United States Department of Transportation
i
Framework for Urban Metabolism and Life Cycle Assessment of Hardscape
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2018-12-01
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[PDF-1.48 MB]
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Abstract:According to the United Nations, 54 percent of the world's population lived in cities in 2014, and this figure is projected to be 66 percent by 2050. Job opportunities, better quality of life, and greater access to services are some of the attractions of urban areas that lead to the expansion of city boundaries, land use development and an increase in the use of resources. The use of materials and energy in urban areas, particularly large urbanized areas, is intense. Whether urbanization is more or less efficient per capita than other forms of development is uncertain. Regardless of whether urbanized development, and particularly large urbanized areas, are more efficient than other forms of land development it is clear that the trend towards urbanization is increasing as GDP increases, and that goals for improved efficiency of those urbanized areas are needed to reduce their impact on the planet through global warming, and to improve the health, safety and quality of life for the people living in them and in the surrounding areas from which they draw their resources. The goal of this white paper is to advocate that researchers and policy-makers use the analytical approach of combining urban (UM), material flow analysis (MFA) and elements of life cycle assessment (LCA) to measure and improve the efficiency of urban hardscape in large urbanized areas with respect to environmental impacts affecting global warming, safety and quality of life through use of alternative hardscape structure and materials and more permeable hardscape.
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