The topic of “spatialising the urban metabolism” has met with growing interest among researchers and has grown significantly in recent years. According to Scopus, we have identified 438 published articles, the majority from 2010s. The scientific landscapes are varied and among 20 communities according to a bibiometric analysis.
This topic can be understood as the idea of opening the “black box” of urban material and energy functioning, but also of considering that the spatial dimension should not be treated as "absolute" and homogeneous, when it can be very politically charged and refers to numerous socioeconomic and territorial processes.
The goal of the discussion session could entail, what can we learn from spatialising metabolic analysis / spatialising flows and actors / linking urban metabolism and spatial planning / territorial ecology / different sub-metabolisms for the same city / relationship between cities and their hinterland / political-industrial ecology / linking metabolic flows and ecosystem services, etc.