1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910960986703321

Autore

Baccini P

Titolo

Metabolism of the anthroposphere : analysis, evaluation, design / / Peter Baccini and Paul H. Brunner

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : MIT Press, ©2012

ISBN

1-280-49916-8

9786613594396

0-262-30132-6

Edizione

[2nd ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (405 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

BrunnerPaul H. <1946->

Disciplina

304.2

Soggetti

Human ecology - Methodology

Urban ecology (Biology)

Urbanization

City planning

Metabolism

Environmental monitoring

Environmental engineering

Environmental protection - Planning

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Preface to the Second Edition; Preface to the First Edition; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; 2 Metabolic Phenomena in the Anthroposphere; 3 Analysis and Assessment of Metabolic Processes; 4 Analyzing Regional Metabolism; 5 Designing Metabolic Systems; References; Glossary; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Over the last several thousand years of human life on Earth, agricultural settlements became urban cores, and these regional settlements became tightly connected through infrastructures transporting people, materials, and information. This global network of urban systems, including ecosystems, is the anthroposphere; the physical flows and stocks of matter and energy within it form its metabolism. This book offers an overview of the metabolism of the anthroposphere, with an emphasis on the design of metabolic systems. It takes a cultural



historical perspective, supported with methodology from the natural sciences and engineering. The book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the fields of regional development, environmental protection, and material management. It will also be a resource for undergraduate and graduate students in industrial ecology, environmental engineering, and resource management. The authors describe the characteristics of material stocks and flows of human settlements in space and time; introduce the method of material flow analysis (MFA) for metabolic studies; analyze regional metabolism and the material systems generated by basic activities; and offer four case studies of optimal metabolic system design: phosphorus management, urban mining, waste management, and mobility. This second edition of an extremely influential book has been substantially revised and greatly expanded. Its new emphasis on design and resource utilization reflects recent debates and scholarship on sustainable development and climate change.