Harvesting urban resources towards more resilient cities

With accelerating global changes, cities have to cope with growing pressures, especially for resource supply. Cities may be considered as resources reservoirs and producers of secondary resources. This paper introduces the concept of urban harvesting as a management tool to change inefficient linear urban resource usage and waste production into sustainable urban metabolism. The Urban Harvest concept includes urban metabolism and closing urban cycles by harvesting urban resources. The purpose of this study was to quantify the potentials to harvest water and energy at different scales. We investigated potentials for the Netherlands. Results show that at national scale, potentials can cover up to 100% of electricity demand, 55% of heat demand and 52% of tap water demand. At neighborhood level, similar percentages were found for energy. Only 43% of water demand was achieved, due to fact that treatment measures were not considered. These results indicate the large potential of cities as providers of their own resources. Therefore urban resources management is a key element of future city design towards more resilient cities.

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► Cities are resources reservoirs and producers of secondary resources.
► Urban harvest transforms linear urban metabolism into sustainable urban metabolism.
► We evaluated energy and water harvest potential in the Netherlands at two scales.
► Results indicate large potential of cities as providers of their own resources.
► Linkages of flows among urban functions are crucial towards more resilient cities.