Researchers are applying an urban metabolism framework to study energy and water consumption across L.A. County. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

In the past two years, Yale’s Journal of Industrial Ecology has published a special issue devoted to “urban metabolism for the urban century” and a paper on “an urban metabolism approach to Los Angeles.” The phrase has also turned up in books such as Sustainable Urban Metabolism, published in 2013 by MIT Press.

Clearly, certain precincts of academia are abuzz about this concept. And if still another recent paper — “Mainstreaming Urban Metabolism” — has any sway, the term could become as familiar in urban circles as “resilience” and “Vision Zero.” But what exactly does it mean? For the next time you encounter it — when you read about it in a planning journal, or an urban-nerd friend mentions it at a cocktail party — here’s a cheat sheet......Continue Reading

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