme non soutenable car linéaire à plus de 95 %, intensif, inefficace et polluant aux échelles locales et globales. Ces caractéristiques sont généralisées au sein du monde occidental et interpellent sur la possibilité d’une transition socio-écologique vers des systèmes alimentation/excrétion soutenables. Or, depuis les années quatre-vingt-dix, une prise de conscience relative à l’urine a réémergé, principalement en Suède puis dans l’Europe germanique. Elle s’est traduite par de nombreuses réalisations et recherches autour de la séparation à la source des urines. Nous montrons que ce dispositif est actuellement le seul, dans le monde occidental, à avoir permis de nouveau la mise en œuvre de systèmes alimentation/excrétion circulaires. Pouvant être déclinée sous de multiples formes en fonction des contextes, la séparation à la source des urines bénéficie, malgré le verrouillage socio-technique de l’agglomération parisienne autour du tout-à-l’égout, d’un contexte favorable à son développement. Nous avons élaboré un scénario prospectif explorant ainsi la possibilité que l’agglomération parisienne dépasse, en quelques décennies, l’extremum de circularité qu’elle avait connu à la Belle Époque et que les acteurs de ce territoire réalisent, en cohérence avec une transition socio-écologique des autres systèmes énergétiques, hydrauliques et de transport, un régime socio-écologique soutenable de leur système alimentation/excrétion. Cette thèse fait partie du programme de recherche et action OCAPI (www.leesu.fr/OCAPI)
Nutrition and excretion are fundamental physiological needs for all human beings. Analysis of their materiality, from the cellular scale up to the great planetary-scale biogeochemical cycles, shows that nutrition and excretion form a system. The focus of our study is the sustainability of the nutrition/excretion systems of urban areas, which we have sought to assess by analysing substance flows. The most relevant of these substances seems to be nitrogen, so by assessing urban nitrogen flows we can characterise the different possible socioecological regimes and their sustainability. We identify a wide diversity of nutrition/excretion systems depending on the places and eras considered. We propose to distinguish them in terms of their circularity, in other words by the rate at which nitrogen from excreta returns to agricultural land. Using the Paris urban area as our case study, we show that its nutrition/excretion system became increasingly circular in the 19th century, reaching maximum circularity right at the start of the 20th century, before becoming steadily more linear in the course of the 20th century. In these early years of the 21st century, the nutrition/excretion system of the Paris urban area is essentially linear, and still generates significant pollution at both local and global scales. Its environmental footprint is exacerbated by a diet that is very protein rich, mostly animal in origin, and by the non-consumption of a significant proportion of the food produced. All these factors make it unsustainable. These characteristics are found throughout the Western world and raise questions about the possibility of a socioecological transition to sustainable systems of nutrition and excretion. Since the 1990s, initially in Sweden, followed by Nordic and German-speaking Europe, awareness has been growing of the role of urine. Urine is responsible for three-quarters of urban nitrogenous excretions and is a safe substance: following a period of storage, it can be used as agricultural fertiliser. This new awareness has been followed by extensive experimentation and research on urine source separation. We show that this is currently the only method in the Western world to have accomplished a return to circular systems of nutrition/excretion. Urine source separation can be done in multiple ways, depending on circumstances, and conditions in France are favourable to its development, despite the sociotechnical lock-in to mixed sewage management systems. In a forward-looking scenario, we therefore explore the possibility that the Paris urban area could return to, and within a few decades even surpass, the heights of circularity that it attained during the Belle Époque. In that case, alongside a socioecological transition in the other systems – water, energy, transport – the people of this territory could establish a sustainable regime for their system of nutrition/excretion. This thesis is part of the OCAPI research and action programme (www.leesu.fr/OCAPI)

The systems analysis of biomass in the Borås municipality is conducted so as to identify the amount of biomass consumed by certain designated systems for this study. Using the principles of urban metabolism and material flow accounting, the system boundary is setup and biomass is categorized into system specific entities which are to be quantified. The symbiosis principle and the cascading approach of resource utilization are used to determine the systems which are working together and the resources they share among each other. Selected flows are established to be calculated for paper and paper products; fuel and construction wood; biogas; and blended transportation fuels. The flows are considered one by one, it is found that the consumption system and the waste management system are main players in the flow of paper and its products. The flow of fuel and construction wood is surveyed across different companies in the municipality for 2013. The fate of the waste construction wood for 2011 is traced across the waste handling systems of Borås Energi och Miljö till the Combined Heat and Power plant at Ryaverket. The quantities of fuel wood consumed by the CHP and residential heat are received from statistical sources. The main players in the biogas production flow are the waste management system and the digesters at Gässlösa and Sobacken. The consumption of enriched biogas is then examined for different transportation sub-systems. The flows for blended fuels is considered for petrol, diesel; separately analysed from them are their blended quantities of ethanol and other renewable additives. The sold quantities of petrol and diesel have been received from the market survey for the year 2013. The flows are then individually validated by common critical parameters to determine how reliable the information sources are. The resulting flows are discussed for the symbiosis of resources and significance of urban metabolism concepts.
Program: Masterutbildning i energi- och materialåtervinning

Les matériaux de construction constituent la matière la plus consommée par les villes après l’eau ainsi que la majeure partie des déchets que ces dernières génèrent. La relation entre cette mobilisation de matériaux et les processus d’urbanisation est peu étudiée et fait l’objet de cette thèse, menée en collaboration avec la Direction régionale et interdépartementale de l’environnement et de l’énergie d’Ile-de-France, responsable du schéma régional des carrières, et le Conseil régional, responsable du plan régional de prévention et gestion des déchets. Cette recherche, qui a donné lieu au développement de méthodes pour la quantification et localisation des flux et stocks de matériaux à l’échelle de l’Ile-de-France, montre que ressources primaires et ressources secondaires sont proches en quantités disponibles et extraites. En revanche, le taux d’utilisation des ressources secondaires est nettement plus faible car il est contraint par un cadre réglementaire et normatif. La mobilisation de matériaux de l’Ile-de-France en 2013 est essentiellement générée par un processus de renouvellement urbain. Ce dernier engendre une forte démolition-reconstruction de bâtiments mais se réalise aussi par densification et nécessite l’apport de matériaux extérieurs. En outre, renouvellement des ouvrages bâtis et configuration des espaces aménagés sont liés. Une projection de flux jusqu’en 2032 montre que l’atteinte des objectifs de construction de logements définis dans le schéma directeur régional (SDRIF) engendrerait une forte hausse du taux d’importation de matériaux. Ce constat appelle la recherche d’une autre action publique visant un aménagement des ressources urbaines
Construction materials are the largest flows entering urban areas after water, while they constitute the top waste deposit. The relation between these material flows and urbanization processes has receive little attention and it is the object of this study. Work was conducted in collaboration with the Regional and inter-departmental directorate for the environment and energy Ile-de-France, responsible of the quarries regulation plan, and the Regional council, which is in charge of the C&D waste management plan. This research contributed to methodological improvement for the quantification and localisation of contruction material flows and stocks at regional scale with the case study of Ile-de-France region. Il demonstrates that that the primary and secondary resources available and extracted are close in terms of quantity. However, the utilization rate of the secondary resources is significantly lower than those of primary resources due to normative and regulatory frameworks.In 2013, the mobilization of construction materials from Ile-de-France was mainly generated by the process of urban renewal. This renewal causes major demolition and reconstruction, but it is also carried by urban densification and requires the import of external materials. In addition, the renewal of built works is strongly related to spatial configuration. A projection of material flows up to 2032 shows that achieving the targets for housing construction defined in regional master plan (SDRIF) would lead to a sharp increase in the import rate of materials. This observation calls for alternative public actions aiming at better management of urban resources

L’obbiettivo della presente tesi e’ duplice: (i) analizzare la possibile integrazione di modelli multiscala e multicriteriali per valutare l’efficacia di politiche di sviluppo rurale nel raggiungimento di obiettivi di sostenibilita’; (ii) esplorare, tramite l’applicazione dei suddetti modelli, gli impatti economici, ambientali e sociali di specifiche strategie di sviluppo rurale in due aree di studio localizzate in Italia e Cina. L’analisi si basa sulla selezione e valutazione di indicatori multidimensionali, che fanno riferimento ai principali obiettivi delle politiche studiate. Inoltre, un’analisi multiscala e’ realizzata per definire i possibili limiti e trade-off di future politiche di sviluppo a diverse scale di analisi. L’utilizzo delle due metodologie si e’ dimostrato particolarmente efficace per la realizzazione di uno studio integrato in grado di rappresentare, tramite analisi qualitative e quantitative, l’aspetto multidimensionale delle politiche di sviluppo rurale.
The objective of this thesis is twofold: (1) to investigate the synergies arising from the implementation of multi-scale and multi-criteria approaches in the evaluation of rural development policies (RDP); (2) to explore the impacts and trade-offs of RDP in two selected case studies located in Italy and China. The thesis argues that multi-criteria and multi-scale approaches can be combined to provide a useful framework with which to structure an integrated analysis of RDP in order to assess their effectiveness in achieving sustainability goals across scales. The analysis is performed by selecting and evaluating multidimensional criteria, which represent the main goals of development policies in the areas of study. Moreover, multi-scale analysis is performed to define boundary conditions and trade-offs for future local development. The use of the two methodologies appears to be very significant to capture both the multidimensional and multi-scale aspects of the Rural Development Policies analysed and to generate several sets of “view-dependent” representations of rural systems that are useful for trade-off assessments.

