Study On Mega Cities' Urban Metabolism Based On MuSIASEM Method

Mega cities are facing many challenges,including rapid population increase,irrational land use and increasing energy consumptions.In order to respond these challenges,this study analyzes the urban metabolism patterns in Shanghai,Tokyo,London and Paris by employing Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism(MuSIASEM)method.Firstly,land use has been integrated in the MuSIASEM method to set up a dual-fund analytical framework based on human activity time and land use.Then a comprehensive socio-economic-environmental evaluation is undertaken for the city of Shanghai from 2001 to 2014.Results show that Shanghai mainly relied on the extraneous labor force to fulfill the need of working hours;manufacturing industries consumed a large part of Shanghai's secondary sector's energy;the financial crisis in 2008 accelerated economic transition in Shanghai and it boomed the prosperity of the tertiary sector.Shanghai's land resource is very scarce to meet its development need,leading to a need of making integrated efforts.Then a framework that was developed at the sectoral level has been used to compare the urban metabolism patterns in Shanghai,Tokyo,London and Paris.Results show that Shanghai's exosomatic metabolism rate(EMR)is the highest while economic labor productivity(ELP)is the lowest.Shanghai has abundant labor force,while its social welfare is the lowest.Shanghai has the largest proportion of secondary sector among the four mega cities.Tokyo has the highest ELP,which is mainly due to the high ELP of diverse industries in its tertiary sector.Meanwhile,Tokyo has a large aging population.London's EMR is the lowest among the four mega cities due to its dominant service sector.Paris has the best social welfare among the four mega cities.In general,this study has enriched the MuSIASEM theory from two dimensions,expanding it to the land use perspective and applying it at the sectoral level.This study provides valuable policy recommendations for Shanghai to improve its labor force quality,upgrade its industrial structure,adjust its energy structure and optimize its land use pattern.