Urban Health and Socio-Ecological Systems: Maintaining Livable Conditions for a Growing Population

Brian Fath, Towson University

The rapid increase in migration from rural to urban areas puts stress on the existing urban infrastructure, which is particularly true in Africa which is experiencing the fastest urbanization rate in the world. The cities must provide a diversity of bio-physical flows to maintain livable conditions for individuals, all within resource constraints and emissions limits. Urban metabolism studies have been developed as one approach to track the cities resource use and when combined with network models can inform policy-makers of important insight to the complex interconnections of flows between sectors. Sectors include important factors such as energy, industry, services, water, and also households. This presentation gives an overview of urban network metabolism with existing case studies and implications for future studies in Africa.