Urban energy systems within the transition to sustainable development: A research agenda for urban metabolism

Jesús Rosales Carreón*, Ernst Worrell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The way we make sense of urban areas stands at a critical point. To reduce energy use in cities, we need to manage the way energy flows into, through and out the city. This paper starts with an overview on energy use at different levels of aggregation which allows us to outline emerging issues on urban metabolism for further research regarding urban energy systems. The research agenda focuses on five aspects: energy services, drivers for energy services, waste, data and dynamic modelling and governance. We give indications regarding the direction we think we should aspire to follow. The variety of themes within urban energy systems demands a coordinated and multidisciplinary research effort to improve our understanding of how the research of urban metabolism can contribute to achieve sustainable development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)258-266
JournalResources, Conservation and Recycling
Volume132
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2018

Keywords

  • Energy accounting
  • Energy services
  • Sustainable development
  • Urban energy systems
  • Urban metabolism

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