MOTIVATION: The increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) is creating immense concern worldwide. In 2009, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) announced the new MetS definition. MetS is diagnosed by any 3 of the following 5 indicators being present: increased waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), triglycerides, and fasting glucose values, and decreased high–density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL–C) concentrations. Psychosocial stress relating to an urban environment or acculturation greatly influences the prevalence of both MetS and target organ damage (TOD). Furthermore, in urban Africans, active coping (AC) responses have been associated more with MetS and the related cardiovascular pathology than avoidance. A further synergistic effect of MetS and AC responses was also revealed in African men, in strong association with both subclinical atherosclerosis and renal impairment. Microalbuminuria was four times higher in Africans with MetS, than in those without any MetS indicators. Furthermore, Africans, especially those utilising AC responses, present with greater carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) than their Caucasian counterparts, although they exhibit a lipid profile that is anti–atherogenic. OBJECTIVES: The objectives were firstly to indicate and compare differences regarding AC responses in the African and Caucasian men, in accord with the prevalence of MetS indicators. Secondly, the extent to which AC responses and MetS indicators predict endothelial dysfunction was investigated. METHODOLOGY: This comparative target population study is nested in the Sympathetic Activity and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Africans (SABPA) study, which was conducted from February until the end of May in both 2008 (Africans) and 2009 (Caucasians), avoiding seasonal changes. The Ethics Committee of the North–West University approved the study, and all volunteers gave written informed consent prior to participation. Procedures were conducted according to the institutional guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. The participants included 202 male teachers of which 101 were African and 101 Caucasian. Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) measurements were recorded with the Cardiotens CE120 at 30 minute intervals during the day and 60 minutes at night. Actical accelerometers determined physical activity (PA). Registered clinical psychologists supervised completion of the psychosocial questionnaires, including the Coping Strategy Indicator. Participants fasted overnight; after the last BP recording, disconnection of the Cardiotens CE120 and Actical followed. A fasting 8 hour overnight collected urine sample was obtained from each participant. Anthropometric measurements followed, after which a registered nurse commenced blood sampling. The SonoSite Micromaxx was used for the scanning of CIMT. MetS indicators (glucose, triglyceride, and HDL–C), together with gamma glutamyl transferase, cotinine, and ultrahigh–sensitivity C–reactive protein (hs–CRP), were analyzed with Konelab 20i. The albumin–to–creatinine ratio and CIMT determined TOD. Participants were stratified according to ethnicity and median splits of AC response scores (high AC and low AC). Diabetic medication users (n= 8), and participants with renal impairment (n= 2) or HIV positive (n= 13), were excluded from analyses. 2×2 ANCOVA’s determined significant interactions for ethnicity and AC. Partial correlations between MetS indicators and TOD were performed within each ethnic and AC group, independent of age, alcohol consumption and PA. Regression analyses were performed for four models, firstly with microalbuminuria and secondly with CIMT as dependent variables. Significant values were noted as p 0.05, r 0.35, and adjusted R2 0.25. RESULTS: Caucasian men were physically more active than African men, whilst BP, alcohol consumption and hs–CRP levels were significantly higher in African men. Psychological variables revealed higher avoidance scores in Caucasian men and higher social support scores in African men. More MetS indicators exceeded the IDF cut–off points in high AC African men (14.71%) than in their Caucasian counterparts (3.33%). Furthermore, more MetS indicators predicted endothelial dysfunction in African men, especially the high AC responders. CONCLUSION: The following hypotheses were accepted: high AC responses in urban African men were associated with a higher prevalence of MetS indicators than in their Caucasian counterparts, while MetS indicators were associated with a marker of TOD in urban high AC African men, but not in their Caucasian counterparts.
Thesis (M.Sc. (Physiology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Les populations humaines sont exposées à de très nombreux polluants. Il apparaît donc essentiel d'évaluer la toxicité de ces molécules au sein des compartiments récepteurs. En milieu urbain, de nombreux polluants (principalement hydrocarbures et métaux lourds) s'accumulent sur les surfaces imperméables (routes, toitures, parkings, bâtiments…). Ils sont remis en suspension et drainés par les eaux de pluie jusque dans les bassins d'infiltration. Ces structures ont été construites afin de réinfiltrer les eaux de ruissellement dans les nappes phréatiques sous-jacentes et de les détoxifier. Ces molécules toxiques sont capturées et accumulées au niveau des sédiments fins constitutifs des bassins, où elles peuvent atteindre des concentrations très élevées. Malgré cette forte contrainte, quelques rares invertébrés vivent dans les sédiments pollués des bassins d'infiltration, ce qui sous-entend des adaptations métaboliques, physiologiques et/ou comportementales spécifiques. L'un des plus répandus est l'oligochète aquatique Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri. Ce ver tubificidé construit des galeries (activité de bioturbation) dans les sédiments où il favorise l'activité des microorganismes sur la minéralisation de la matière organique et le recyclage des nutriments. Cette espèce présente donc un rôle essentiel dans le fonctionnement des bassins d'infiltration, et donc sur la qualité de l'eau des nappes phréatiques. Elle est aujourd'hui considérée à la fois comme une espèce sentinelle de l'état de santé de son biotope et comme un ingénieur des écosystèmes. Le premier objectif de ce travail de thèse a été de mettre en évidence les réponses écophysiologiques permettant à L. hoffmeisteri de survivre dans ces biotopes particulièrement anthropisés. Pour cela, nous avons exposé/élevé cet organisme pendant 1, 3 ou 6 mois dans des sédiments pollués issus de 3 bassins d'infiltration et un sédiment issu d'un milieu non urbanisé (sédiment témoin très peu pollué), en laboratoire. Nous avons ensuite analysé sur ce ver la survie, la consommation d'oxygène, l'état des réserves énergétiques, les concentrations de métaux lourds bioaccumulés, le stress oxydant engendré par les polluants (niveau de peroxydation lipidique) et enfin les mécanismes de protection associés (activités des principales enzymes antioxydantes). Le deuxième objectif a été de déterminer l'impact des polluants urbains sur les métabolismes aérobie et anaérobie chez L. hoffmeisteri. Pour cela, nous avons mesuré différents paramètres témoignant de l'activité mitochondriale (activités de la chaîne respiratoire mitochondriale et de l'ATP synthétase) ainsi que les concentrations des principaux produits terminaux du métabolisme anaérobie chez des vers exposés aux mêmes sédiments (4) pollués ou témoin. Cette étude a démontré que les contaminants induisent une transition partielle du métabolisme aérobie vers les voies anaérobies suite à un dysfonctionnement mitochondrial, et a aussi révélé que certains produits terminaux du métabolisme anaérobie (succinate et propionate) constituent des marqueurs pertinents de la pollution urbaine. Enfin, le troisième objectif de cette thèse a été d'évaluer l'impact d'une pollution d'origine anthropique sur l'activité d'ingénierie de L. hoffmeisteri (i.e. sur son rôle dans le fonctionnement des bassins d'infiltration). Pour cela, nous avons mesuré pendant 1 mois le comportement de fouissage de ce ver bioturbateur par tomographie aux rayons X dans des microcosmes contenant des sédiments pollués ou non. De plus, des mesures régulières des flux de nutriments, d'oxygène dissous, de CO2 et de CH4 au cours de l'expérimentation ont permis d'évaluer l'influence du taux de contamination sur le recyclage des nutriments dans nos systèmes expérimentaux. Ces mesures ont été effectuées à la fois dans des systèmes colonisés par L. hoffmeisteri, mais aussi dans des systèmes sans faune, afin de quantifier précisément le rôle de ces organismes ingénieurs
Human populations are exposed to numerous pollutants. It is now necessary to evaluate the toxicity of urban contaminants in receptor ecosystems. In anthropized areas, many pollutants (mainly hydrocarbons and heavy metals) accumulate on the impervious surfaces (roads, parks, buildings, rooftops…). During a rainfall event, these compounds are re-suspended and drained up to stormwater infiltration basins. These structures were built to detoxify and to infiltrate runoff water to underlying groundwater. Toxic compounds are captured and accumulated in the fine sediment layer of the infiltration basins, where their concentrations may achieve important concentrations. Despite this harsh constraint, a few invertebrates inhabit stormwater basin sediments and have developed specific metabolic, physiological and/or behavioural adaptations. One of the most spread is the oligochaeta Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri. This tubificid worm burrows galleries (bioturbation activity) in sediments where it enhances the organic matter mineralization and the nutrients recycling. This species has an essential role in the infiltration basin functioning and on groundwater quality. L. hoffmeisteri is considered both as a sentinel species of ecosystem health and an engineer species. The first aim of this work was to highlight the ecophysiological responses that allow L. hoffmeisteri to survive in these harsh conditions. We exposed this organism during 1, 3 or 6 months to polluted sediments (from 3 infiltration basins), under laboratory conditions. Then, we measured the survival, the oxygen consumption, the energy body stores, the oxidative stress induced by urban pollutants (through the lipid peroxidation level), and the antioxidant defence mechanisms (the activity of the antioxidant enzymes) in L. hoffmeisteri. The same analyses were realized on worms incubated 1 to 6 months in a sediment from a non-urbanized environment (considered as a low-polluted/control sediment). The second objective of the present work was to determine the impact of urban pollutants on aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms in L. hoffmeisteri. We measured several mitochondrial parameters (the mitochondrial respiratory chain activity and the ATP production rate) and anaerobic end product concentrations in worms exposed to the 4 same sediments (polluted or not). This study demonstrated that urban pollutants induced a shift from aerobic to the anaerobic metabolism, linked to a mitochondrial dysfunctioning. Moreover, this study also showed that two anaerobic end products (succinate and propionate) constitute relevant biomarkers of urban pollution. Lastly, the third goal of this thesis was to evaluate the impact of an anthropic pollution on the engineering activity of L. hoffmeisteri (i.e. its role in the infiltration basin functioning). To this end, we measured during 1 month the burrowing activity of this tubificid worm using X-ray tomography, in microcosms containing slightly or highly polluted sediments. We measured nutrients fluxes, dissolved oxygen, CO2 and CH4 concentrations during the experiment to determine the influence of the pollution rate on nutrients recycling. These measurements were also realized in microcosms with or without worms, to quantify the functional role of engineer organisms

