Urban metabolism investigates the needs of the city in historical and modern urban studies. This concept takes an important role especially in the current discussions surrounding the challenges of sustainability and ecological footprints. In English-language international publications, Abel Wolman is regarded as the founding father of this research line with his contribution “The metabolism of cities” from 1965. It had been repeatedly emphasized form that the underlying ideas had been applied already in the 19th century, however, at that time the concept had not been distinctly described as an analytical tool.

Urban metabolism offers a meaningful framework enabling us to systemize our interdisciplinary research agendas and to follow a comprehensive approach. The concept steers our gaze towards the city’s consumption of energy and resources, which must have had considerable impact on the environment. With our focus on energy/fuel, food, building materials – together with the kilns necessary for their production –, and iron production including furnaces, we investigate energy-intensive material flows with the strongest impact on the environment. We are convinced that the urban economy has especially strong local effects, therefore our focus lies on the immediate environs of the cities.