Conference article

As cities have become home for 50% of the world’s population; urban systems have definitely caught public attention. The urban metabolism can be improved by transforming their linear behavior into a more circular one. This paper is based on a project initiated by the Division of Environmental Technology and Management at Linköping university; financed by Vinnova: Megatech. The aim is to study the megacities of Cairo and Mexico City in order to understand some of the problems they are facing. By improving their energy and material flows behavior; these megacities can benefit from the reduction of their dependence on fossil fuels and virgin materials; the protection of part of their social; economic and productive systems from external factors (e.g. political drawbacks; shortage/distribution problems; international prices); an increased effectiveness of their planning activities–as they would be based to a large extent on their own resources–and the reduction of their environmental burden. An in situ study will take place with the participation of local stakeholders. Information about environmental problems will be collected and potential solutions will be analyzed and suggested. A tentative model is presented; showing how the reinsertion of the outflows into the urban system could benefit these cities’ overall environmental performance.

Flows analysis; Urban metabolism; Urban sustainability; Megacities