Se describen también los antecedentes históricos sobre la provisión de agua potable en la Ciudad de México y Bogotá D.C, el marco institucional de los recursos hídricos, el metabolismo urbano en ambas ciudades y con base en indicadores seleccionados del modelo presión-estado-respuesta, el análisis permitió conocer los cambios que se han dado a lo largo de los años sobre los flujos de agua, en relación al incremento de la población y se determinan los escenarios de desempeño hídrico y propuestas para afrontar las tendencias hacia el 2030, para que las ciudades puedan ser resilientes, y tener una mayor recirculación de flujos de entrada y salida de agua.
A partir del concepto de metabolismo urbano y sustentado en el enfoque de las ciencias ambientales, la economía ecológica, la gestión integrada de los recursos hídricos y algunos casos de estudio, se analizó el metabolismo urbano de la ciudad de México y la ciudad de Bogotá D.C., como una entrada analítica al tema del agua -uno de los principales flujos de materia y energía-, tomando en consideración que el agua es un recurso finito y vulnerable, esencial para sostener la vida, el desarrollo y el medio ambiente.

Existe un crecimiento acelerado de la población urbana y el aumento de las zonas urbanas. Asimismo, las actividades económicas y el desarrollo están asociadas directamente con las ciudades. De la misma manera, el consumo de materiales y energía aumenta a medida que las urbes crecen. Aún existe la asociación de calidad de vida con el consumo de recursos, varios de estos recursos, antes considerados renovables, están dejando de serlo. Asimismo, las actividades que los seres humanos realizan ocasionan impactos negativos al medio ambiente. Estos impactos alteran funcionamiento normal de las comunidades antropogénicas (cambio climático). Se llega a formar un proceso cíclico autodestructivo que tiene que ser reducido con una mayor comprensión de las zonas críticas de consumo y contaminación: las ciudades. El propósito de esta tesis es realizar una revisión de la disciplina novel Metabolismo Urbano a nuestro contexto social, que consiste en “analizar todos los procesos técnicos y socioeconómicos de las ciudades” esto se realiza a través del estudio de sus flujos de materia y energía. Con esto, se podrán determinar lineamientos para guiar a las ciudades a tener una gestión eficiente de recursos y por ende, sostenible. Parte de esta tesis inquiere en la historia de formación de la disciplina, desde los conceptos que parten de ciencias básicas y sociales hasta su cimentación como disciplina a mediados del siglo XX. Asimismo, se consideran las metodologías más importantes, más utilizadas y nuevas metodologías de la disciplina. Posteriormente, se desarrolla una metodología a través del análisis de estudios realizados a diez ciudades, con el que se determinarán indicadores comunes y se interpretarán los resultados. La última parte de esta tesis corresponde a un análisis simple de los flujos de materia y energía ciudad de Lima, la cual se analizará con los indicadores utilizados anteriormente. Finalmente, se concluye que el Metabolismo Urbano es una disciplina joven que requiere de una metodología uniforme y cuyos estudios sean comparables. Asimismo, se señala la necesidad realizar un estudio más profundo de los flujos de materia y energía en la ciudad de Lima para poder definir políticas de eficiencia de consumo.
Tesis

In order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, tackle climate change and move toward sustainable development, the central government in China has proposed low-carbon city development as the national strategy and relevant initiatives have been taken by local governments. This thesis analyses current low-carbon city programmes and planning approaches in China, identifies limitations and proposes a metabolic approach that could be used to account for physical resources, monitor GHG emissions and involve stakeholders in the planning process. There are currently two parallel programmes for low-carbon initiatives in China: the “Low-Carbon City” programme and the “Low-Carbon Eco-City” programme. Around thirty cities in the Coastal, Central and Western regions of China have been selected as the national pilot areas for these programmes. This widespread distribution marks a change the previous priority set on development in the Coastal region, meaning that more cities have opportunities to explore low-carbon pathways and obtain support from the state. The large number of cities involved shows China’s determination to transition to low-carbon development in different city contexts. The selected cities have set up local administrative groups to manage low-carbon development and have established integrated approaches to reduce GHG emissions from urban sectors such as energy, transportation, buildings and waste. Some plans have been developed by the cities themselves, while others have involved international cooperation. However, because of limited knowledge on low-carbon city development, an absence of established standards and procedures and the Chinese top-down planning system, low-carbon planning faces specific challenges, such as lack of information about GHG flows, GHG monitoring and stakeholder involvement. To overcome these challenges and improve low-carbon city approaches in China, this thesis proposes a holistic approach to low-carbon city development, by integrating Industrial Ecology into urban planning. Such work would benefit greatly from adopting a metabolic approach, within which a metabolic approach-based standard is used to understand low-carbon city from GHG flows; a DPSIR framework is used to address root causes of GHG emissions; and an Eco-Cycle Model is used to describe urban metabolism and account for physical resources, monitor GHG emissions and involve stakeholders in the planning process. The thesis also recommends better collaboration between relevant government departments and stakeholders. Moreover, instead of simply transferring approaches developed elsewhere, international cooperation needs to combine the local context and knowledge in China with international knowledge and experience. In return, experiences from China can help improve low-carbon city approaches in other parts of the world.

QC 20150929

La croissance de la consommation par les villes de ressources naturelles est un facteur déterminant dans l'altération de la biosphère. Pour comprendre le processus du changement du rapport entre la ville et la biosphère, transition socioécologique dans le cas particulier de la ville, nous avons caractérisé la ville comme étant tributaire de la ressource 1 externe en termes matériel et écologique. On s'intéresse dans ce travail à la relation entre la demande en énergie de la ville, l'évolution du système d'approvisionnement urbain et extra urbain en énergie, et le bassin d'approvisionnement en ressource énergétique avec le cas de l'agglomération parisienne. Pour ce faire, nous avons d'une pan tenté d'évaluer la pression environnementale effectuée pour la consommation énergétique urbaine. métabolisme urbain, en utilisant la. méthode d'analyse de flux d'énergie et de matière (AFME). L'AFME s'intéresse à mesurer le métabolisme d'une société et inclut par conséquent la consommation énergétique technique (pour le chauffage, le transport, l'industrie) 1 ainsi que l'alimentation humaine et animale consommée dans la ville. La consommation énergétique urbaine est évaluée par la demande énergétique totale (DET), indicateur de pression environnementale. dans le but de mesurer la 1 consommation d'énergie primaire en amont pour l'approvisionnement en énergie finale du territoire. On essaie ensuite de mettre en parallèle l'évolution de la DET pour l'énergie technique et l'évolution du rayon d'approvisionnement de i cette dernière au fur et à mesure de la croissance urbaine.

