Societal Metabolism: A Brief Introduction

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to help the reader understand the complexities of modern urban systems before diving deeper and exploring these concepts in more detail in the subsequent chapters. This chapter describes the main definitions of societal metabolism and briefly introduces some concepts. It also shows how the theoretical models of flows of energy and material can be translated to elements of everyday life. The reader will be introduced to elements of societal metabolism analysis. The chapter contains multiple visuals and proposes several examples and inferences from real-life applications to help clarify the definitions and elements presented. This should help better understand the showcased theoretical notions, and make it easier for the reader to transfer or translate them to any context. In addition, the reader will be acquainted with the rationale and the concepts that are in the background of the SUSTAIN simulation and the incorporated board game.

Appendix

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