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Environmental Development

Environmental Development 8 (2013) 152–153

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envdev

Urban resource flows and the governanceof infrastructure transitions

Cities are the powerhouses of economic growth, with 80% of global GDP being produced withinthem on just 2% of the earth's land surface. Urban areas currently account for 60–80% of global energyconsumption, 75% of carbon emissions, and more than 75% of the world's natural resourceconsumption. The trend towards urbanization in recent years has been accompanied by increasedpressures on the environment and growing numbers of urban poor. The challenges are likely toincrease in the coming decades with an expected rise to 70–80% of the global population residing inurban areas by 2050. Some 60% of the built environment required to meet the needs of the world'surban population by 2050 still needs to be constructed. Cities must therefore be seen as the buildingblocks of sustainable development.

The International Resource Panel (IRP) was established in 2007 to support the framing of policiesfor sustainable resource management through providing authoritative scientific assessments on theuse of natural resources and their environmental impacts, and on opportunities for decoupling naturalresource use and environmental impacts from economic growth. The latest report of the InternationalResource Panel on City-level Decoupling: Urban Resource Flows and the Governance of InfrastructureTransitions explores the key role of cities as societal “nodes” in which much of the currentunsustainable use of natural resources is socially and institutionally embedded, but also as centers forknowledge and financial, social and institutional resources—and therefore where the greatestpotential exists for sustainability-oriented innovations.

Cities are complex networks of interlocked infrastructures that bring resources in, use resources toprovide services and generate wealth, and dispose of the wastes that are generated. The uniqueconfiguration of cities can give rise to very different levels of material consumption. Thereconfiguration of urban infrastructures can therefore change the flow of resources through cities,and their use, consumption and disposal. This can be achieved by retrofitting urban infrastructures orbuilding new ones that are more resource-efficient, taking into account the long-term flows ofstrategic resources. Innovation can be stimulated by regarding cities as living organisms, with thecontinuous flow of inputs and outputs as their “metabolism”. More circular urban metabolism thattreats outputs from one use as inputs to another would help cities increase resource productivity andadapt to a future of resource limitations and climate uncertainty. For example, resource efficientsystems could reduce water demand by up to 80%.

The report also highlights the way that the design, construction and operation of energy, waste,water, sanitation and transport infrastructures create shapes the “way of life” of citizens and how theyprocure, use and dispose of the resources they require. Its approach is innovative in that it framesinfrastructure networks as socio-technical systems, examining pressures for change within cities thatgo beyond technical considerations. The importance of intermediaries as the dominant agents forchange is emphasized, as well as the fact that social processes and dynamics need to be understood

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News / Environmental Development 8 (2013) 152–153 153

and integrated into any assessment of urban infrastructure interventions and the reconfiguration ofresource flows.

A set of 30 case studies provide examples of innovative approaches to sustainable infrastructuretransitions across a broad range of urban contexts that could inspire leaders of other cities to embracesimilar creative solutions: in Lingköping, Sweden, public transport is fueled by waste; in Chennai,India, rainwater is harvested to enhance the city's water supply; in Cape Town, South Africa, low-income housing is being retro-fitted for energy efficiency; and Medellin, Colombia, is building socialinclusion with cable cars. Of course, innovations in and of themselves do not suffice if they are notintegrated into larger strategic visions for the city, and as each city is unique, interventions need to betailored to the set of challenges and opportunities present in each case.

Through well-designed urban infrastructures there are genuine opportunities for national and cityleaders to achieve the same or an improved level of well-being with less resource consumption andlower carbon emissions. The report highlights the opportunities for developing countries in particular,where the urbanization wave is greatest and where, unlike in many developed country cities, theirinfrastructures are not yet based on obsolete technologies that are “sunk in concrete”.

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For more information please contact Lowri Angharad Rees at the Secretariat of the InternationalResource Panel, UNEP: Lowri.rees@unep.org.

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For more information on the International Resource Panel please visit: www.unep.org/resourcepanel/. � To download the report of the International Resource Panel City-level Decoupling: Urban Resource

Flows and Governance of Infrastructure Transitions please visit: www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/City-LevelDecoupling/tabid/106135/Default.aspx.