2016

Urban Metabolism of
Île-de-France

This report is entirely my own, all sources of

information used in this report are properly
referenced.

Andrew Lau - 1002300592

Civ282
10/22/2016
1.0 Purpose
The purpose of this report is to use the UM concept to analyze the region of Île-de-France (IdF),
which includes the City of Paris and its surrounding area [1]. Context and analysis of the area is
presented, with emphasis on the factors which heavily impact input and output flow of the
region. This leads into recommendations for improving the UM efficiency of IdF, and lastly, a
critique of the UM model.
2.0 Context of Urban Metabolism
Urban Metabolism (UM) an analytical tool based off of a metaphor comparing operations of a
city with the metabolism of a biological creature [2]. The concept was first used in 1965 to study
a city using its inflow and outflow rates, including water, food, waste, and pollutants [3]. The
definition expanded to “the sum total of the technical and socio-economic processes that occur in
cities, resulting in growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste” [4]. Due to the clear
connection between UM and sustainable development, the scope of urban metabolism expanded
to include energy, nutrients, and livability measures, shifting the metaphor towards comparing
cities with ecosystems [2][5].
3.0 Analysis of Île-de-France (IdF)

This section gives an overview of the IdF region, primarily using data from the UM study of IdF
in 2003 [1]. It describes the factors and activities affecting UM specifically in this region. The
graphic illustrates the fundamental inputs and outputs of IdF for analysis using a black box
representation.

3.1 Context of Île-de-France

IdF is a region in France, and consists of 3 areas: Paris, Petite couronne, and Grand couronne [1].
Paris is the city core with a population of 2.2 million, making up 2.3% of the population and
4.7% of the GDP of France- the highest values per capita in France [2]. Petite couronne is an
area outside Paris of dense suburbs, and Grand couronne is an area of urban sprawl and
agriculture that extends beyond the suburbs [1] (Appendix A, Figure 2)

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3.2 Activities & Trends of IdF
3.2.1 Urban Sprawl
Paris is internationally viewed as France’s most prominent region, and is 77% urban due to urban
sprawl in the last 60 years [1][2][6]. Housing and jobs are concentrated around the central Paris
core, while construction is active in suburbs. The difference in development stages throughout
the IdF area results in social division between neighbourhoods [6].
3.2.2 Industrial Activity
Industrial activities in the city consists of small- scale crafts, luxury items, book printing and
publishing. Manufacturing automobiles, electronics, building materials, and machine tools is
done in the suburb industrial regions [7].
3.2.3 Intensive Agriculture
The IdF region is historically diverse in agriculture due to variety in soil types, climate, and
market demand. Over time, agricultural land use shifted to field crops like wheat, barley,
rapeseed, and sugar beet- making up 90% of IdF agriculture [8]. Agriculture, especially
specialized farms are in heavy decline due to competition, policy change, and urban sprawl, to
the extent that 50% of farms were lost in recent 20 years. In addition, 30% of agricultural land
was lost due to retirement and a lack of facilities [8].

3.3 Economy
The diversity and infrastructure in Paris attracts investments for major companies on a global
scale, primarily banks and corporate headquarters [7][9]. This makes Paris a center for
international trading, responsible for 25% of France’s imports and 20% of exports [9]. Since
tourism it the largest source of income, the economy is heavily focused on the tertiary sector,
responsible for providing services which makes up 87% of added value [7][9].

3.4 Geography
Temperatures in IdF averages at 11.5°C, 20°C in summer, 7°C in winter [10]. It receives 40-
60mm of precipitation per month [11]. The city is the center of a natural sedimentary basin, with
the River Seine running through the urban core [12].

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3.5 Infrastructure & Land Use
Table 1. Land use, Île-de-France, 2003, as a percentage (%) of the territory
Land Water Forest Agriculture Parks/ Housing Economic Public Transport Other
Use Squares Activity Facilities
% 1 22 48 4 12 2 3 3 3

Taken from [5]

3.5.1. Transportation
The public transportation system adequately services majority of population. However, sections
of IdF are not as developed, so workers in lower service occupations do not have accessible
public transportation due to the residential area they live in (Appendix A, Figure 3). The Grand
Paris project aims to expand the transportation network, with one of the main objectives of
connecting secluded communities and reduce social inequity [6].

