With 70 percent of the world's population projected to live in cities by 2050 and our planet ever more impacted by human encroachment on the natural environment, the key to restoring balance between cities and nature is to understand the flow of resources in and out of, as well as within, the urban organism.
The Urban Metabolism model offers the tools to analyze a complex modern industrial city with all its physical and cultural microcosms, its ever-shifting flows of people, ideas, buildings, and materials. Ecocity Builders has been developing a platform (Urban Metabolism Information Systems) that organizes and visualizes the data of the various in- and outputs of a city — food, water, energy, materials, transportation, etc — and the conversions that happen between. With your help our brilliant developer will be able to put the finishing touches on this tool that will give cities and communities an honest picture of where in the system most of their waste, pollution, and externalizations occur and which adjustments or loops might produce a more streamlined, efficient, and ecologically healthy process. Put the “Urban” in your metabolism and help Ecocity Builders create healthier and more sustainable cities!