Esta tesis propone un método cuantitativo para la evaluación integrada del rendimiento de Sistemas de Gestión de los Residuos Sólidos Urbanos (SGRSU) a diferentes escalas y dimensiones, integrando el análisis de flujos biofísicos con variables socio-económicas. La utilidad y limitaciones de este procedimiento se han ilustrado a través de la aplicación a un caso de estudio: el Área Metropolitana de Nápoles (MAN), región de Campaña, sur de Italia. El método propuesto se puede utilizar para apoyar procesos de decisión entre diferentes opciones tecnológicas considerando simultáneamente diversos indicadores. Para ello se combinan dos elementos: (a) Un marco de análisis holístico que permite realizar análisis multi-escala y multi-criterio de: (i) un determinado SGRSU; (ii) las opciones tecnológicas derivadas de cambiar el sistema existente; (iii) las transformaciones generadas por nuevas tecnologías. (b) Un conjunto integrado de indicadores relacionados con los diferentes criterios y escalas de análisis. Éstos pueden ser seleccionados "a la carta" por actores sociales a través de procesos participativos con el objetivo de aumentar la calidad de la información utilizada en el proceso de gobernanza. Este innovador marco está basado en la teoría de redes metabólicas y en el método de contabilidad MuSIASEM (Análisis Multi-Escala Integrado del Metabolismo de la Sociedad y de los Ecosistemas). Siguiendo este enfoque, un SGRSU se percibe como un órgano de un sistema socio-ecológico que modula la interacción entre los procesos metabólicos de un área urbana, que consume productos y genera residuos. Este órgano además se relaciona con los ecosistemas que le proporcionan algunos de los suministros que necesita para operar, así como capacidad de sumidero local. El método de análisis integrado es capaz de caracterizar: (i) los flujos de residuos generados por el sistema urbano en términos de cantidad y calidad; (ii) el conjunto de requerimientos necesarios para el funcionamiento de las etapas del proceso (tecnología, empleo, energía, agua y flujos de materiales); (iii) el grado de apertura del sistema, es decir, los flujos de residuos urbanos importados o exportados en las diferentes etapas; (iv) los productos finales que se depositan en el medioambiente. Los datos preliminares del caso de estudio se han utilizado para ilustrar el método propuesto. El enfoque de la red metabólica se aplica para generar una representación multi-escala integrada del funcionamiento del actual SGRSU de MAN y una herramienta de apoyo a las decisiones que permite explorar posibles opciones tecnológicas. Esta herramienta se aplica a la evaluación de dos alternativas: “internalización del procesado de residuos” versus “aumento de la tasa de reciclaje”. El análisis señala los diferentes costes asociados a cada una de las alternativas. La aplicación del método propuesto muestra su utilizad: (i) es semánticamente abierto puesto que se puede aplicar a diferentes contextos geográficos y culturales; (ii) es capaz de evaluar el efecto de condiciones impuestas por diferentes dimensiones como son la tecnológica, la económica y al social (viabilidad y deseabilidad) así como la ambiental (factibilidad); ilustra la inexistencia de soluciones óptimas en las intervenciones tecnológicas. Sin embargo, las herramientas analíticas testeadas demandan una gran cantidad de datos procedentes de múltiples y diversas fuentes. Realizar una evaluación robusta de la calidad de la información requiere tiempo y compromiso por parte de actores sociales que es difícil de mantener. Por último, la interacción con expertos en diferentes pasos del proceso ha mostrado la dificultad de generar discusiones más complejas sobre la ‘foto amplia’ del SGRSU. Este resultado abandera la importancia del desarrollo del conjunto de herramientas propuesto puesto que es capaz de aportar una visión más holística del funcionamiento de los SGRSU así como datos útiles para una toma de decisiones mejor informada.
This dissertation develops a procedure for the integrated assessment of the performance of Municipal Solid Waste Management System (MSWMS) across dimensions and scales interfacing the quantitative analysis of biophysical flows with the socio-economic analysis. The usefulness and the shortcomings of this procedure have been tested in a real case study (The Metropolitan Area of Naples (MAN), Campania Region, Southern Italy). This procedure can be used as decision support system for carrying out an informed choice, based on the simultaneous consideration of different criteria of performance, when deciding about technological choices. The proposed decision support system combines two elements: (a) a holistic framework of analysis making it possible to carry out a multi-scale and multi-criteria analysis of: (i) the performance of a given MSWMS (ii) the option space of future changes in the existing network; (iii) the changes implied by the introduction of innovative technologies. (b) an integrated package of indicators referring to different criteria and scales that can be selected “à la carte” by social actors through participatory processes increasing the quality of the information used in the process of governance. The innovative holistic framework builds on the theory of metabolic networks and the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) accounting method. In this approach a MSWMS is perceived as an organ of a socio-ecological system that modulates the interaction between the metabolic processes of the urban area, which consume a flow of inputs and generate a flow of wastes, and those of the embedding ecosystems providing both some of the inputs used by the MSWMS and local sink capacity. The tool-kit for integrated analysis can characterize: (i) the waste flows produced by the urban system in terms of quantity and quality; (ii) the mix of inputs required for the operation of the stages of the waste management process, such as technology, employment, energy, water and material flows; (iii) the degree of openness of the system, that is, the imports and exports of urban waste flows in the stages of its operation; (iv) the final outputs released into the local environment. Preliminary data from the case study have been used to develop and illustrate the proposed theoretical framework. The metabolic network approach is then used to generate: (i) a multi-scale integrated representation of the current performance of the MSWMS of the MAN and (ii) a decision support tool to explore the policy option space. In relation to the last point, two alternative political options have been checked: “internalization of waste processing” and “increasing recycling rate”. The analysis pinpoints the different trade-offs associated to each of them. The application of the proposed method shows its usefulness: (i) it is semantically open since it can be applied in different geographic and cultural contexts; (ii) it can evaluate the effects of constraints belonging to different incommensurable dimensions such as technical, economic and social (viability and desirability) and environmental (feasibility) and (iii) it illustrates that there are not optimal solutions when coming to technological interventions. However, the analytical tool-kit demands large amounts of data from multiple and variegated sources. A robust quality check of the information requires time and commitment of the different actors that is difficult to maintain. Last but not least, the interaction with experts on the different steps of the process has proven the difficulty in opening a more complex discussion about the “big picture” of MSWMS. This discovery flags again the importance of the development of the presented analytical tool-kit, capable of providing a more holistic vision of the functioning of the MSWMS and useful inputs for better informed decisions.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MetS among different African populations using the new Joint Statement Criteria. Hereafter we aimed to determine whether waist or neck circumference is the best predictor of MetS risk after ethnic, gender and age-specific cut-points were developed. Lastly, we aimed to determine whether afore-mentioned cut-point can predict albumin:creatinine ratio as a marker of target organ damage. Methods: The study sample (N=409) comprised of urban African (men, N=101; women, N=99) and Caucasian (men, N=101; women, N=108) teachers from the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Education district in the North-West Province, South Africa. Participants were aged between 25 and 65 years. Anthropometric measurements, albumin:creatinine ratio and other markers of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) (systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP and DBP], glucose, triglycerides [TG] and high density lipoprotein [HDL]) were determined. Results: Africans (65 and 63 % for men and women) and Caucasian men (73%) showed high prevalence of MetS; ROC analysis determined neck circumference (NC) cut-points of 39 and 35 cm for young and older African men, 32 and 35 cm for young and older African women, 40 and 41 cm for Caucasian men and 34 and 33 cm for Caucasian women. This NC cut-point can be used to determine metabolic syndrome risk in all groups, except in African women; ROC developed waist circumference (WC) cut-points were 91 cm for all African male groups, 84, 81 and 84 cm for young, older and total group of African women. Suggested WC cut-points for Caucasian men were 93 cm for the young group and 97 cm for older as well as total Caucasian male groups, while cut-points for Caucasian women were 87 cm, 79 cm and 84 cm for young, older and total Caucasian women. These WC cut-points were good measures of metabolic syndrome risk in all groups; neither cut-point of WC nor NC could increase the risk of albumin:creatinine ratio. Conclusion: African women as a group present with few MetS risk factors and glucose is associated with renal function risk in Africans; NC cut-points may be used as an additional anthropometric marker to predict the metabolic syndrome in a South African cohort, but not in African women; WC cutpoints demonstrated to be good predictors of the metabolic syndrome in the same South African cohort, especially among men; WC would seem to be the best measure of MetS risk in all African populations, although NC can also be used for this purpose in all African populations, except in African women.
Thesis (PhD (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Relatório de Estágio de Mestrado em Ecologia Humana e Problemas Sociais Contemporâneos
Dos muitos impactes ambientais provocados pela acção humana, o problema dos Resíduos Urbanos põe-se como um dos mais preocupantes com que o planeta se depara. É um problema ambiental e social que pode ser abordado pela Ecologia Humana. Assim, a área dos Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos foi a escolhida para a realização do estágio de Mestrado em Ecologia Humana e Problemas Sociais Contemporâneos. O estágio teve lugar na associação ambiental Quercus - ANCN no projecto Centro de Informação de Resíduos. A gestão dos resíduos sólidos urbanos é de extrema importância e faz-se de forma integrada entre vários sectores da sociedade (recolha, transporte, valorização e tratamento). Utiliza várias metodologias (métodos educativos e métodos tecnológicos) onde a reciclagem tem um importante papel, na reintrodução dos RSU no ciclo de produção, diminuindo o recurso a matérias-primas. Por princípio a reciclagem está associada à recolha selectiva de diversos materiais como plásticos, vidros, metais ou papel e cartão. No entanto, embora a recolha selectiva deva ser mantida como a principal forma de obtenção destes materiais, pela qualidade que permite, existem outras possibilidades de chegar a estes, nomeadamente àqueles que as pessoas acabam por não separar nas suas casas. Uma dessas possibilidades, o Tratamento Mecânico e Biológico (TMB) de Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos, é um processo em grande desenvolvimento em Portugal que tem como objectivo principal permitir a redução do envio deste tipo de resíduos para aterro e incineração, permitindo simultaneamente a obtenção de quantidades significativas de materiais para reciclagem. O processo consiste numa separação mecânica e manual dos materiais recicláveis (plástico, metal, vidro e cartão) a partir dos resíduos sólidos urbanos indiferenciados. Essa fracção passa por diversas operações de separação até se obterem materiais que estão em condições para serem enviados para reciclar. No processo de separação inicial obtém-se igualmente uma fracção de resíduos orgânicos que é encaminhada para o tratamento biológico e transformada em composto utilizado como correctivo orgânico nos solos ou Biogás (energia renovável). Do processo resultam também materiais rejeitados que normalmente são encaminhados para aterro ou para produção de energia. Quando colocados em aterro os rejeitados, por não terem matéria orgânica, não dão origem a maus cheiros nem a águas residuais contaminadas Neste relatório começa-se por fazer o enquadramento relacional entre a Ecologia Humana e o TMB de RSU, para depois apresentar a parte prática desenvolvida. O âmbito de trabalho do estágio centrou-se no TMB de RSU e na avaliação deste processo para a recuperação de materiais recicláveis. Tendo-se concluindo que este processo permite reciclar mais de 50% dos RSU. No final elaborou-se um estudo para a Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente intitulado Reciclagem no Tratamento Mecânico e Biológico de Resíduos Urbanos.

