Journal
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
Volume 163, Issue -, Pages S19-S27Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.010
Keywords
Infrastructure ecology; lnfrastructural symbiosis; Integrated urban infrastructure systems; Complex-adaptive systems; Sustainable urban infrastructure systems
Categories
Funding
- Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
- Hightower Chair
- Georgia Research Alliance at the Georgia Institute of Technology
- National Science Foundation program for Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) [0836046]
- Directorate For Engineering
- Emerging Frontiers & Multidisciplinary Activities [1441208, 0836046] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Increasing urbanization places cities at the forefront of achieving global sustainability. For cities to become more sustainable, however, the infrastructure on which they rely must also become more productive, efficient and resilient. Unfortunately the current paradigm of urban infrastructure development is fragmented in approach lacking a systems perspective. Urban infrastructure systems are analogous to ecological systems because they are interconnected, complex and adaptive components that exchange material, information and energy among themselves and to and from the environment, and exhibit characteristic scaling properties that can be expressed by Zipfs Law. Analyzing them together as a whole, as one would do for an ecological system, provides a better understanding about their dynamics and interactions, and enables system-level optimization. The adoption of this infrastructure ecology approach will result in urban (re)development that requires lower investment of financial and natural resources to build and maintain, is more sustainable (e.g. uses less materials and energy and generates less waste) and resilient, and enables a greater and more equitable opportunities for the creation of wealth and comfort. The 12 guiding principles of infrastructure ecology will provide a set of goals for urban planners, engineers and other decision-makers in an urban system for urban (re) development. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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