3.6 Material Flow Analysis

The total consumption is higher in urban areas due to a denser population, resulting in high
import into urban areas and majority of exports coming from more rural surroundings.

Figure 1. Material Flow Analysis of IdF.

Inputs are on the left side, aligned with respective outputs on the right side. The background shows the development of IdF:
(from left to right) Grande couronne (agricultural), Petite couronne (suburbs), Paris city core. Calculations and sources shown in
Appendix B.

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4.0 Improving Urban Metabolism of IdF

The follow section addresses the decline in agriculture- the major problem of IdF from the UM
analysis. Two different solutions are presented, along with a method of implementation into the
current IdF infrastructure.

4.1 Decline in Agricultural Industry

The expansive urbanization in IdF comes with drawbacks, one of them being the disappearance
of the agricultural industry. The increased urbanization in the city core forms a strong economic
base, forcing industries to move into the surround suburbs to create space for more tertiary sector
services (Refer to 3.3-Economics). Additionally, urban sprawl resulted in development and
expansion of suburbs. The space required for industrial plants and growing trend of urban sprawl
is taken from agriculture, as it makes up the majority of the land area [13] (Refer to 2.2.3-
Agriculture and Table 1- Land Use). This causes an increase in import distance for food to be
brought into the city core (Appendix A- Table 7). The overall decline in agriculture can be seen
in the material flow analysis (Figure 1), due to the low “biomass” input value compared to the
high “other imports” value, which includes food and products (Appendix- Table 2).

4.2 Limiting Urban Sprawl

Urban Sprawl causes the percentage of land used for housing and commercial uses to increase,
while decreasing land used for agriculture (Table 1- Land Use). At the same time, population
continuously rises in the IdF region (Appendix A- Figure 5), forming a positive feedback loop
between housing area and population. This effect can be diminished with strict policies
prohibiting building new infrastructure in currently rural areas. Transforming farms or
agricultural land into conservation areas will make the approval process for development more
difficult [14]. Other urbanization strategies include densification of urban neighbourhoods to
accommodate the growing population without increasing land area, and converting shut-down
industries back into farmland [6].

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4.3 Agricultural Investment

Promoting a local food market within the IdF could reduce import while increasing export
numbers by having more variety in the types of available products in the local economy.
Currently, agricultural land in IdF primarily consists of field crops, most which is exported to
foreign markets [15]. Although 50% of fruits and vegetables are grown close to the city core,
agricultural facilities remain in decline [8][15], which projects towards a trend of increasing
imports to meet the food demand. Investing in agricultural facilities in the IdF can boost the local
economy without sacrificing significant resources-such as land- from the tertiary sector. It will
also create local jobs in the agricultural sector to encourage future generations to invest in this
field. Additionally, agricultural infrastructure such as rooftop gardens or urban farming can be
integrated into the city to promote sustainable food production and increase green space for
livability. [16]. The UM of the city will benefit as green roofs can reduce air emissions,
electricity consumption, and better control stormwater [17][18].

4.4 Restoring the Agricultural Industry

The implementation of both plans (4.2, 4.3) can occur simultaneously in an overall effort to
rebalance agriculture and urban settings. Although both plans are major infrastructural changes,
policies have to be adjusted and reinforced for radical change to take place. For policies to pass,
the public and government must both be informed of the benefits of growing a local food system,
especially in an economically busy city core such as Paris. The large amount of trading that
occurs in Paris will be more diversified with more locally produced food choices replacing old
industrial products and technologies, but this can only happen after reevaluation of the economy
in relation to international affairs. Green infrastructure projects can occur incrementally to
evaluate how certain projects are fitting into the urban core. The evaluation criteria can be based
off of the UM analysis of inputs and outputs, with a focus on the economy and environment
factors such as air emissions, energy usage, and total imports/exports. Published or experienced
benefits will drive local competition between businesses and services to invest in agricultural
projects as well.