La soberanía alimentaria es un proyecto político emanado de los movimientos sociales rurales, que surgió como alternativa al marco de la seguridad alimentaria de los organismos internacionales. Este proyecto ha dado lugar a un movimiento global conformado por movimientos sociales de distinta índole, incluyendo los movimientos urbanos, quienes están desarrollando una amplia variedad de experiencias en ciudades de todo el mundo, en busca de una mayor sustentabilidad y justicia del sistema alimentario. Para saber si estas iniciativas contribuyen a la construcción de soberanía alimentaria, y en qué medida, hacen falta conceptos, métodos y herramientas específicas que permitan analizar y evaluar este proceso. El objetivo de este trabajo es proponer un marco teórico-conceptual y metodológico que permita identificar los elementos clave del proceso de transición hacia el nuevo paradigma de la soberanía alimentaria en espacios urbanos, y desarrollar indicadores para evaluar dicho proceso, realizando un estudio de caso en San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas (México). El marco resultante puede guiar la investigación sobre la implantación de sistemas alimentarios urbanos orientados a la soberanía alimentaria y proporcionar un soporte empírico al discurso por la soberanía alimentaria en espacios urbanos. Este análisis ha dado luz a una serie de aspectos teóricos clave para la construcción de soberanía alimentaria en espacios urbanos, tales como el foco de atención de las estrategias urbanas y su escala de acción; la necesidad de alianzas; y la importancia de las expresiones de democracia para alcanzar los objetivos sociales y ecológicos del nuevo paradigma agroalimentario. A través de una metodología participativa, se ha construido un sistema de 30 indicadores de soberanía alimentaria en espacios urbanos y se ha realizado un diagnóstico en hogares de San Cristóbal de Las Casas, que revela que la soberanía alimentaria de las familias se encuentra vulnerada.

Il concetto di rete dell'informazione può diventare uno schema logico con cui descrivere l'evoluzione delle politiche sulle energie rinnovabili e sulla sostenibilità? La ricerca è stata svolta analizzando l'architettura delle due reti (internet e reti energetiche) e l'evoluzione del bene prodotto e distribuito nella rete energetica, l'energia, esplicitando l'accessibilità da parte della distribuzione mondiale delle risorse petrolifere tradizionali e delle risorse rinnovabili. La struttura metodologica del progetto di ricerca si basa due tipi di analisi teorica: 1) l'analisi della nascita delle società in rete attraverso le teorie di Manuel Castells (concetto di spazio di flussi) e di Saskia Sassen e l'evoluzione delle città (cap.2 e cap.5) 2) le analisi dei flussi dei materiali e delle energie avendo come riferimento metodologico l'approccio ecologico ideato dai ricercatori dell'istituto per il Clima, l'Ambiente e l'Energia di Wuppertal, Germania (cap.3 e cap.4) La contraddizione tra città innovative e città che sono ai livelli di enormi discariche o di baraccopoli è esposta nel cap.6 attraverso casi studio e progetto dei Programmi Europei. Nell'ultimo capitolo (cap.7) si riassumono le ipotesi di partenza e i risultati della ricerca e si espongono le questioni aperte.
Can internet logic scheme be used as a basis to describe public policies evolution on renewable energies production and sharing in urban areas all over the world? The research project analyses the two networks (internet and energetic grids) architectures in actual and future urban areas. This analysis is connected with present and future forecasts energy productions from traditional fuels and from renewable sources. Theoretical analysis is conducted following a double conceptual pathway: - societal networks (Manuel Castells theory) and urban areas evolution (Saskia Sassen and Mike Davis) in order to picture the evolution of cities and towns in modern economies and in developing countries (Chapters 2 and 5); - Material and Energy Flow Analysis (approach by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy) applied to renewable energy (Chapters 3 and 4) In Chapter 6 case studies are exposed on the deep cleavage between two different worlds: innovative, rich towns on a side and the landfills cities, slums on the other side. In the last part hypothesis and thesis are put together and open questions are explained (Chapter 7).

Il concetto di rete dell'informazione può diventare uno schema logico con cui descrivere l'evoluzione delle politiche sulle energie rinnovabili e sulla sostenibilità? La ricerca è stata svolta analizzando l'architettura delle due reti (internet e reti energetiche) e l'evoluzione del bene prodotto e distribuito nella rete energetica, l'energia, esplicitando l'accessibilità da parte della distribuzione mondiale delle risorse petrolifere tradizionali e delle risorse rinnovabili. La struttura metodologica del progetto di ricerca si basa due tipi di analisi teorica: 1) l'analisi della nascita delle società in rete attraverso le teorie di Manuel Castells (concetto di spazio di flussi) e di Saskia Sassen e l'evoluzione delle città (cap.2 e cap.5) 2) le analisi dei flussi dei materiali e delle energie avendo come riferimento metodologico l'approccio ecologico ideato dai ricercatori dell'istituto per il Clima, l'Ambiente e l'Energia di Wuppertal, Germania (cap.3 e cap.4) La contraddizione tra città innovative e città che sono ai livelli di enormi discariche o di baraccopoli è esposta nel cap.6 attraverso casi studio e progetto dei Programmi Europei. Nell'ultimo capitolo (cap.7) si riassumono le ipotesi di partenza e i risultati della ricerca e si espongono le questioni aperte.
Can internet logic scheme be used as a basis to describe public policies evolution on renewable energies production and sharing in urban areas all over the world? The research project analyses the two networks (internet and energetic grids) architectures in actual and future urban areas. This analysis is connected with present and future forecasts energy productions from traditional fuels and from renewable sources. Theoretical analysis is conducted following a double conceptual pathway: - societal networks (Manuel Castells theory) and urban areas evolution (Saskia Sassen and Mike Davis) in order to picture the evolution of cities and towns in modern economies and in developing countries (Chapters 2 and 5); - Material and Energy Flow Analysis (approach by Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy) applied to renewable energy (Chapters 3 and 4) In Chapter 6 case studies are exposed on the deep cleavage between two different worlds: innovative, rich towns on a side and the landfills cities, slums on the other side. In the last part hypothesis and thesis are put together and open questions are explained (Chapter 7).

