The driving forces behind the dynamic processes of urban development are demographic change, the performance of urban areas in economic competition and the adaption of technological innovations. While the dynamics of urban development in these components have been studied and debated for a long time, the interrelation between urban development and urban metabolism in the sense of physical interaction with the environment is far less understood. More specifically, the main challenge of this project is to find a link between the urban metabolism approach and urban spatial development concepts in a way to foster a more sustainable development path of urban areas in the future.
A number of research topics in SUME organised along work packages to cope with these challenges:
