Urban metabolism: Many open questions for future answers

Abstract

Currently, the Urban Metabolism (UM) approach, as deducted from international literature, has been applied several times to assess and describe urban flows and impacts related to them, using different tools such as Material Flow Account (MFA). Although very useful, UM is not a systematic approach in urban development, and, for this reason, the authors of this chapter introduce MFA into the urban planning model, designing a research project in the field of Industrial Ecology (IE) applied in an urban context. This chapter presents the preliminary considerations of the first conceptualization phase of this project.