A Social‐Ecological‐Infrastructural Systems Framework for Interdisciplinary Study of Sustainable City Systems

An Integrative Curriculum Across Seven Major Disciplines

Bibliographic Data

ID19467247
AuthorsAnu Ramaswami (0000-0002-0476-2315, Institute of Public Affairs), Christopher M Weible (0000-0003-2241-5891, Institute of Public Affairs), Christopher Weible, Deborah S Main (Institute of Public Affairs), Deborah Main, Tanya Heikkila (0000-0002-2619-4320, Institute of Public Affairs), Saba Siddiki (0000-0002-5363-2672, Institute of Public Affairs), Andrew Duvall (0000-0003-0952-7717, Institute of Public Affairs), Angela Pattison (0000-0002-1484-6280, Institute of Public Affairs), Andrew Pattison, Meghan Bernard (Institute of Public Affairs)
Year2012
Volume16
Issue6
Pages801-813
Publication date2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Industrial Ecology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1088-1980 • E-ISSN: 1530-9290
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00566.x
OpenAlexW1932406286
LanguageEN
Citations received55
References cited56

Cities are embedded within larger‐scale engineered infrastructures (e.g., electric power, water supply, and transportation networks) that convey natural resources over large distances for use by people in cities. The sustainability of city systems therefore depends upon complex, cross‐scale interactions between the natural system, the transboundary engineered infrastructures, and the multiple social actors and institutions that govern these infrastructures. These elements, we argue, are best studied in an integrated manner using a novel social‐ecological‐infrastructural systems (SEIS) framework. In the biophysical subsystem, the SEIS framework integrates urban metabolism with life cycle assessment to articulate transboundary infrastructure supply chain water, energy, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission footprints of cities. These infrastructure footprints make visible multiple resources (water, energy, materials) used directly or indirectly (embodied) to support human activities in cities. They inform cross‐scale and cross‐infrastructure sector strategies for mitigating environmental pollution, public health risks and supply chain risks posed to cities. In the social subsystem, multiple theories drawn from the social sciences explore interactions between three actor categories—individual resource users, infrastructure designers and operators, and policy actors—who interact with each other and with infrastructures to shape cities toward sustainability outcomes. Linking of the two subsystems occurs by integrating concepts, theories, laws, and models across environmental sciences/climatology, infrastructure engineering, industrial ecology, architecture, urban planning, behavioral sciences, public health, and public affairs. Such integration identifies high‐impact leverage points in the urban SEIS. An interdisciplinary SEIS‐based curriculum on sustainable cities is described and evaluated for its efficacy in promoting systems thinking and interdisciplinary vocabulary development, both of which are measures of effective frameworks

Business · Civil engineering · Economics · Environmental economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Greenhouse gas · Industrial ecology · Sustainability · Urban density · Urban metabolism · Urban planning · Engineering · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis · Ecology

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