Дивљи кестен (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) је ендемит јужног дела Балканског полуострва. Веома је интересантна врста лишћара за изучавање секундарних популација на зеленим просторима Србије и производњу садног материјала за потребе хортикултуре и пејзажне архитектуре. Циљ истраживања је издвајање генотипова дивљег кестена из секундарних популација које су засноване на зеленим просторима Војводине у виду алејних засада, као појединачна стабла или групе. Критеријуми за вредновање генотипова као семенских објеката у хортикултури, обављени су на основу референце Стилиновић и Туцовић (1977). Биолошке одлике генотипова треба да усмере критеријуме за производњу квалитетног садног материјала дивљег кестена, адаптивност на услове урбане средине и стрес узрокован абиотским факторима. У селекционом периоду који је трајао од 2008. до 2010. године (Чукановић, 2010) евидентирано је и оцењено 50 генотипова на три локалитетa: Бачка Паланка, Нови Сад и Сремски Карловци. Сакупљено је семе, урађена је анализа лабораторијске и теренске клијавости и морфолошка карактеризација показатеља раста сејанаца. Истовремено је одређиван хемијски састав семена. У току трогодишњег периода (од 2011 до 2013. године), на основу резултата претходних истраживања, издвојено је 17 генотипова са најбољим биолошким, производним и лековитим особинама семена. На одабраним индивидуама праћене су фенолошке фазе - листање, цветање и плодоношења са међуфазама. Сакупљано је семе ради утврђивања морфолошких и хемијских карактеристика. Матична стабла се одликују разликама у физиолошкој зрелости, особинама фенотипа и употребне вредности семена за расадничку производњу. Праћено је генеративно умножавање генотипова и анализа показатеља раста half-sib потомства. Семе дивљег кестена је значајна сировина у фарамацеутској индустрији с обзиром да има лековита својства. Урађен је хемијски састав семена, са акцентом на садржај уља и структуру масних киселина, секундарне метаболите и тешке метале. Акумулација тешких метала у семену дивљег кестена присутна је у популацијама секундарног порекла, с обзиром да су матична стабла изложена утицају градске средине.Земљишта урбаних зелених простора (урбисол) изложена су загађењу што је разлог више да се испита утицај водорастворљивих соли и тешких метала на адаптивност генотипова. Фенолошким осматрањем листања, цветања и плодоношења у току трогодишњег периода забележене су значајне статистичке разлике између година испитивања и генотипова. Због дужег периода ниских температура у марту и априлу 2013. године, запажена је значајна разлика у почецима и трајању фенофаза и међуфаза. Осматране фенолошке појаве касниле су 2 до 3 недеље. Генотипови БДС1 и БДС2, у периоду трогодишњег осматрања, одликовали су се значајно ранијим наступањем фазе листања и цветања, док је код генотипова БП4, СК4 и СК7 забележено касније ступање обе фазе. Експериментална стабла, као издвојени семенски објекти за потребе хортикултуре и пејзажне архитектуре, редовно и обилно плодоносе. На основу морфолошких особина семена издвајају се генотипови П6 (са високим вредностима за дужину /29,83mm/, ширину /35,56 mm/ и дебљину /30,92 mm/) и П3 (са високом вредности за масу семена /17,63 g/). Чување семена за потребе расадничке производње обављено је у хладној комори при контролисаним условима на температури од 4 до 6°С. Сетва је обављана у пролећном периоду (март-април). За семенски материјал 17 генотипова, за трогодишњи период, установљена је веома висока теренска клијавост која у просеку износи од 80,94% до 85,64%. Проценат преживљавања сејанаца, одређен при крају вегетационог периода и почетка нове вегетације, износи од 78,96 дo 82,98. Мерењем показатеља раста једногодишњих сејанаца установљене су просечне вредности за висину (12,26 cm), пречник у кореновом врату (10,04 mm), дужину корена (12,87 cm), масу стабла (3,62 g), масу корена (5,34 g) и број коренова I реда (26,49). Истиче се генотип БДС1 са високим вредностима за мерене показатеље (19,20 cm за висину, 17,51 cm за дужину корена, 4,40 g за масу стабла и 6,80 g за масу корена). Према показатељима раста двогодишњих сејанаца за висину издвојили су се генотипови БДС1 (30,20 cm), БДС2 (35,80 cm) и СК4 (35,68 cm). Највише вредности за пречник при основи стабла имали су генотипови БДС1 (19,20 mm) и БДС2 (19,33 mm). Просечна вредност за висину надземног дела генотипова трогодишњих биљака била је 81,45 cm, а за пречник при основи стабла 26,81 mm. У трећој години развоја сејанаца дивљег кестена in situ у расаднику на Римским Шанчевима, највише вредности за висину и пречник при основи стабла имали су генотипови ознака БДС1 (92,00 cm и 29,55 mm), БДС2 (90,80 cm и 31,27 mm) и СК4 (91,30 cm и 28,45 mm). Снага раста двогодишњих сејанаца издвојила је генотипове БДС1, БДС2 и СК4, који су имали изузетан пораст и треће године развоја у сејалишту. На двогодишњим и трогодишњим садницама генотипова БП4, БП5, БДС1, БДС2, П5, П6, СК1 и СК4 обављено је калемљење хибрида црвеног кестена (Aesculus × carnea Hayne.). Испољена је компатибилност подлога са племкама, а просечан пријем калемова био је 82,36%. Примењена метода енглеског спајања показала је добре резултате као вегетативна метода за производњу садног материјала хибрида црвеног кестена.Из екстракта семена генотипова дивљег кестена изоловано је и детерминисано 16 масних киселина. Утврђен је висок удео незасићених масних киселина, а као доминантна издваја се олеинска. Највиши садржај установљен је у семену генотипа БДС1 (59,10%). Генотипови П5 и СК1 одликују се највишим вредностима кверцетина (0,538 μg/g, односно 0,806 μg/g), кемферола (0,227μg/g и 0,429 μg/g), а генотип П5 ирутина(25,784μg/g). Есцин је присутан у семену свих испитиваних генотипова, са највишим просечним садржајем у семену генотипова БП2 и П5 (4,04%). У узорку семена, од тешких метала забележен је висок просечни садржај цинка (10,11 μ/g) и бакра (9,23 μ/g). Издваја се генотип П5 са највишим просечним садржајем алуминијума (2,88 μ/g) и хрома (0,1 μ/g) у семену, док су највише вредности бакра (13,0 μ/g), гвожђа (13,2 μ/g), мангана (3,2 μ/g), никла (0,8 μ/g) и цинка (18,1 μ/g) забележене у семену генотипа П1. У узорцима земљишта дуж саобраћајнице Булевар Јаше Томића у Новом Саду, у дрвореду дивљег кестена, утврђен је садржај водорастворљивих соли и тешких метала. Просечне вредности садржаја соли у узорцима сондираним у априлу износе 0,10% на дубини од 0 до 30 cm, односно 0,11% на дубини од 30 до 60 cm, што је испод детерминисане горње границе. Узорци сондирани у августу 2012. године имали су виши садржај од дозвољеног (0,24% на дубини од 0 до 30 cm и 0,27% на дубини од 30 до 60 cm), што је последица асцендентног кретања соли услед суше. Као последица високог садржаја соли јавља се лисна хлороза, некроза, поновљено цветање и смањена виталност стабала. Анализа тешких метала (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb и Cr), из узорака земљишта, показала је њихово присуство у лакоприступачном и укупном облику, али не изнад дозвољених граничних вредности за еколошке услове Новог Сада. Упознавање биолошког и производног потенцијала дивљег кестена представља важну полазну основу за унапређење расадничке производње и примене дивљег кестена за потребе хортикултуре и пејзажне архитекутре.
Divlji kesten (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) je endemit južnog dela Balkanskog poluostrva. Veoma je interesantna vrsta lišćara za izučavanje sekundarnih populacija na zelenim prostorima Srbije i proizvodnju sadnog materijala za potrebe hortikulture i pejzažne arhitekture. Cilj istraživanja je izdvajanje genotipova divljeg kestena iz sekundarnih populacija koje su zasnovane na zelenim prostorima Vojvodine u vidu alejnih zasada, kao pojedinačna stabla ili grupe. Kriterijumi za vrednovanje genotipova kao semenskih objekata u hortikulturi, obavljeni su na osnovu reference Stilinović i Tucović (1977). Biološke odlike genotipova treba da usmere kriterijume za proizvodnju kvalitetnog sadnog materijala divljeg kestena, adaptivnost na uslove urbane sredine i stres uzrokovan abiotskim faktorima. U selekcionom periodu koji je trajao od 2008. do 2010. godine (Čukanović, 2010) evidentirano je i ocenjeno 50 genotipova na tri lokaliteta: Bačka Palanka, Novi Sad i Sremski Karlovci. Sakupljeno je seme, urađena je analiza laboratorijske i terenske klijavosti i morfološka karakterizacija pokazatelja rasta sejanaca. Istovremeno je određivan hemijski sastav semena. U toku trogodišnjeg perioda (od 2011 do 2013. godine), na osnovu rezultata prethodnih istraživanja, izdvojeno je 17 genotipova sa najboljim biološkim, proizvodnim i lekovitim osobinama semena. Na odabranim individuama praćene su fenološke faze - listanje, cvetanje i plodonošenja sa međufazama. Sakupljano je seme radi utvrđivanja morfoloških i hemijskih karakteristika. Matična stabla se odlikuju razlikama u fiziološkoj zrelosti, osobinama fenotipa i upotrebne vrednosti semena za rasadničku proizvodnju. Praćeno je generativno umnožavanje genotipova i analiza pokazatelja rasta half-sib potomstva. Seme divljeg kestena je značajna sirovina u faramaceutskoj industriji s obzirom da ima lekovita svojstva. Urađen je hemijski sastav semena, sa akcentom na sadržaj ulja i strukturu masnih kiselina, sekundarne metabolite i teške metale. Akumulacija teških metala u semenu divljeg kestena prisutna je u populacijama sekundarnog porekla, s obzirom da su matična stabla izložena uticaju gradske sredine.Zemljišta urbanih zelenih prostora (urbisol) izložena su zagađenju što je razlog više da se ispita uticaj vodorastvorljivih soli i teških metala na adaptivnost genotipova. Fenološkim osmatranjem listanja, cvetanja i plodonošenja u toku trogodišnjeg perioda zabeležene su značajne statističke razlike između godina ispitivanja i genotipova. Zbog dužeg perioda niskih temperatura u martu i aprilu 2013. godine, zapažena je značajna razlika u počecima i trajanju fenofaza i međufaza. Osmatrane fenološke pojave kasnile su 2 do 3 nedelje. Genotipovi BDS1 i BDS2, u periodu trogodišnjeg osmatranja, odlikovali su se značajno ranijim nastupanjem faze listanja i cvetanja, dok je kod genotipova BP4, SK4 i SK7 zabeleženo kasnije stupanje obe faze. Eksperimentalna stabla, kao izdvojeni semenski objekti za potrebe hortikulture i pejzažne arhitekture, redovno i obilno plodonose. Na osnovu morfoloških osobina semena izdvajaju se genotipovi P6 (sa visokim vrednostima za dužinu /29,83mm/, širinu /35,56 mm/ i debljinu /30,92 mm/) i P3 (sa visokom vrednosti za masu semena /17,63 g/). Čuvanje semena za potrebe rasadničke proizvodnje obavljeno je u hladnoj komori pri kontrolisanim uslovima na temperaturi od 4 do 6°S. Setva je obavljana u prolećnom periodu (mart-april). Za semenski materijal 17 genotipova, za trogodišnji period, ustanovljena je veoma visoka terenska klijavost koja u proseku iznosi od 80,94% do 85,64%. Procenat preživljavanja sejanaca, određen pri kraju vegetacionog perioda i početka nove vegetacije, iznosi od 78,96 do 82,98. Merenjem pokazatelja rasta jednogodišnjih sejanaca ustanovljene su prosečne vrednosti za visinu (12,26 cm), prečnik u korenovom vratu (10,04 mm), dužinu korena (12,87 cm), masu stabla (3,62 g), masu korena (5,34 g) i broj korenova I reda (26,49). Ističe se genotip BDS1 sa visokim vrednostima za merene pokazatelje (19,20 cm za visinu, 17,51 cm za dužinu korena, 4,40 g za masu stabla i 6,80 g za masu korena). Prema pokazateljima rasta dvogodišnjih sejanaca za visinu izdvojili su se genotipovi BDS1 (30,20 cm), BDS2 (35,80 cm) i SK4 (35,68 cm). Najviše vrednosti za prečnik pri osnovi stabla imali su genotipovi BDS1 (19,20 mm) i BDS2 (19,33 mm). Prosečna vrednost za visinu nadzemnog dela genotipova trogodišnjih biljaka bila je 81,45 cm, a za prečnik pri osnovi stabla 26,81 mm. U trećoj godini razvoja sejanaca divljeg kestena in situ u rasadniku na Rimskim Šančevima, najviše vrednosti za visinu i prečnik pri osnovi stabla imali su genotipovi oznaka BDS1 (92,00 cm i 29,55 mm), BDS2 (90,80 cm i 31,27 mm) i SK4 (91,30 cm i 28,45 mm). Snaga rasta dvogodišnjih sejanaca izdvojila je genotipove BDS1, BDS2 i SK4, koji su imali izuzetan porast i treće godine razvoja u sejalištu. Na dvogodišnjim i trogodišnjim sadnicama genotipova BP4, BP5, BDS1, BDS2, P5, P6, SK1 i SK4 obavljeno je kalemljenje hibrida crvenog kestena (Aesculus × carnea Hayne.). Ispoljena je kompatibilnost podloga sa plemkama, a prosečan prijem kalemova bio je 82,36%. Primenjena metoda engleskog spajanja pokazala je dobre rezultate kao vegetativna metoda za proizvodnju sadnog materijala hibrida crvenog kestena.Iz ekstrakta semena genotipova divljeg kestena izolovano je i determinisano 16 masnih kiselina. Utvrđen je visok udeo nezasićenih masnih kiselina, a kao dominantna izdvaja se oleinska. Najviši sadržaj ustanovljen je u semenu genotipa BDS1 (59,10%). Genotipovi P5 i SK1 odlikuju se najvišim vrednostima kvercetina (0,538 μg/g, odnosno 0,806 μg/g), kemferola (0,227μg/g i 0,429 μg/g), a genotip P5 irutina(25,784μg/g). Escin je prisutan u semenu svih ispitivanih genotipova, sa najvišim prosečnim sadržajem u semenu genotipova BP2 i P5 (4,04%). U uzorku semena, od teških metala zabeležen je visok prosečni sadržaj cinka (10,11 μ/g) i bakra (9,23 μ/g). Izdvaja se genotip P5 sa najvišim prosečnim sadržajem aluminijuma (2,88 μ/g) i hroma (0,1 μ/g) u semenu, dok su najviše vrednosti bakra (13,0 μ/g), gvožđa (13,2 μ/g), mangana (3,2 μ/g), nikla (0,8 μ/g) i cinka (18,1 μ/g) zabeležene u semenu genotipa P1. U uzorcima zemljišta duž saobraćajnice Bulevar Jaše Tomića u Novom Sadu, u drvoredu divljeg kestena, utvrđen je sadržaj vodorastvorljivih soli i teških metala. Prosečne vrednosti sadržaja soli u uzorcima sondiranim u aprilu iznose 0,10% na dubini od 0 do 30 cm, odnosno 0,11% na dubini od 30 do 60 cm, što je ispod determinisane gornje granice. Uzorci sondirani u avgustu 2012. godine imali su viši sadržaj od dozvoljenog (0,24% na dubini od 0 do 30 cm i 0,27% na dubini od 30 do 60 cm), što je posledica ascendentnog kretanja soli usled suše. Kao posledica visokog sadržaja soli javlja se lisna hloroza, nekroza, ponovljeno cvetanje i smanjena vitalnost stabala. Analiza teških metala (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb i Cr), iz uzoraka zemljišta, pokazala je njihovo prisustvo u lakopristupačnom i ukupnom obliku, ali ne iznad dozvoljenih graničnih vrednosti za ekološke uslove Novog Sada. Upoznavanje biološkog i proizvodnog potencijala divljeg kestena predstavlja važnu polaznu osnovu za unapređenje rasadničke proizvodnje i primene divljeg kestena za potrebe hortikulture i pejzažne arhitekutre.
(25,784μg/g). Есцин је присутан у семену свих испитиваних генотипова, са највишим просечним садржајем у семену генотипова БП2 и П5 (4,04%). У узорку семена, од тешких метала забележен је висок просечни садржај цинка (10,11 μ/g) и бакра (9,23 μ/g). Издваја се генотип П5 са највишим просечним садржајем алуминијума (2,88 μ/g) и хрома (0,1 μ/g) у семену, док су највише вредности бакра (13,0 μ/g), гвожђа (13,2 μ/g), мангана (3,2 μ/g), никла (0,8 μ/g) и цинка (18,1 μ/g) забележене у семену генотипа П1. У узорцима земљишта дуж саобраћајнице Булевар Јаше Томића у Новом Саду, у дрвореду дивљег кестена, утврђен је садржај водорастворљивих соли и тешких метала. Просечне вредности садржаја соли у узорцима сондираним у априлу износе 0,10% на дубини од 0 до 30 cm, односно 0,11% на дубини од 30 до 60 cm, што је испод детерминисане горње границе. Узорци сондирани у августу 2012. године имали су виши садржај од дозвољеног (0,24% на дубини од 0 до 30 cm и 0,27% на дубини од 30 до 60 cm), што је последица асцендентног кретања соли услед суше. Као последица високог садржаја соли јавља се лисна хлороза, некроза, поновљено цветање и смањена виталност стабала. Анализа тешких метала (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Co, Ni, Pb и Cr), из узорака земљишта, показала је њихово присуство у лакоприступачном и укупном облику, али не изнад дозвољених граничних вредности за еколошке услове Новог Сада. Упознавање биолошког и производног потенцијала дивљег кестена представља важну полазну основу за унапређење расадничке производње и примене дивљег кестена за потребе хортикултуре и пејзажне архитекутре.

