Resilient Urban Futures: Bridging Industrial Ecology with City Resilience

Deadline: 
Monday, September 30, 2024

The Journal of Industrial Ecology invites submissions for a special issue themed “Resilient Urban Futures: Bridging Industrial Ecology with City Resilience.” This special issue aims to deepen our understanding of how industrial ecology principles enhance urban resilience and, conversely, how advancing resilient urban environments enriches and evolves the practices and theories of industrial ecology.

Urban Resilience and Industrial Ecology:

In an era defined by challenges such as climate change, economic instability, and public health crises, understanding and enhancing the resilience of urban systems is of paramount importance. City resilience provides a novel mode for urban sustainable development. It goes beyond mere robustness; it encompasses the ability of urban systems not only to withstand shocks and stresses but also to adapt and transform in response to them. This concept has a long history in urban planning and resilience literature, reflecting a shift from static endurance to dynamic adaptability.

Industrial ecology plays a vital role in this context. It offers a systemic approach to understanding the intricate interplay between industrial processes and urban systems. This framework is crucial for managing urban resources, energy, and waste, particularly in the face of climate change, resource scarcity, and rapid urbanization. Integrating industrial ecology into urban planning and policy-making enables cities to become more than just robust against challenges; it allows them to be adaptive and transformative, leading to more sustainable and resilient urban environments.

The increasing recognition of industrial ecology’s contribution to urban resilience is evident in the growing body of literature, both in our journal and elsewhere. Meerow and Newell (2015) highlighted the emerging importance of resilience in industrial ecology and its potential for advancing sustainability. Subsequent studies by Lucertini and Musco (2020), and Bristow and Mohareb (2020) introduced frameworks, such as the Circular Urban Metabolism and the integration of Urban Immune System with Urban Metabolism, targeting enhancements in urban resilience against climate change challenges. Bozeman III et al. (2023) further underscored the urgent need for focused research on just and sustainable urban systems, adaptable to contemporary challenges like climate change and public health crises. These studies highlight the synergy and potential for innovation within the intersection of industrial ecology and urban resilience, signaling an exciting area for future exploration.

Focus Areas:

Submissions should ideally address, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Investigation of urban resilience at multiple scales, from local to global, covering diverse domains/subsystems including resilient urban infrastructure, hybrid transportation systems, ecological resilience of urban ecosystems, and public health resilience in urban contexts.
  • Innovative applications of industrial ecology in enhancing urban resilience, including assessments, optimizations, and strategies for physical and socio-economic resilience.
  • Empirical and theoretical insights on how resilient urban development informs and evolves the principles and practices of industrial ecology.
  • Innovations in industrial ecology for assessing and enhancing urban resilience against environmental, economic, and social instabilities, such as threats from global value chains.
  • Integration of industrial ecology with other advanced methods like big data for the development of smart, resilient cities.
  • Policy implications and governance strategies for resilient cities, informed by industrial ecology research.

We welcome diverse formats of contributions, including:

  • Original research that explores the integration of industrial ecology with urban resilience.
  • Theoretical and empirical studies that develop frameworks and models for resilient urban systems.
  • Policy analysis and governance models that demonstrate the synergy between industrial ecology and urban resilience strategies.
  • Comprehensive reviews and thought pieces that offer new perspectives on the convergence of industrial ecology and urban resilience, including the role of innovative technologies, management systems, and institutional arrangements.

Special Issue Timeline:

  • Call for papers: 25 March 2024
  • Full manuscript submission deadline: 30 September 2024
  • Issue publication expected in late 2025

Special Issue Editorial Team (to be finalised):

How to submit:

Submission of completed manuscripts should follow JIE author guidelines. Authors should submit manuscripts through the journal’s ScholarOne Manuscripts system and indicate that their contribution is intended for the Special Issue on “Resilient Urban-Industrial Ecology”. Authors are strongly encouraged to consider sharing their data and methods via the JIE’s data badge: https://jie.yale.edu/badges

Submission implies that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere and that it will not be submitted elsewhere while the review process is underway.

References

Bozeman III, J. F., Chopra, S. S., James, P., Muhammad, S., Cai, H., Tong, K., Carrasquillo, M., Rickenbacker, H., Nock, D., Ashton, W., Heidrich, O.,  Derrible, S., & Bilec, M. (2023). Three research priorities for just and sustainable urban systems. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 27(2):382-394.

Bristow, D. N., & Mohareb, E. A. (2020). From the urban metabolism to the urban immune system. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 24(2), 300-312.

Lucertini, G., & Musco, F. (2020). Circular urban metabolism framework. One Earth, 2(2), 138-142.

Meerow, S., & Newell, J. P. (2015). Resilience and complexity: A bibliometric review and prospects for industrial ecology. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(2), 236-251.