5.0 Criticism of Urban Metabolism

UM is a great tool for measuring certain aspects of sustainable development, and is a concept
that will develop as an analytical tool and towards a wider range of applications, such as
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sustainability indicators, urban greenhouse gas accounting, and urban design tools [1]. However,
it does not view city operations as a system, which is problematic as city operations are
interconnected. An improvement to the analogy would be drawing parallels with an ecosystem
instead of the current analysis through a black box [5]. Additionally, social factors- vital to
sustainable development and part of the triple bottom line of sustainability, are not assessed
through the UM input-output model [19]. In a world revolving around sustainable development,
UM does not adequately model real world issues such as poverty or the case of social
segregation in IdF. Lastly, on a global scale, UM fails to analyze connections outside the scope
of specific UM studies, such as free trade, economic connections and political issues.

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Appendix A

Figure 2. Population Density of IdF

Taken from [20]

Figure 3. Public Transport Usage by Occupation

Taken from [6]

Table 2. Inputs and Outputs - IdF 2003

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 Inputs Outputs
- Fossil Fuels (extracted + imported) - Unused local extraction
- Minerals (extracted) - Air emissions (local + to nature)
- Biomass (extracted) - Water emissions (local + to nature)
- Raw Materials (imported) - Wastes landfilled
- Semi-manufactured Products (imported) - Dissipative Flows
- Finished Products (imported) - Exports except waste
- Other Products (imported)
- Packaging (imported)
- Waste (imported)
Taken from [1]
Table 3. Material flow analysis – IdF 2003

kt t/cap
Fossil Fuels 540 0
Minerals 16990 1.5
Local Extraction
Biomass 6010 0.5
Total Local Extraction 23540 2.1
Input
Fossil Fuels 26100 2.3
Others 88350 7.8
Imports
Total Imports 114450 10.2
Direct Material Inputs 137990 12.3
Emissions to air 53840 4.8
Waste landfilled 20010 1.8
To nature Emissions to water 40 0
Dissipative Flows 2400 0.2
Domestic Processed Output 76290 6.8
Output
To nature 69 0
Excluding wastes 58500 5.2
Exports
Total exports 58570 5.2
Direct Material Export 134860 12.0
Recycling Total Recycling 7320 0.7
Taken from [1]
Table 4. Water Balance of France (2013, over 50 years)
billion m3
Input Local Extraction 175 (effective)
Import 11
Output Export 18
Taken from [21]

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Figure 4. Comparison of import distance vs time period for different types of food
Taken from [15]

Figure 5. Population of IdF over time

Taken from [22]

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Appendix B: Sources & Calculations for Material Flow Analysis (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Material Flow Analysis of IdF.

Inputs are on the left side, aligned with respective outputs on the right side. The background shows the development of IdF:
(from left to right) Grande couronne (agricultural), Petite couronne (suburbs), Paris city core. Calculations and sources shown in
Appendix B.

Information Sources

Fossil Fuels: [1] (as of 2003-IdF)

Energy: [23] (as of 2006- Paris)
Biomass: [1] (as of 2003- IdF)
Food Consumption (measured in Nitrogen content, as of 2006, Paris): [15]
- Calculation: (22.1 grams of Nitrogen /day) (kg/1000g)(tonne/1000kg)(365 days/yr)= 0.0080665
tonnes/year
Water/Wastewater: [21] (as of 2013- data given for past 50 years- France)
- Calculation: (Volume in m3)(1000kg/m3)(1/66.03 X 106 inhab in
France)(0.001tonne/kg)(1/50years) = tonne/cap/year of water
Other Imports: [1] (as of 2003-IdF)
Air Emissions: [1] (as of 2003-IdF)
Solid Waste: [1] (as of 2003-IdF)
Total Exports: [1] (as of 2003-IdF)

Image Sources:
- Farm image taken from: http://www.terredeliens-iledefrance.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/09/lumigny.jpg
- Suburb image taken from: http://www.group-trotter.net/images-g/1_REGION-B.jpg

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- City image taken from:
http://www.lastminute.com/c/content/dam/site_gb/hotels/1155x510_paris_hotelshp.jpg

- Cover Page image taken from: http://wallpapercave.com/wp/wjCx4sx.jpg

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