Les principaux objectifs de cette étude, une des premières menée au Liban, étaient d’acquérir une meilleure connaissance des caractéristiques physico-chimiques des particules atmosphériques fines (PF ou PM₂.₅₋₀.₃) et ultrafines (PUF ou PM₀.₃), et d’évaluer in vitro, leur potentiel toxique sur des cellules épithéliales bronchiques humaines (BEAS-2B). L’échantillonnage de PF et de PUF a été mené au Liban à la fois sur un site urbain (Sin El-Fil, du 18 mai au 2 sept. 2011) et un site rural (Beije, du 5 sept. au 28 oct. 2011). Les PF et les PUF ont fait l’objet d’une caractérisation physico-chimique par la détermination de leur composition en éléments et ions inorganiques, carbone total et composés organiques. Ensuite, des échantillons composites de PF et de PUF ont été préparés afin d’exposer les cellules BEAS-2B et évaluer les mécanismes toxiques sous-jacents. Nos résultats ont montré une influence des sources de combustion plus notable pour les particules collectées sur le site urbain, et cela par la présence de carbone total, de composés organiques, de métaux et d’ions inorganiques secondaires à des niveaux de concentration supérieurs à ceux rencontrés sur le site rural. D’autre part, une cytotoxicité plus prononcée a été provoquée par les PUF par comparaison aux PF. Les mécanismes de génotoxicité et de modifications épigénétiques que nous avons étudiés, à savoir l’activation métabolique des composés organiques, la modification de l’expression de trois microARNs, l’activation de la télomérase et l’induction de cassures au niveau de l’ADN, ont été induits par les deux échantillons de PF, avec un effet plus prononcé pour les particules d’origine urbaine. L’exposition des cellules BEAS-2B aux PF collectées, notamment celles d’origine urbaine, pourraient donc favoriser la transformation des cellules pulmonaires en cellules immortelles, et par conséquent, l’initiation ou la promotion de la cancérogenèse broncho-pulmonaire
The objectives of this study, one of the first conducted in Lebanon, were to acquire a better knowledge on the physico-chemical characteristics of atmospheric fine particles (FP or PM₂.₅₋₀.₃) and ultrafine ones (UFP or PM₀.₃), and to assess their potential toxicity. Particles were collected at two coastal sites between may and sept. 2011 at Sin El-Fil (urban site in Greater Beirut), and between sept. and oct. 2011 at Bejje (rural site). After sampling, FP and UFP were subjected to a physico-chemical characterization by quantifying their inorganic ions and elements, total carbon and organic compounds contents. Then, composite samples of FP and UFP were prepared in order to expose bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) in culture, and therefore to assess the underlying toxic mechanisms. Our results showed an influence of combustion sources especially for urban particles that are richer in total carbon, organic compounds, metals and secondary inorganic ions than rural ones. On the other hand, a more pronounced cytotoxicity was caused by UFP when compared to FP. In addition, epigenetic modifications and genotoxicity mechanisms, such as metabolic activation of organic compounds, changes in three microRNAs expression, telomerase activation and DNA breaks induction, which are potentially involved in the initiation and promotion of carcinogenesis, were induced by the two samples of FP, with a more pronounced effect of urban particles. Exposure of BEAS-2B cells to collected FP, especially urban ones, may therefore induce the transformation of lung cells to immortal cells, and consequently the initiation or the promotion of broncho-pulmonary carcinogenesis

