Linking systems to agencies in urban metabolism studies: A conceptual framework and computational analysis of research literature

IF 6.6 2区 经济学 Q1 ECOLOGY
Nicola Bertoldi, Daniela Perrotti
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study outlines a conceptual framework linking a conceptualization of agency in urban metabolism studies with a systems-based perspective. To this aim, we engage with contributions to socio-metabolic studies, notably from social ecology, that are not directly concerned with the urban dimension but explicitly question how systems and actors shape each other and how social practices can influence the distribution of resource flows and stocks and their interdependencies. Based on those contributions, we identify three critical axes of investigation that help track implicit uses of the concept of “agency” in urban metabolism studies and constitute the pillars of our proposed framework: (1) characterizing structures comprising urban social-ecological systems – understood as patterns of connections among elements and subsystems – as actors, (2) identifying the chains of events that such actors influence by exerting their agentic capacities, and (3) associating those same actors with definite agentic dimensions, i.e., specific modalities of agency. By drawing on methods from computational linguistics, text mining, and semantic network analysis, we extract concepts cognate to “urban metabolism” from a relevant body of research literature. Through our framework, we show how such concepts define forms of agency that can be ascribed to structural components of urban social-ecological systems.
在城市新陈代谢研究中将系统与机构联系起来:研究文献的概念框架和计算分析
本研究概述了一个概念框架,将城市新陈代谢研究中的机构概念化与基于系统的视角联系起来。为此,我们参考了社会代谢研究(尤其是社会生态学)中的一些研究成果,这些成果并不直接涉及城市层面,但明确质疑了系统和参与者如何相互影响,以及社会实践如何影响资源流和存量的分布及其相互依存关系。基于这些贡献,我们确定了三个关键的调查轴心,它们有助于追踪城市新陈代谢研究中对 "代理 "概念的隐含使用,并构成了我们建议框架的支柱:(1) 将构成城市社会生态系统的结构--理解为各要素和子系统之间的连接模式--描述为行为体,(2) 确定这些行为体通过发挥其代理能力而影响的事件链,以及 (3) 将这些行为体与明确的代理维度(即特定的代理模式)联系起来。通过借鉴计算语言学、文本挖掘和语义网络分析的方法,我们从相关研究文献中提取了与 "城市新陈代谢 "相关的概念。通过我们的框架,我们展示了这些概念如何定义可归因于城市社会生态系统结构组成部分的代理形式。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Ecological Economics
Ecological Economics 环境科学-环境科学
CiteScore
12.00
自引率
5.70%
发文量
313
审稿时长
6 months
期刊介绍: Ecological Economics is concerned with extending and integrating the understanding of the interfaces and interplay between "nature''s household" (ecosystems) and "humanity''s household" (the economy). Ecological economics is an interdisciplinary field defined by a set of concrete problems or challenges related to governing economic activity in a way that promotes human well-being, sustainability, and justice. The journal thus emphasizes critical work that draws on and integrates elements of ecological science, economics, and the analysis of values, behaviors, cultural practices, institutional structures, and societal dynamics. The journal is transdisciplinary in spirit and methodologically open, drawing on the insights offered by a variety of intellectual traditions, and appealing to a diverse readership. Specific research areas covered include: valuation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and development, ecologically integrated technology, integrated ecologic-economic modelling at scales from local to regional to global, implications of thermodynamics for economics and ecology, renewable resource management and conservation, critical assessments of the basic assumptions underlying current economic and ecological paradigms and the implications of alternative assumptions, economic and ecological consequences of genetically engineered organisms, and gene pool inventory and management, alternative principles for valuing natural wealth, integrating natural resources and environmental services into national income and wealth accounts, methods of implementing efficient environmental policies, case studies of economic-ecologic conflict or harmony, etc. New issues in this area are rapidly emerging and will find a ready forum in Ecological Economics.
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