Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
Urban Development and Environment
Dieter Schott
6.1 Introduction
Current environmental policy aiming for sustainable development postulates that
cities and urban dwellers reduce their ecological footprint,
1
their use of non-
renewable resources, above all of carbon-dioxide emitting fuels in order to comply
with global targets of reduction of Carbon-dioxide emission to mitigate climate
change. Cities with a share of world population of just over 50 % are responsible for
over 75 % of global resource use. The fact that many cities not only in the most
developed countries of North America, Europe and East Asia but also the mega-
cities of developing countries have a huge ecological footprint raises in historical
perspective the question, how the environmental impact of urban civilization has
been in pre-industrial cultures and how cities have been able to sustain themselves,
to procure the necessary resources for their reproduction without threatening the
ecological stability of their hinterlands. This chapter will provide an overview of
the relationship between urban development and the environment with a speci
c
focus on Europe since the High Middle ages (160).
6.2 Urban Metabolism
In order to analyze the relationships between cities and their environment
in
a systematic way and with a long-term perspective, the concept of
'
social metab-
2
olism
'
linked with
'
colonization of nature
'
has proven to provide a useful