Smart Urban Metabolism is a hybrid approach – where technological, economic, social and environmental perspectives are simultaneously considered – to feed and improve the circularity of flows within urban contexts. In a global era characterised by intense and pervasive urbanization and datafication, the digital technologies-­‐‑driven approach is becoming decisive among cities around the world engaged in the transition towards a smart and sustainable urban metabolism. In this regard, tools such as real-­‐‑time monitoring stations, GPS tracking systems, sensors, radars, drones, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, smart grids, big data analytics, Internet of Things, and so on, have been recognized as enabling factors for improving the quality and efficiency of urban metabolism circularity. Therefore, these fixed and mobile digital devices make Smart Urban Metabolism a strategic framework for policymakers, urban planners and managers in order to collect, monitor, elaborate and analyse data and information regarding circularity performance within the economic, environmental, social and technological spheres of cities. The following Thesis investigated the contribution of the digitalisation of the circularity of urban metabolism in the improvement of decision-­‐‑making processes of natural and artificial urban resources. Specifically, three research objectives were identified: (1) what digital technologies are capable of improving circularity within the various dimensions of urban metabolism? (2) It is necessary to plan and develop urban technological infrastructures such as sensors, monitoring stations and tracking systems? and (3) What are the social, economic, environmental and technological challenges that emerge from the digitalisation of the circularity of urban metabolism? In order to achieve these research objectives, the study was based on an extensive and detailed literature review on urban digital technologies and on a multiple analysis of case studies of cities considered to at the forefront worldwide of urban metabolism circularity driven by technology. The proposed Smart Urban Metabolism, enabled by the emerging context of circular cities, provides a perspective of social, economic and environmental performance with greater spatial-­‐‑temporal resolution, characterised by data and feedback processed continuously and in real-­‐‑time. One of the most interesting insights that emerge from Smart Urban Metabolism is that this new perspective overcomes some of the limitations identified in the traditional concepts of urban metabolism and urban smartness. The results confirm that there are under-­‐‑ treated social, economic, environmental and technological aspects that can be discovered and analysed through the digitalisation of the circularity of urban processes and operations. Therefore, taking these aspects into consideration in the planning, monitoring and evaluation phases of circularity can lead to the identification of appropriate strategies and practices for the development of smart and sustainable urban metabolism.

碩士
國立臺北大學
資源管理研究所
88
ABSTRACT “Urban Metabolism” is the process including material input, transform, and product and waste output in the cities. The environmental degradation resulted from urban growth has influenced the life quality, which makes human being notice the effect of urban metabolism on human society and environment. This research incorporates both urban metabolism and ecological energetic analysis to analysis the urban metabolism in Taiwan. First, we analysis urban metabolism of Taiwan, Taipei region, Taichung region, and Kaohsiung region. Meanwhile, we examine flow capacity of resource and waste by ecological energetic analysis. Then we evaluate characteristic of urban metabolism of Taiwan, Taipei region, Taichung region, Kaohsiung region, and foreign region by establishing urban metabolism indices. The results show that the direction of consuming energy, water, and food are growing in Taiwan. The analysis of waste producing is also trending up. The tendency of emergy flow is the same with physics flow. Via urban metabolism indices establishing, “the density of resource consuming” and “the density of waste producing” are both growing up, but the index of urban metabolism efficiency rises. Since the three urban regions, Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung regions are not completely urbanized, both densities are not higher than the average in Taiwan. By comparing Taiwan with foreign regions, the result reveals that the higher density of resource consuming does one area have, the higher density of waste producing will be. Nowadays, Urban metabolism in Taiwan is linear form. To cycle urban metabolism in the future, we should enhance recycling and reusing; moreover, we will deal with waste properly.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
環境工程學研究所
103
Urban metabolism is the manifestation of dynamic materials of city, including the processes of import, supply, transformation, consumption, export, and other activities involving the flow of materials. Different processes are required to sustain a city. One-third of Taiwan population live in the Taipei metropolis. Since Taipei and New Taipei City have expanded dramatically, especially, the construction activities have consumed massive materials that were imported from other areas. Cities are also accumulating massive stock of materials which will turn into waste or secondary resource. An analytical framework of urban metabolism is essential for the sustainable development of cities. This research aims to measure the flows in an urban metabolic system and analyze the social-economic factors which led to the increase of consumption of cement, sand and gravels. This understanding is the basis to formulate the strategies to alleviate the pressure of resource consumption, waste generation and CO2 emission, in terms of long term urban sustainability. In my study, the material flow analysis were implemented to investigate the metabolism of Taipei city and New Taipei city. Cement, sand and gravel are chosen for the focus of the analysis because they are the major material in construction industry. The material flow system is composed of two subsystems that are infrastructure (such as road, bridge, flood prevention projects, MRT, piping,) and construction of buildings. The data collected for Taipei metropolis ranges from 2004 to 2013. To understand the factors which drives the urban metabolic activities, this research examined urban development policies and several socioeconomic factors for their possible influences on the variation of urban metabolism. Several indicator are calculated to measure carbon footprint, generation of demolition waste and intensity of material consumption. The results show that the top consumption of construction material in the Taipei metropolis is dominated by the construction of buildings, the second one is road improvement and road maintenance. Every year, about 447 metric tons waste concrete were generated in the last decade. The factors of major influence on the metabolism includes the financial crisis in 2007 to 2008, Eurozone debt crisis and emergence of new urban zoning. It was found that the road work increased dramatically due to Road-smoothing project and short term urban construction which might be influenced by the election. The manufacture of cement accounts for the most of CO2 emission, the main driver of CO2 emission is the need for construction new buildings in both cities. An issue is how to face current material stock after the demolition as waste in the future. For the solutions of sustainable urban metabolism, the cities should transition the construction of buildings toward the structure types of less environmental pressure of build. Also, current unoccupied indoor spaces should be used more efficiently. Auditing on the necessity and frequency of road maintenance should be implemented, build common duct, deal with waste concrete disposal for urban metabolism efficiency rises.

博士
國立臺灣大學
環境工程學研究所
102
In 1987, World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) define sustainable development as meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Agenda 21 emphases on sustainable development must comply with the country’s political and economic situation and environmental condition to adjust, namely concept of think globally, act locally. Cities play an important role in sustainable development. In Our Common Future point out that about 50% population will live in urban area in 21 century. According to UN statistics, only 29% of the population lived in cities and more than one million people, called megacities, only in New York and Tokyo. In 2010, the world’s population up to 7 billion .Cities population has grown to 3.5 billion, about 50% of total population (UN, 2009). The highest urban population growth rate in Asia and Africa (Satterthwaite etc., 2010). Cities were places with low production, high consumption and high waste. Due to the increase in cities population, cities use enormous recourses and energy. Therefore, when it comes to sustainable development, the use of recourses and energy in cities was a central issue. Sustainable development indicator is a tool to provide a direct or indirect measure of detailed description in Specific subject of the degree of sustainability in the future. Following this context, cities develop their own sustainable city indicators. But current sustainable city indicators with following problems: (1) Indicator oversimplification and too much, lack of representativeness and comparability. (2) Lack of energy and resources supply indicators. (3) Cannot assess or quantify city’s waste of energy and resources. (4) Rarely consider the carrying capacity and load capacity of the city. (5) Lack of urban metabolism. Urban metabolism is a systemic way to assess the state of energy and material in city. Constructing the sustainable city metabolic indicators, can make up the shortage of existing indicators. Using material flow as a tool to calculate the indicators, it can be a way to evaluate the sustainable city. Sustainable development define as that in consideration of the carrying capacity and maintaining a specific function and operation of the city ensuring stable supply, improving efficiency of using, reducing waste of material and energy, and prospering and recycling of waste. Base on the definition, the sustainable city metabolic indicator must comply with the principles of follow three: (1) Consider the energy and materials availability, adequacy and security. (2) Improve the efficiency of the use of energy and materials, and reduce waste. (3) Consider the carrying and processing capacity. The urban can be seen into three parts: supply, consumption and waste, and establish sustainable city metabolic indicators in three dimensions. Do empirical research of Taipei’s food and water, and give advice of management strategy and sustainable city metabolic indicators development.