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Interlinkages Between Urban Metabolism and Sustainability: An Overview

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Urban Metabolism and Climate Change

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Abstract

Urban metabolism is a concept in which the city is examined using biological principles that relate to the internal mechanisms by which living creatures maintain a constant interchange of matter and energy with their surroundings to permit their growth and development. In multidisciplinary studies of cities, urban metabolism is one of the potential fields of study. Urban sustainability refers to the urban planning measures implemented to enhance and build urban areas without depleting their resources indefinitely. To understand the in-depth features of urban metabolism and its potential for examining the sustainability of cities, the concept's historical development as well as its theoretical underpinnings are required. In order to address and identify the various research gaps and needs in the metabolism of cities, this chapter is intended to discuss the origin and evolution of urban metabolism, its relationship with the sustainability of cities, and the limitations of urban metabolism in relation to urban sustainability. There exists an interlinkage between the urban metabolism and sustainability within a city with respect to judicious resource utilization, energy flow, waste management, and social and economic development. The assessment of the urban metabolism and sustainability of a city can be a useful approach for smart city development. Moreover, there is a dire need to promote the circular urban metabolism for developing sustainable cities.

Riya Raina and Mushtaq Ahmad Dar contributed equally.

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Acknowledgements

MAD is thankful to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for providing financial assistance as Senior Research Fellowship. RS gratefully acknowledges the financial support from DST-SERB, New Delhi, India as National Post-Doctoral Fellowship Scheme (Grant number: PDF/2020/001607).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

      Riya Raina & Harminder Pal Singh

    2. Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India

      Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, Rishikesh Singh & Daizy R. Batish

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    1. Riya Raina
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    2. Mushtaq Ahmad Dar
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    Editors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Environmental Studies, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

      Rahul Bhadouria

    2. Department of Botany, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

      Sachchidanand Tripathi

    3. Department of Environmental Studies, PGDAV College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

      Pardeep Singh

    4. School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

      P. K. Joshi

    5. Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

      Rishikesh Singh

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    Raina, R., Dar, M.A., Singh, R., Batish, D.R., Singh, H.P. (2023). Interlinkages Between Urban Metabolism and Sustainability: An Overview. In: Bhadouria, R., Tripathi, S., Singh, P., Joshi, P.K., Singh, R. (eds) Urban Metabolism and Climate Change . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29422-8_2

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